Clinton Strikes Back at Rivals

Hillary Clinton accused her main Democratic rivals of twisting her words and slinging mud during a testy debate in Las Vegas tonight. "When somebody starts throwing mud, at least we can hope it's accurate and not right out of the Republican playbook," she said at one point. Barack Obama and John Edwards, meanwhile, continued to complain that Clinton switches positions regularly and avoids straight answers.

"There's nothing personal about this," said Edwards, who criticized Clinton's votes on Iraq, Iran, and Social Security. "What the American people are looking for right now is straight answers to tough questions," Obama added, "and that is not what we have seen from Senator Clinton on a host of issues." Nonsense, said Clinton, who accused Obama of initially waffling on universal health care. (More Hillary Clinton stories.)