Boston ? Howard Dean, under fire from his Democratic rivals, stubbornly refused to apologize Tuesday night for saying the party must court Southerners with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks.

“Were you wrong, Howard? Were you wrong to say that?” Sen. John Edwards challenged the former Vermont governor in a hot, hip campaign debate.

“No, I wasn’t, John Edwards,” Dean shot back, adding that to win, Democrats must appeal to working-class white voters in the South who consistently support Republicans “against their own economic interests.”

The exchange was the sharpest of the night in a debate that generally veered away from campaign issues such as Iraq and the economy, and into areas of interest to younger voters.

Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, asked about gay and lesbian rights, said he would give homosexuals “the opportunity to serve in the U.S. armed forces.” Under a policy in effect since the Clinton administration, gays may serve in the military if they do not disclose their sexual orientation.

Rep. Dick Gephardt was the only absentee as the Democrats vying to challenge President Bush gathered for their sixth debate in two months. The Missouri lawmaker chose to campaign in Iowa, site of the leadoff caucuses on Jan. 19.

Tripping over the flag

Sekou Diyday, 25, a supermarket buyer, confronted Dean with the question about the Confederate flag and comments the former governor had made over the weekend in an interview with the Des Moines Register.

“I was extremely offended,” Diyday said. “Could you please explain to me how you plan on being sensitive to needs and issues regarding slavery and African-Americans after making a comment of that nature,” he said to applause from the audience.

Democratic presidential hopeful the Rev. Al Sharpton, front, criticizes a comment by former Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont, not shown, as Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, behind left, looks on during the televised Rock the Vote Democratic presidential debate in Boston. Dean's comment about people who have Confederate flags in their pickup trucks sparked heated exchanges at Tuesday's debate.

Dean responded by quoting the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., as saying it was his dream that “the sons of slaveholders and the sons of slaves” could some day sit down together.

Sharpton interjected that Dean had failed to answer the question, then said the former governor had misquoted King. “You can’t bring a Confederate flag to the table of brotherhood,” he said.

He added, “You are not a bigot, but you appear to be too arrogant to say ‘I’m wrong’ and go on.”

Dean defended himself and his remarks, telling Sharpton, “We’re not going to win this country … if we don’t have a big tent. And I’m going to tell you reverend, you’re right. I’m not a bigot.”

Edwards jumped in moments later, challenging Dean to say whether he was wrong to have made his comments about the flag.

Again, Dean said he was not. He added that people were wrong to fly the flag, which he called a racist symbol. But he added, “I think there are a lot of poor people who fly that flag because the Republicans have been dividing us by race since 1968 with their Southern race strategy.”

Diyday, who asked the question, said later he was unimpressed with Dean’s response. “He took a lot of steps back by completely ignoring the question,” he said.

Lighter issues

Despite the clashes, the debate provoked moments of levity, including when one questioner asked the eight contenders to say which one of their rivals they would like to party with.

Kucinich said Sharpton. Lieberman, with apologies to his wife, said his choice was the young woman who asked the question. Sharpton said his choice was Kerry’s wife. That prompted Kerry to select Sharpton, a choice, he said, that would allow the Massachusetts senator to keep an eye on Teresa Heinz Kerry and the New Yorker.

Asked whether they had ever used marijuana, Edwards, Dean and Sen. John Kerry said they have. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Clark and Al Sharpton said they had not. Sen. Joe Lieberman answered the same, although he apologized as he did so. Former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun declined to answer.