MANCHESTER, N.H. ? Democratic presidential candidates clashed on Sunday on Iraq and over the security of the country since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Democratic presidential hopefuls Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., left, and Barack Obama, D-Ill. answer a question simultaneously during the Democratic presidential primary debate hosted by St. Anselm College on Sunday in Manchester, N.H.

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, trailing both New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in national polls, criticized their cautious approach in forcing President Bush to withdraw troops from Iraq.

While some members of Congress spoke out “loudly and clearly” last month against legislation to pay for the war through September but without a withdrawal timetable, “others did not,” Edwards said.

“They went quietly to the floor of the Senate, cast the right vote. But there is a difference between leadership and legislating,” Edwards told his rivals during the second Democratic debate.

Both Clinton and Obama voted against the bill – which passed – but without making a strong case against the legislation.

“I think it’s obvious who I’m talking about,” Edwards said.

Clinton disagreed with Edwards, both in his comments on her role on Iraq and in his characterization of Bush’s global war on terrorism as a “political slogan, a bumper sticker.”

As a New Yorker, “I have seen first hand the terrible damage that can be inflicted on our country by a small band of terrorists,” Clinton said.

Still, she said, “I believe we are safer than we were.”

At the conclusion of the two-hour debate, the candidates were asked what their top priority would be for their first 100 days in office:

¢ Edwards: “travel the world” and “re-establish America’s moral authority.”

¢ Clinton: bring home U.S. troops from Iraq.

¢ Obama: bring home U.S. troops and push for national health care.

¢ New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson: upgrade U.S. schools and push a $40,000-a-year minimum wage for teachers.

¢ Delaware Sen. Joe Biden: end the war in Iraq and defuse tensions with Iran and North Korea.

¢ Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich: help “reshape the world for peace” and end all nuclear weapons.

¢ Former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel: Remind congressional leaders they can end the war in Iraq now.

¢ Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd: “Restore constitutional rights in this country.”

The candidates sought to highlight their own differences on the war in Iraq.

Obama told Edwards, who voted in October 2002 to authorize the war in Iraq but now says that the vote was a mistake: “John, you’re about four and a half years late on leadership on this issue.”

Obama was not in the Senate at the time of the vote but had voiced opposition to the war resolution at the time.