(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-11-16 15:07

"This is the kind of thing that I would expect from Mitt Romney or Rudy Giuliani, where we start playing with numbers," Obama said.

The tone of the debate was criticized by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden, who slammed the continued Democratic assaults on each other.

'Mud-slinging'

"Let's stop this mud-slinging," Richardson said.

Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd said the "shrillness" in the Democratic presidential debates would hurt the party when it reached out to independents and Republicans in the general election.

"When a campaign is about turning up the heat or who's angrier or who's yelling louder, the American people turn off," he said.

Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina, said there was nothing personal about his criticism of Clinton, a senator from New York who joked she was wearing an asbestos pantsuit to the debate at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

She said she was not playing the gender card with recent references to the "all-boy's club" of politics, and was not being attacked because she is a woman.

"They are attacking me because I'm ahead," the former first lady said.

Clinton, who has proposed a health care plan that mandates universal coverage, took aim at Obama and Edwards for their health care records.

She said Edwards, who ran for president in 2004, did not support universal health care then, although he does now. She also criticized Obama's health care plan for leaving about 15 million Americans uncovered.

"There is a big difference between Senator Obama and me. He starts from the premise of not reaching universal health care," she said.

Obama, an Illinois senator, said his plan also focused on bringing down costs.

"I don't think the problem with the American people is that they are not being forced to get health care, the problem is they can't afford it," Obama said.

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