Kerry, Edwards square off before Super Tuesday

Democratic presidential contenders John Kerry and John Edwards battled during a boisterous debate yesterday over trade policy and their ability to change Washington, but united to criticise President George W. Bush's handling of the crisis in Haiti.

Two days before a potentially decisive "Super Tuesday" showdown in 10 states, Mr Edwards took a more aggressive approach than in Thursday's debate in Los Angeles, accusing Mr Kerry of "the same old Washington talk that people have been listening to for decades."

But Mr Kerry, who has dominated the Democratic presidential race by winning 18 of the first 20 contests, said voters were looking for a candidate with "proven ability to be able to stand up and take on tough fights."

In the 18th and probably last debate of the Democratic race, the two prime contenders noted the fall of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and accused Bush of ignoring the Caribbean nation until problems there had spiralled out of control.

"This president always makes decisions late," Mr Kerry said, adding that the Bush administration "empowered the insurgents" and made a peaceful solution difficult. "I never would have allowed it to get out of control the way it did."

Aristide fled Haiti yesterday morning, 24 days after a bloody uprising began against his rule.

"He's ignored Haiti the same way he's ignored most of the countries in this hemisphere," Mr Edwards said of Mr Bush. "We should have been engaged over a long period of time, in a serious way, at least through diplomacy, not to allow this to get to a crisis situation where it now is."

Mr Edwards said the Bush administration had a pattern of "do nothing, do nothing, and when it gets to crisis stage, then we act."

Mr Kerry is pushing to wrap up the Democratic race tomorrow, when a string of coast-to-coast wins in 10 states could put the nomination in reach and Mr Edwards' candidacy in doubt.

The states voting tomorrow include big prizes like California, New York and Ohio, which have 1,151 delegates at stake, more than half of the 2,162 needed to win. Mr Kerry would not have enough delegates to win the nomination with another dominating performance, but Mr Edwards would have little incentive to push on.

Mr Edwards is hoping for wins in Georgia, Minnesota or Ohio that could keep his hopes alive until the March 9 contests in a string of Southern states.

The two rivals resurrected their differences on trade and battled over who was best suited to change Washington during a debate in which candidates and the reporters questioning them frequently clashed and interrupted each other.

Mr Edwards, a freshman senator from North Carolina who has touted his working class background, said the four-term US Senate veteran Kerry was too much of a Washington insider to be able to fight for change.

"Do you believe we're going to change this country out of Washington, DC?" Mr Edwards asked Mr Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts.

"Yes, because that's where the Congress of the United States is, and that's where 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is," Mr Kerry said. "And the answer is, we're going to need a president who has the experience and the proven ability - proven ability - to be able to stand up and take on tough fights."

Mr Kerry pointed out that "the last time I looked, John ran for the United States Senate, and he's been in the Senate for the last five years. That seems to me to be Washington DC."