Excerpts from the debate

Tuesday night at Drexel University, fellow candidates zeroed in on Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's vote this month - alone among the Democratic presidential candidates but along with 75 other senators - supporting a resolution labeling Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization.

Former Sen. John Edwards: "She says she stands up to George Bush on Iran ... and in fact she voted to give George Bush the first step in moving militarily on Iran."

Clinton: "I am not in favor of this rush for war, but I am also not in favor of doing nothing. Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is at the forefront of that as they are in the sponsorship of terrorism. . . . I prefer vigorous diplomacy, and I happen to think economic sanctions are part of vigorous diplomacy."

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd: "I believe that this issue is going to come back to haunt us as we all learned - some of us here painfully, back in 2002 - by the vote for the authorization regarding Iran. . . . Despite the language of the [2002] resolution [on Iraq], which called for diplomacy at the time, this administration used that resolution obviously to pursue very aggressive action in Iraq. . . . What you didn't learn back in '02, you should have learned by now."

Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr.: "There are consequences for what we do. . . . We have emboldened Bush at a minimum. . . . His talk of World War III, totally irresponsible talk at the minimum, we have emboldened him to move if he chooses to move."

Sen. Barack Obama: "I don't think we should be talking about attacking Iran at this point. . . . What we should be doing is reaching out aggressively to our allies but also talking to our enemies."