Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Senator Hillary Clinton was attacked by her Democratic rivals last night on issues from Iran and Iraq to Social Security and whether illegal immigrants should get driver's licenses.

Chief competitors Barack Obama and John Edwards, as well as most of the party's other presidential candidates, criticized her relentlessly during the two-hour debate at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Clinton, 60, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, stuck to her campaign lines, focusing on President George W. Bush or saying her positions were being misrepresented.

The assaults came with almost every question. Obama, 46, accused Clinton of taking conflicting stances that were more ``politically savvy'' than candid. ``What we need right now is honesty with the American people about where we would take the country,'' said Obama, an Illinois senator.

Clinton's 2002 vote to authorize the war in Iraq and her statement that she would leave some forces in the country drew a barb from Edwards, 54, a former North Carolina senator. ``If you believe that combat troops should remain stationed in Iraq, and if you believe there should be no actual timetable for withdrawal, then Senator Clinton is your candidate,'' he said.

The former first lady and New York senator also came under fire for her vote last month to support designating Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, a move her competitors characterized as a step toward war similar to the Iraq vote. ``What you didn't learn back in '02, you should've learned by now,'' said Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd, 63.

Social Security

Obama criticized Clinton for saying publicly she wouldn't discuss her plans to fix Social Security and then talking about the possibility of raising the cap on the amount of income taxed for Social Security with a voter in a conversation overheard by a reporter. ``She has not been truthful and clear about this point,'' Obama said.

Clinton responded to the foreign policy attacks by saying that she supports ending the war in Iraq and would only leave troops there for missions to fight al-Qaeda. ``I don't know how you pursue al-Qaeda without engaging them in combat,'' she said.

`Carrots and Sticks'

Her vote on the Revolutionary Guard Corps was designed to strengthen the ``carrots and sticks'' for U.S. negotiators to engage in diplomacy with Iran, Clinton said. ``I want to prevent a rush to war,'' she said.

Clinton said she has consistently advocated ``fiscal responsibility'' as the way to fix Social Security. She said what she discussed with the voter is one of the possibilities that ``everybody knows'' and said, ``I do not advocate it.''

Edwards and Obama both questioned Clinton's candor and her ties to lobbyists. She refused to say whether she would press the National Archives to release documents relating to advice she gave to her husband, former President Bill Clinton, while he was in office.

``Part of what we need to do is rebuild trust in our government again,'' Obama said. ``And that means being open and transparent and accountable to the American people.''

Lobbyist Money

Edwards said Clinton has raised more money from ``Washington lobbyists,'' and the health-care, insurance and defense industries than any other candidate.

``Will she be the person who brings about the change in this country?'' he asked. ``I don't think that's going to happen.''

Clinton said the National Archives is moving as fast as it can to release documents and rejected the idea that she wouldn't tackle special interests. ``I'm going to take $10 billion away from a lot of these industries,'' she said. Taking a jab at the theme of both Obama's and Edwards's campaigns, Clinton said: ``Change is just a word if you don't have the strength and experience to actually make it happen.''

At one point, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, 59, sought a truce. ``Save the ammunition for the Republicans,'' he said.

Clinton also has been a target for Republicans. She noted that in the Oct. 21 Republican presidential debate she was the ``topic of great conversation and consternation.'' The Republican National Committee today issued a press release titled ``Hillary's Philly Fallout'' that ignored the other Democrats and quoted media analysts who said Clinton performed poorly.

Drivers' Licenses

Clinton's most uncomfortable moment in the debate, broadcast by MSNBC, may have come on a non-federal issue, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer's plan to make driver's licenses available to illegal immigrants. She said Spitzer is ``trying to fill the vacuum'' left by Bush's failure to overhaul immigration laws.

When Dodd said licenses are ``a privilege, and that ought not to be extended,'' Clinton jumped back in.

``I just want to add, I did not say that it should be done, but I certainly recognize why Governor Spitzer is trying to do'' it, she said. Questioned further by the moderator, Clinton said the plan ``makes a lot of sense.''

That prompted Edwards to return to his line of attack. ``Unless I missed something, Senator Clinton said two different things in the course of about two minutes,'' Edwards said.

Obama pounced as well, saying he was ``confused'' by Clinton's answer. ``I can't tell whether she was for it or against it.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Kristin Jensen in Washington at kjensen@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 31, 2007 15:31 EDT