Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama clashed over their actions as lawyers, their voting records, and whether each was lying about the other's views in an acrimonious debate ahead of the South Carolina Democratic primary.

Obama said Clinton was ``a corporate lawyer sitting on the board at Wal-Mart'' while he was fighting for working-class Americans in Illinois. He said Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have made false statements about Obama's record.

Hillary Clinton said Obama had praised Republican ideas that she was fighting when Obama was representing a contributor's ``slum-landlord business'' in Chicago, a reference to businessman Tony Rezko, who in December was accused of corruption and fraud. Obama last year gave to charity more than $44,000 in campaign donations linked to Rezko.

The two stepped up their attacks as they battle each other in South Carolina, which holds the Democrats' first presidential nomination contest in the South Jan. 26. Clinton won the two previous major contests in New Hampshire and Nevada, while Obama captured Iowa. Each candidate is looking for a win to provide momentum heading into Super Tuesday on Feb. 5, when more than 20 states hold elections.

The debate saw each rival trying to speak over the other at the forum in Myrtle Beach, sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus Institute and CNN. At one point, former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, 54, interjected: ``There is a third person in this debate,'' he said. ``This is not about us personally. It is about what we are trying to do for this country.''

Republicans and Reagan

Obama, 46, a senator from Illinois, said his comments about Republicans and former President Ronald Reagan have been mischaracterized by the Clintons.

``I can't tell who I'm running against sometimes,'' Obama said.

``There's a set of assertions made by Senator Clinton, as well as her husband, that are not factually accurate,'' Obama said. ``When Senator Clinton or President Clinton asserts that I said that the Republicans had had better economic policies since 1980, that is not the case.''

He said Clinton, 60, a New York senator, ``provided much more fulsome praise'' for the late Republican president in a soon-to-be-published book.

Clinton countered that Obama was changing his tune.

``It is sometimes difficult to understand what Senator Obama has said, because as soon as he is confronted on it, he says that's not what he meant,'' Clinton said. ``He has said in the last week that he really liked the ideas of the Republicans over the last 10 to 15 years.''

Past Votes

She also accused Obama of waffling when challenged about his past votes.

``You never take responsibility for any vote,'' she said.

Responding to Clinton's ``slum-landlord'' comment, Obama said he was an associate at a law firm representing a church group teamed with Rezko on a project, and ``did about five hours worth of work on this joint project.''

Edwards joined Clinton in criticizing Obama over his health- care plan and his voting record as an Illinois state lawmaker.

``The question is, why would you over 100 times vote present?'' Edwards said, after Clinton's criticism that Obama voted ``present'' on tough issues. ``What if I had just not shown up to vote on things that really mattered to this country?'' Edwards said.

Health Care

Edwards also said he and Clinton offered health-care proposals that would cover everyone, unlike Obama's.

Clinton said she wasn't ``running for president to put Band- Aids on our problems. I want to get to universal health care for every single American.''

Obama said the fact that the two were ganging up on him ``shows I'm doing pretty good.'' Polls show him running ahead of Clinton in South Carolina.

Noting Senator John McCain's victories in Republican primaries in South Carolina Jan. 19 and New Hampshire Jan. 8, the Democrats tussled over who would run best against the Republicans in the general election.

``I can compete against John McCain in every place in America,'' Edwards said, citing his Southern, rural roots.

Invoking Jesus Christ, Obama repeated his plan to expand the party's appeal to traditionally Republican groups such as Christian evangelicals.

`Still Here'

Clinton said her experience would be her strength, saying of the Republicans: ``They've been after me for 16 years, and much to their dismay I am still here.''

The three candidates also tackled questions about the economy during the first half of the two-hour debate. They spoke just hours after Asian stocks fell, a sign of growing economic pessimism. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average plunged 4.2 percent to 12,762 at midday in Tokyo, its worst two-day drop in a decade, after India's market fell by the most in four years. U.S. markets were closed for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

``What happened in the markets today is a huge wake-up call,'' Clinton said. President George W. Bush's $145 billion stimulus package is ``too little, too late.''

In a lighthearted moment, Obama drew laughter when he was asked about a statement by Nobel Prize-winning black author Toni Morrison that Bill Clinton was the nation's first black president.

``Bill Clinton did have an enormous affinity with the African-American community, and still does,'' Obama said. ``I would have to, you know, investigate more of Bill's dancing abilities, you know, and some of this other stuff before I accurately judge whether he was in fact a brother.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Lorraine Woellert in Washington at lwoellert@bloomberg.net; Catherine Dodge in Washington, at Cdodge1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 22, 2008 00:19 EST