Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton last night sought to stress their common ground on the economy and the war in Iraq, while declaring that race and gender issues have no place in the presidential campaign.

``We're all family in the Democratic Party,'' Clinton said during a two-hour debate in Las Vegas. ``Hillary said it well,'' Obama added. ``We can't solve these challenges unless we can come together as a people.''

Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards was the only other participant in the largely conciliatory session, which was intended to highlight racial and ethnic issues in recognition of Nevada's roughly 20 percent Hispanic population.

From the outset, Clinton and Obama played down their recent, sharp exchanges over race -- a shift after their supporters clashed over the role of the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Clinton, 60, made remarks last week in New Hampshire that some Obama supporters interpreted as minimizing King's role in the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

New York Senator Clinton had accused Obama's campaign of distorting her words. Obama, 46, an Illinois senator, rejected Clinton's charge that his campaign had fanned the controversy. The two camps have also traded sharp words over the two lawmakers' positions on the Iraq war.

Obama and Clinton are locked in a tight battle after he won the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses and she captured the New Hampshire primary Jan. 8. Last night's debate was their final joint appearance before Nevada's Jan. 19 caucuses. Polls show Clinton and Obama are running neck-and-neck with Edwards close behind.

Nuclear Power

On energy, they divided over nuclear power, with Edwards opposing more plants, Obama saying he's open to them, and Clinton taking a middle stance.

``I am against building more nuclear power plants because I don't think we have a safe way to dispose of the waste,'' said Edwards, 54. ``I think they're dangerous. They're great terrorist targets and they're extraordinarily expensive.''

Clinton highlighted her vote against the 2005 energy bill, which she described as a measure ``written by lobbyists'' and ``championed by Dick Cheney'' that was filled with ``giveaways to the oil and gas industries.''

Obama said he voted for the measure because ``it was the single largest investment in clean energy -- solar, wind, biodiesel -- that we had ever seen.''

Clinton and Edwards also said they supported greater emphasis on cleaner and renewable sources of energy.

Subprime Crisis

The candidates also called for speedier action to head off a recession and promoted their proposals to stimulate growth and ease the subprime-mortgage crisis. Clinton said her plan would impose a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures and freeze interest rates on adjustable-rate mortgages for five years.

Obama said insufficient government oversight was a reason for the subprime woes. He also said he would provide tax relief to lower- and middle-income people and roll back tax breaks ``that have gone disproportionately to the wealthiest.''

On foreign investment, Clinton said sovereign wealth funds, pools of money controlled by governments, must be ``more transparent,'' and she called on the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the U.S. Federal Reserve to provide better oversight and impose rules. ``I'd like to see us move much more aggressively,'' she said.

Companies including Citigroup Inc., UBS AG, and Merrill Lynch & Co. have turned to sovereign wealth funds after losses on investments depressed profits.

Yucca Mountain

All three candidates reiterated their opposition to building a nuclear-storage facility at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, a top issue for voters in the state.

They also all pledged to start withdrawing troops from Iraq as soon as they entered office, and none would commit to a complete pullout by a certain timeline.

Obama took Clinton to task for having noted before the New Hampshire primary that al-Qaeda had tried to attack the U.K. shortly after Gordon Brown took over as prime minister.

Obama said Clinton's comments were ``part and parcel with what we've seen, the use of the fear of terrorism in scoring political points. And I think that's a mistake.''

Clinton said she was merely reminding U.S. voters that they should weigh who would be best prepared as commander-in- chief ``because we are up against a relentless enemy.''

Running a Bureaucracy

Obama defended his comments in a Nevada interview in which he said he lacked experience running a bureaucracy. ``Being president is not making sure that schedules are being run properly or the paperwork is being shuffled effectively,'' he said. ``It involves having a vision for where the country needs to go.''

Clinton took exception to that. ``I respect what Barack said about setting the vision, setting the tone, bringing people together,'' she said. ``But I think you have to be able to manage and run the bureaucracy.''

Obama said he ``absolutely'' regretted telling Clinton in the previous Democratic debate that she was ``likable enough.''

``My intention was to say, `I think you're plenty likable,'' Obama said.

A moment later, Clinton said she had ``the highest regard for both Senator Obama and Senator Edwards'' and had supported their previous bids for office. ``There's no doubt that when we have a nominee, we're going to have a totally unified party.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Edwin Chen in Washington at echen32@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 16, 2008 01:28 EST