Race Becomes
Issue as Clinton, Obama Fight for Minority Vote

Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama have become embroiled in racially tinged disputes as large numbers of black voters prepare to get their first say in the Democratic presidential campaign.

The candidates and their surrogates are heating up their rhetoric, and it could prove to be combustible beyond South Carolina's January 26 primary.

Clinton, on defense over comments that she and her husband made regarding Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy and Obama's fitness for the White House, tried to turn the tables on her top primary rival. She accused his campaign of looking to score political points by distorting their words.

Hillary Clinton had said King's dream of racial equality was realized only when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, while Bill Clinton said Illinois senator Obama was telling a ''fairy tale'' about his opposition to the Iraq war. Black leaders have criticized their comments, and Obama said Sunday her comment about King was ''ill-advised.''

Barack Obama makes stops in Nevada today. John Edwards talks to voters in South Carolina, while Hillary Clinton campaigns in New York. (AP)