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WASHINGTON - If Bill Clinton was the "first black president," his wife and Barack Obama are vying to be the second.Obama, the only black running for the White House, came into a debate Thursday night at predominantly black Howard University with the crowd on his side, chanting his name as all eight Democratic candidates posed for pictures on stage. But Hillary Rodham Clinton appeared to win many of them over in an impassioned performance that addressed their anger over inequality."If HIV/AIDS we...

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WASHINGTON ? A historically diverse field of Democratic presidential candidates ? a woman, a black, an Hispanic and five whites ? denounced an hours-old Supreme Court affirmative action ruling Thursday night and said the nation's slow march to racial unity is far from over.

"We have made enormous progress, but the progress we have made is not good enough," said Sen. Barack Obama, the son of a man from Kenya and a woman from Kansas.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the first female candidate with a serious shot at the presidency, drew the night's largest cheer when she suggested there was a hint of racism in the way AIDS is addressed in this country.

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WASHINGTON — Setting aside their discord on the Iraq war, eight Democratic presidential candidates presented a largely united front in their third debate Thursday night, vowing to fight racial bias and improve day-to-day living conditions for all Americans.

The debate at Howard University on issues considered key to black voters came hours after a Supreme Court ruling that barred the use of racial guidelines to integrate public schools, a decision roundly condemned by the candidates.

"To say today that you're going to exclude race as a means of allowing for the diversity in our communities is a major step backwards," Sen. Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut said, "and as president of the United States, I would use whatever tool is available to me to see to it that we reverse this decision today."

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Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign announced Wednesday that it had raised about $27 million over the last three months, but sought to soften the impact of what it said would probably be a better showing by Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

In an e-mail to supporters, Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson said the New York senator's $27 million set a record for a Democrat for the time period, but he added: "We do expect Sen. Obama to significantly out-raise us this quarter."

Obama's campaign has yet to announce its fundraising total for the three months.

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On a day when the US Supreme Court issued a direct challenge to race-conscious education policies, the eight Democratic presidential candidates debated issues deemed important to minority voters.

The candidates, meeting last night at Howard University, a predominantly black college in Washington, differed on HIV infection rates, Hurricane Katrina, early childhood education, and a host of other themes rarely touched on in the prior two Democratic debates.

But last night's event was also notable for how personal it was: Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, and Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico all began by noting that their mere presence was a testament to how far America had come.

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