Democratic Field Seeks New Moves to Halt War

The statement did not address potential areas of compromise that she would support, such as benchmarks for the Iraqi government, and her spokesman declined to go beyond the statement. Biden, for example, said he opposes a compromise that includes only benchmarks.

Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said the Illinois senator prefers to continue to gather support in Congress to override the president's veto. "Senator Obama is focused on putting pressure on members of Congress to override the president's veto," he said. "It's obvious now that the president is too stubborn to move and the only way to change the direction of his war is to change Congress."

Gibbs said Obama believes that Democrats have made progress in changing minds in Congress and said there will be future opportunities, whether through the supplemental bill or future defense spending measures, to build support for a course change in Iraq.

Nor were Clinton or Obama willing to say whether they could support legislation co-sponsored initially by Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) that would begin a troop withdrawal 120 days after enactment and cut off funds for the war, with some narrow exceptions, on March 31, 2008.

"Anything on that is a ways away," Gibbs said.

Clinton's Senate spokesman, Philippe Reines, said in an e-mail message, "She is focused on the current efforts to enact the legislation that provides funding for our troops while changing course in Iraq."

Their rivals were less hesitant in offering their views on the Feingold-Reid measure. Dodd was the first of the Democratic presidential candidates to sign onto the bill and Christy Setzer, Dodd's campaign press secretary, said in an e-mail message yesterday: "He will continue to seek opportunities to stand up to the president on his failed policy, end the war and bring our troops home."

Edwards would go further than the Feingold-Reid bill by requiring an immediate withdrawal of 40,000 to 50,000 troops, although his timetable for full withdrawal could stretch to 18 months. But, he said, using the power of the purse to force a troop withdrawal "is exactly the right thing to do."

Richardson said he supported Feingold-Reid but preferred his own strategy of denying Bush's authority to continue the war as a more effective option. Biden offered tentative support for the Feingold-Reid approach, but only if there is sufficient funding for a residual force in Iraq. He said if the measure included that provision, "I would be inclined to look favorably at it."

Biden has argued recently that the only successful solution to the Iraq war is a political settlement that calls for partitioning the country into three largely autonomous regions. His rivals, he said, are wrong to put their faith in creating a strong central government in Iraq.

Dodd called Biden's plan unrealistic. Obama believes such a solution can be done only at the instigation of the Iraqi parties, "not an America imposed solution," Gibbs said.

Richardson called it "a step in the right direction" but said the United States first must push for a strong central government with the goal of a loose confederation of entities, not the equivalent of separate states.

Clinton did not address the issue in response to questions.