Edwards, who vowed a positive campaign, takes off the gloves

After a lengthy answer by front-runner Senator John F. Kerry on whether he felt responsibility for voting to authorize the Iraq war, Senator John Edwards of North Carolina quipped, "That's the longest answer I ever heard to a yes-or-no question." The crowd broke into laughter.

It marked the first time Edwards, normally a congenial debater and campaigner, took direct aim at Kerry during the voting season, coming close to ridiculing his position on the Iraq war. For the past three weeks, Edwards has shied away from direct confrontation with Kerry. He badly trails Kerry in Wisconsin polls. And so his gloves-on approach ended -- at least briefly -- yesterday.

Political specialists interviewed after the debate said the exchange was memorable but probably not enough to put Edwards back into contention.

In an otherwise placid debate, the exchange stood out as a dramatic high point. After the debate, Edwards said of his remarks: "Well, it was a pretty straightforward question -- my quick answer to that would have been, `Yes, of course.' "

He added that he did not think the exchange marked a shift in tone by him.

Of the exchange, Kenneth Mayer, a University of Wisconsin at Madison political scientist, said, "That's the kind of clip people might remember, but I didn't think it was damaging to Kerry."