(CBS) By CBSNews.com Senior Political Editor Vaughn Ververs

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When celebrities like Mel Gibson or Britney Spears run afoul of public sentiment, they head straight to rehab in the hopes that their various sins will be forgiven by the public in whose hands such careers rest.

America, the thinking goes, has a soft spot for humble redemption.

In this fast-paced 2008 presidential election, a segment of the Democratic Party is insisting on their own litmus test for forgiving candidates who have supported the Iraq war in the past. It's a simple request made by staunch opponents of the war who will likely play a large role in tapping the eventual Democratic nominee. They simply want to hear "sorry."

This plea for penance is most directly affecting a handful of hopefuls who served in the U.S. Senate in 2002 when Congress voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq — Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Joe Biden and Chris Dodd. All voted to give President Bush the authority to use military force in Iraq and thus far three of them have renounced their votes in some manner, either by direct apology or by calling that vote a "mistake."

Edwards, now out of the Senate and running for president full-time, got ahead of the trend last fall when he penned an op-ed for the Washington Post on the subject.

"It was a mistake to vote for this war in 2002. I take responsibility for that mistake," he wrote in November. Dodd and Biden have since followed suit. Other Democratic hopefuls, most notably Barack Obama, have no vote to apologize for.

But Hillary Clinton, to the consternation of many in her party, just won't say the words "sorry" or "mistake." The question continues to be asked as she campaigns across key early primary states — and to dominate the media coverage of her events.

When Clinton made her first trip to New Hampshire earlier this month, voters took it directly to her.

"I want to know if right here, right now, once and for all and without nuance, you can say that war authorization was a mistake," said one man at a town-hall style meeting in Berlin.

Such exchanges were widely reported, as were her answers, which amounted to this: She would not have voted the same way now, President Bush is responsible for the mistakes made and she would like to end the war — but that's easier said than done.

In a return visit to the state this past weekend, according to reports, Clinton was asked point-blank why she would not apologize for the vote.

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