Richardson, other 2008 hopefuls square off

Gov. Bill Richardson is about to take part in a 2008 presidential forum with most of the other democratic hopefuls in Carson City, Nev. I’ll have updates every few minutes in this article, with each new update appearing at the end of the article. Check back often, or come back later for complete coverage of the forum.

You can watch the forum live by clicking here.

Chris Dodd

Update, 1:25 p.m.

In the first-in-the-nation 2008 presidential candidate forum, Sen. Chris Dodd got the first chance to address about 1,000 people in Nevada and more on national television. He said there is a “sense of urgency in our country that we all feel” and “issues that we all need to address.”

“I believe it’s going to take a sense of optimism,” he said. “… We’ve got to come together as a party first, and then as a nation. I believe that takes optimism, confidence” and “proven leadership.”

Dodd then spoke of his experience as a senator, and took a shot at President Bush.

“We’ve been through six years of on-the-job training. That has to stop in America,” he said.

In response to a question asked by moderator George Stephanopoulos, an ABC News journalist, Dodd said tax cuts for the rich must be repealed, the war in Iraq must end, and tax cuts should be offered to the middle class.

Dodd, who voted to authorize the war in Iraq in 2002, said it was a mistake.

“It was a mistake, in my view,” Dodd said in explaining that he isn’t afraid to admit mistakes.

He called for the redeployment or forces from Baghdad “immediately.”

“I want to see the Congress have real debates, with real resolutions, with real accountability,” he said. “… Young men and women are losing their lives in Iraq. They deserve better than we’re giving them.”

Dodd’s answers elicited a number of rounds of applause, cheers and laughter as he engaged the enthusiastic crowd.

Hillary Clinton

Update, 1:40 p.m.

Sen. Hillary Clinton was next, and announced that today is the “first day of my presidential campaign in this state.” She said she is looking forward to getting to know the people of Nevada.

Clinton said she already knows about one topic that matters to people in Nevada: the right to unionize. That elicited cheers from the group.

“I’m in it to be the best president that we can have for the working families of America,” Clinton said, touting her credentials in health care and education.

She called for an increase in the minimum wage, keeping social security public and standing “against the privatization of our government.” The Bush Administration has cut drastically the federal workforce and replaced workers with contractors, and Clinton said she would reverse that trend.

“What I want to do with all of you is renew the promise of America,” she said, calling for universal health care and increased use of renewable energy.

Clinton, like Dodd, voted to authorize the war in Iraq, but has refused pressure to say her vote was a mistake.

“My vote was a sincere vote based on the facts and assurances that I had at the time,” Clinton said. “… I think the most important thing now is to focus on what we have to do together, particularly as Democrats, to try to force this president to change directions.”

She said the United States must force Iraqis to take responsibility for their government and said she supports cutting funding for Iraqi troops to force that to happen. She called for an international conference on peace in Iraq and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

Pointing out that the United States spends more on health care than most nations, Clinton said the nation must find a way to transition to universal health care without the costs rising. She said she will propose a specific plan, but didn’t go into details. She said she wants universal health care in place by the end of her second term.

Clinton called for Democrats to stay positive during their campaigns against each other for the nomination.

Tom Vilsack

Update, 1:50 p.m.

Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack told a story about a 5-year-old boy in Seattle who asked him if more troops would make a difference in Iraq. Vilsack said he told the boy more troops would not help, and the boy said to him, “I’m frightened every day.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m here today because that’s not my America and that’s not your America,” he said. “… This war needs to be ended now.”

Vilsack said that could happen if Congress asserted its authority and ended funding for the war.

“It’s a political solution that is required,” he said. “… As long as we are in the middle of this, that political solution is being sidestepped.”

The war, Vilsack said, has also “undermined” the National Guard and the nation’s ability to respond to natural disasters and other problems. And, he said, if more troops are needed anywhere, it’s in Afghanistan.

“Let’s find Bin Laden, let’s hold those who hurt us responsible,” he said.

Vilsack also called for a focus on public infrastructure that will provide jobs for Americans.

On the topic of health care, Vilsack said he agrees that the United States needs universal health coverage, but said the problem needs a more widespread focus on “wellness.” He said that would include education of parents and a focus on health in schools.

“There are ways to do this without necessarily raising the tax burden on folks,” Vilsack said, calling for “innovative and creative” ways to “look inside the budget” and find areas, including defense, where “billions of dollars can be saved.”

“Maybe we could make health care the priority, and not the war in Iraq,” he said.

Vilsack also called for an overhaul of social security and Medicare and Medicaid.

John Edwards

Update, 2 p.m.

Former Sen. John Edwards was welcomed by a loud round of applause. He spoke of his work to raise the minimum wage in Nevada, which gives him personal experience with and the approval of unions in Nevada. That’s a large part of why he’s considered the frontrunner in that state.

Edwards said the most important “anti-poverty movement” in America is the union movement, and called for making it easier for Americans to join unions.

“It’s nothing but democracy. It’s what we believe in,” Edwards said. “… We need to grow and strengthen the middle class in America.”

Edwards said Americans “cannot stand silent” in the face of a health care crisis, and said he is the first candidate to propose a “detailed, substantive” plan for implementing universal health care. Taking an apparent shot at Clinton, he said such coverage can’t wait 6-8 years, and said he’ll start working on it as soon as he takes office.

He also said the plan won’t be cheap. He said he’ll have to roll back a Bush tax cut for the wealthy to pay for it.

On Iraq, Edwards said “it is not enough to debate, give speeches and pass non-binding resolutions,” and called on Congress “to stand up” to Bush.

“This is about men and women who are losing their lives in Iraq,” Edwards said. “We need to leave Iraq.”

“We’ve had six years of a president who will take no responsibility for what he’s done,” Edwards said. “… It’s time for a different kind of leadership in this country. We need a leader who will be open and honest with you and the American people.”

“I voted for this war. I was wrong to vote for this war,” Edwards said. “I never should have voted for this war. I take responsibility for that.”

Asked if he was directing his comments at Clinton and her refusal to apologize for her vote, Edwards said that is “between her and her conscience.” He said for him, “it was important to stand on a foundation of truth” which included admitting a mistake.

“I did what I thought was the right thing then. It turned out to be wrong,” Edwards said. “… The most important characteristics we need in a president today are honesty and decency.”

Speaking about globalization, Edwards said it’s much more difficult for “working families to be able to move up and for their children to have a better life.” He said the answer is in better education of Americans and “a trade policy that works.”

Richardson is up next.

Bill Richardson

Update, 2:30 p.m.

Following a short break, Gov. Bill Richardson said he can tell people in four words how to solve the nation’s problems: “Elect a democratic president.” It’s a line he has used before, but it was well-received.

He also called for democratic candidates to sign a pledge that they won’t engage in negative campaigning against each other, which he’s also done before.

Richardson then said he is the candidate who can solve the nation’s problems.

“We need somebody who can bring this nation together,” he said.

“It’s critically important that the next president address the huge problems of the middle class,” he said, then added that he believes he has done that in New Mexico.

“Governors actually do things,” Richardson said to a laughing audience. He spoke of creating jobs in New Mexico, reinstating collective bargaining and providing good health benefits.

“A lot of candidates and a lot of people talk about these things. I’ve done it,” Richardson said.

He called getting out of Iraq “critical.”

“The Congress authorized this war. Now they should de-authorize it,” Richardson said.

He said the next president must fight global warming and make the United States energy independent, using his now-familiar “man-on-the-moon effort” phrase to describe how he would do that.

“We’re going to have to have a president that can make this happen,” Richardson said.

He also called for universal health care and better education, and pledged to support unions.

A supporter of Barack Obama, the sole Democratic candidate who did not attend the forum, attacked Clinton earlier this week. Edwards refused to call on Obama to denounce the attack, but Richardson, in response to a question, said Obama should.

“I think these name-callings are not good,” Richardson said. “… We don’t need that.”

Richardson said he would not raise taxes to pay for universal health care. He said he believes in universal coverage, but would focus on “preventative” health care as a way to lower costs. He said a focus on states and companies solving the health care problem is the best approach.

Richardson called for a plan that ensures that all children under age five and working Americans are insured.

“I don’t think the solution of the Democratic Party should always be to spend more and tax more,” Richardson said, adding that “if we give flexibility to the states, we can have universal health care.”

He closed by touting his prior experience and speaking with knowledge about global problems.

Joe Biden

Update, 2:45 p.m.

Sen. Joe Biden said he’ll be the first “to sign on to Richardson’s pledge” to not be negative. He said he has a detailed plan to get out of Iraq, and called on people to visit his Web site to read about it.

In short, he said, “you’ve got to decentralize Iraq,” give Sunnis “a piece of their oil” and involve the world in bringing peace to Iraq.

“If we don’t get it right, we are going to be shackled, financially and in every other way, for a long time to come,” Biden said.

Biden has said his vote to authorize the Iraq war was a mistake.

“I vastly underestimated the incompetence of this administration,” Biden said.

He said the Bush Administration acted responsibly in Afghanistan, and he assumed Bush would do the same in Iraq, but that was not the case.

“That was a giant mistake I made, assuming their competence,” he said.

Biden said getting out of Iraq is the critical first step to solving all other problems. If the United States doesn’t fix this “mess,” war will spread across the Middle East, he said.

Biden said he is the only candidate to offer “a specific political solution for Iraq,” and said it involves the cooperation of all world leaders to pressure Iraq to build a “decentralized, federal state.” He said Iraq is currently moving toward a more centralized federal government, and it won’t work.

He said Iraqis don’t have the “confidence” they need to stop violence on their own, and said the solution isn’t as simple as Americans pulling out of Iraq. He said if the United States pulls out and does nothing else to help bring peace, disaster will strike when other, dangerous nations or groups enter Iraq and spread chaos.

Biden wants to revoke Bush’s authority to go to war in Iraq and force Bush to use American troops to keep others out of Iraq so Iraqis can be left alone to resolve differences and build a federal system.

He said that’s all American troops should do, saying it would “give the parties the breathing room” they need to find peace.

“I am betting my career on it,” Biden said.

On education, Biden said the No Child Left Behind Act is underfunded. He said more money must be directed to having smaller classrooms and higher teacher pay.

Dennis Kucinich

Update, 2:55 p.m.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich said it “must be tough” for presidential candidates to “claim that they were tricked, deceived, misled by George Bush.”

“Well, here’s one person who wasn’t,” he said to laughter from the audience. It was the first of many shots he took at the other democratic contenders.

Kucinich went on to describe Iraq as a disaster. People who want to be president must have the clarity to see such disasters coming, he said.

“Everything I saw was that there was no proof that Iraq had anything to do with 9/11, or had weapons of mass destruction,” he said.

Kucinich said he has had a plan for several years that would solve the problems in Iraq. Congress must cut funding and “we must end the occupation,” he said. Then, Kucinich said, a United Nations peacekeeping force must be sent in to take its place.

At the same time, there must be “a program for reconciliation” between ethnic groups, and the removal of American corporations that are contributing to the violence.

“We have a moral obligation,” Kucinich said. “… We have to stop trying to steal the oil that belongs to the people of Iraq.”

“If Iraq had not had oil, it’s highly unlikely that we would have gone in there,” he said.

He also called for some sort of reparations from the American government and a reconciliation process between Iraqis and Americans.

“I was right from the beginning on this, and if people want real leadership, I’m ready,” Kucinich said.

On health care, Kucinich also supports universal health care. He has proposed in the past “Medicare for all” that doesn’t “provide for a role for for-profit insurance companies,” which is what Kucinich said separates him from the other democratic candidates.

“Our party’s been the party of the insurance people when it’s come to health care,” Kucinich said, pledging that would end if he were elected president.

He also called for federal agencies to focus more on workers’ rights, saying government hasn’t done enough to enforce its laws.

And he criticized the North American Free Trade Agreement – in which Richardson played a role – and American’s trade agreements in general, saying they don’t do enough to protect workers.

NAFTA “really undermined workers everywhere,” he said, adding that he would begin the process of cancelling it his first week in office.

American trade, he said, would then be based on guarantees of workers’ rights.

Mike Gravel

Update, 3:10 p.m.

Former Sen. Mike Gravel said he is not convinced that democrats can capture the presidency in 2008, because it’s contingent on whether Americans demand accountability on Iraq. He pointed out that “tens of millions” of Americans didn’t think the United States should invade Iraq, but Congress allowed it anyway.

He was highly critical of Congress, and said it should rescind its approval of the war, which he said would set up a “constitutional crisis” and start a fight with the Bush Administration.

Gravel predicted that such action would end the war within six months.

Gravel has been out of elected office for more than 20 years. When asked why people should vote for him, he said he is “not politics as usual” and said he has a long record of working for people. Meanwhile, he said, the other candidates allowed themselves to be misled into a war in Iraq.

If he’s not selected, Gravel said, Vilsack is his favorite choice and Richardson is his second, because they have “executive experience.”

Gravel was highly critical of Congress and the direction it and the Bush Administration are taking the nation.

“We’re too busy carrying the yoke of the industrial-military complex. That’s what’s going on,” he said. “We Americans have been drugged with fear for more than 50 years, and it’s got to stop.”

Gravel also called for an end to the personal income tax system. He said it should be replaced with a higher sales tax.

“Whatever you spend – if you spend more you pay more tax,” Gravel said.

He said 30,000 lobbyists in Washington milk the income tax to benefit the rich, and said they would not be able to do that under his simpler plan.

Gravel also called for a new public financing system for elections.

“There’s nobody running in this race that’s got less money than I have,” he said. “Make no mistake about it.”

Gravel said he is running primarily to empower the people, regardless of whether he wins.

“People who acquire power do not want to share it with the people they got it from, and that’s you,” Gravel said.

That was the end of the forum – the first of the 2008 election season.