Candidates Compete at Iowa Dinner

Democratic presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., talks with potential supporters before speaking at the Iowa Democratic Party's annual Hall of Fame Dinner, Saturday, June 2, 2007, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) (Charlie Neibergall - AP)

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- Democratic presidential hopefuls warmed up for Sunday's big debate by trying to impress about 1,000 activists at the Iowa Democratic Party's Hall of Fame dinner on Saturday.

The lineup included New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd and Delaware Sen. Joe Biden.

The evening's speeches touched mainly on the war in Iraq, health care and renewable energy, with plenty of barbs aimed at the Bush administration.

"It is time for the president of the United States to ask the American people to be patriotic about something other than war," Edwards said, adding that America has "so much work to do" to re-establish itself as a moral leader in the world. He challenged Congress to force the president to end the war in Iraq.

"If we want to make America what it is capable of being, it's going to require all of us," he said.

Dodd's said the Bush administration has been allowed to "squander our image in the world" and ignore the wishes of the American people.

"They want this war in Iraq to be stopped. They don't want to give this president a blank check any longer," Dodd said.

Biden said it's time for Democrats to force Republican colleagues "to choose their troops and their homeland over loyalty to their president." And, he said, the United States must get other nations to help end the war and stabilize the region.

"We have to make Iraq the world's problem, we have to get the international community to embrace the solutions," he said.

Clinton said: "People are ready for change. In fact, they'd like to push the restart button on the 21st century."

Richardson touted his international experience and pushed his "Clean Energy Nation" policy, a plan that includes lowering global warming pollution 20 percent over a dozen years.

"America must lead this energy revolution, and we must work with the rest of the world to secure our future," Richardson said. "One thing this administration has never understood _ we cannot do it alone."