The live blog, as well as the event, has now completed.

Adam Burke was on hand in Davenport tonight and will have video from the event available. I’ll have a more thorough report tomorrow, once I have time to digest both the forum and the after-event receptions for the various candidates.

8:20 p.m. — Richardson says, “We need to end this war now.”

Clinton says she doesn’t think any can stand up here and answer the question — don’t know what they will inherit. She says we don’t know what’s gone on under this administration — that she will launch investigation.

Dodd says he is angered by talking about 2009 and 2010, when we should be talking about right now — that’s why the Democrats won the majority.

Edwards closing statement — we need all we talked about tonight. Hits on the gap between the haves and the have nots. “If I weren’t running for president what I would be looking for is someone honest, that I can trust and who has integrity.”

Dodd’s closing statement — If I asked people here what you care about most, you’d answer your families. You want this nation to have hope and opportunity for them just like it did for us. The American people are exhausted by the debate — they want results.

Biden closing statement — How many more fallen angels are we going to have to sustain before we end George Bush’s war? He says I have no plan to end this war, I’m handing it off to the next guy. One of us on this stage will have to end this war — they better be smarter than their Secretary of State.

Clinton closing statement — I want to set big goals for America again. I want to restore America in the war — starting with ending the war. But there is far more to do — much to do because of the policies of this administration. I ask for your help — We are going to face the most difficult set of challenges that anyone has.

Richardson closing statement — He ends with the FDR story: Funeral train of FDR. Man was crying. Man was asked if he knew the president. No, but he knew me.

8:17 p.m. — Iraq question again… on the day you take office, what would be the size of the military troops in Iraq?

Biden says it depends on the settlement agreement. “It will depend on what this guy leaves me,” he says.

Edwards says it is impossible to say because we don’t know what the circumstance will be at that time. He says if he were president today, he’d pull 50,000 out today and begin to scale down. Says Biden is right – that we need to engage other countries in the region.

Richardson — Zero troops. He disagrees with Edwards he says — you can’t leave some in while you pull combat troops out.

8:13 p.m. — Richardson hits the “women” chord first by saying that women should not be treated as a special interest when they are the larger segment of the population.

Clinton hops in to say Richardson is correct and to pound the drum for equal pay.

Woodruff wants Biden to explain his plan — would it cause more sectarian violence?

Biden says no — nearly everyone agrees with his plan (and he names names). “It’s real simple,” he says. “You aren’t going to be able to govern this country from the center.”

One more question related to Iraq… but does anyone disagree?

Dodd says he doesn’t necessarily disagree with Biden, but thinks it will have to be the Iraqis who make this decision.

Richardson says the partition plan is an option, but only after all the troops are out.

8:08 p.m. — Richardson says he likes tax cuts — he wants to see the cuts for the middle class be permanent. He also believes in cuts for businesses that pay above the prevailing wage.

Richardson turns and now attacks Dodd in relation to the corporate carbon tax. It seems that Richardson is attempting to create separation not between himself and the front-runners, but between himself and those closest to him in the polls.

Edwards says we need tax cuts for the middle class — help for people to be able to save their money.

Biden says it isn’t the Barack Obama Tax Cut — he says four on the state proposed it 10 years ago and it lost. “We did that. It lost. That’s why I voted against the president’s other tax cuts for the wealthy.”

8:06 p.m. — Clinton says the Alternative Minimum Tax is very expensive. We need to eliminate it for the people who it was never intended to impact.

8:00 p.m. — We are moving into the last half-hour of the debate, says Woodruff.

All warned of the dangers of global warming. Experts say a strict carbon tax is needed.

Clinton says that is not needed. Lots of things we need to do to move us to renewable fuels, she adds.

Dodd says he is only candidate that supports a corporate carbon tax. None of us want to impose a tax, but you can’t be serious about global warming until you are willing to take this step.

Edwards — Alternative Minimum Tax is hitting 23 million people, soon to increase to 50 million people. Would you repeal?

No, but it needs to be modified, he says.

7:50 p.m. — To Biden, are you in favor of company pensions? He says we need to change bankruptcy code in order to change what’s been happening with removed company pensions and then big bonuses for CEOs.

Clinton says she agrees with Biden. Ten points to Clinton for being the first to mention Dick Cheney and Halliburton. She says it was wrong that the pensions at Halliburton were having difficulty while Cheney was being paid $20 million dollars.

Edwards says it is important to strengthen unions if we want workers to have pensions when they retire. He, of course, gets huge applause for this line. He says there should be a law that all pensions — from top to bottom — should be treated the same. If one goes, they all go.

Richardson answers and once again takes a swipe at Biden. There has to be dedicated pension reform says Richardson.

Dodd — Iowa has 9th greatest foreclosure rate in the county. Why? What is Washington going to do?

Greed more than anything else, he says, are to blame here. He gives an outline of the problem — lying about income, lying about obligations. Those who are affected should be given a work-out. “I’m not going to tolerate anyone losing their home because a bank or a broker took advantage of them.”

This is too big of an issue for a 30-second answer he says — it’s going to take leadership in Washington.

Edwards says he’s proposed a national predatory lending laws — cap on interest rates for payday loans, national home rescue fund.

Biden — should interest rate be cut? No — “we are not going to get ourselves out of this by cutting interest rates.” Biden attacks hedge funds.

7:45 p.m. — Edwards hits on the cap on what is put into Social Security. Woodruff asks if they all agree on it. Clinton says she wants to focus on the fiscal responsibility of this. Clinton says no, when pressed by Edwards.

Dodd — Dems are critical of Pres. Bush for saying “my way or the highway,” but if you take all his plans off the table, aren’t you doing the same thing?

Dodd says no. We need to encourage and help people contribute to their own longterm financial security, he says. There should be a safety net regardless of where you live and regardless of personal situation.

Biden: I was there in 79 and then 83 when we fixed it. It wasn’t economic growth, he says. He says it was raising the retirement age that saved social security. “Let’s not kid each other. It wasn’t just economic growth that did it. It takes tough decisions sometimes.”

Anyone support doing away with early retirement agency? No one was.

Richardson is hitting economic growth — says he believes it will work.

On a personal note, I wonder if Clinton and Dodd have any surface burns from the sparks flying between Richardson and Biden.

7:40 p.m. — Question to Clinton: Are the current systems sustainable?

She says the way we are going, they are not. “We’ve lost 14 years in the past 7″ because of this administration’s fiscal irresponsibility.

Biden says Bush should be called Houdini because of how he’s made the money disappear.

Dodd says everyone needs to know that George W. Bush has racked up more debt than all 42 of the previous White House residents.

Richardson says he disagrees — and is attacked by a fly. Says Social Security system is dependent on economic growth.

7:30 p.m. — The next question asks the question if there should be a government-run, single-payer system.

Biden says absolutely not. He goes on to add that the amount of money candidates are raising is obscene. Biden takes a direct jab at Richardson by saying covering 2 million people in New Mexico isn’t the same as 300 million across the nation. “That’s like saying you played half-back in high school and are now ready to go pro,” he said.

He then hammers on Clinton and Edwards, saying he doesn’t feel they would be able to pull support from the other side of the aisle.

Richardson responds saying that at least he is one who has managed a health care system.

Single-payer system yes or no? All the candidates said no.

The internet connection here in the press room is a bit iffy — up one moment, down the next. Sorry the updates aren’t going up as quickly as they should.

Edwards gives another portion of his stump speech – take the power away from the lobbyists in Washington and give it to the American people.

Dodd says had we just done what we should, it would have saved $330 million. He says Greenspan was wrong — we don’t need to undermine Social Security.

Biden says Alan Greenspan is protecting the stake holders.

Richardson says Greenspan is wrong because everyone deserves the best quality health care.

7:25 p.m. — Here’s the video:

Clinton is striking back on Edwards’ sharp remarks — there’s a split of the two of them on the screen. She says she’s happy so many more are fighting this fight, that it is no longer such a lonely road.

Dodd is asked about insurance and the ties to his state of Connecticut.

We need to have more control and more oversight of the industry, he says. Dodd, like the others, has now elected to discuss his plan. “We don’t need to talk about efforts we made and failed,” he says. “We need leadership in this country to get the job done.”

Richardson says he’s the only one on the stage that has directly dealt with health care as a governor. He outlines much of the same as he has on the campaign trail in Iowa — removed junk foods from schools and so-forth.

7:21 p.m. — Richardson is now talking about his health care plan. He believes we should end the waste and focus on preventive care.

Edwards is responding — says his proposal also saves money by doing the same things: electronic records, insurance caps, etc. He says, “The American people have been misled for years. We cannot have universal health care for free.” Says he isn’t attacking anyone on stage, but believes candidates in the past has come through Iowa and lied about it being an easy thing.

Edwards is asked about Clinton’s health care proposal. Says it is good. “Very similar to mine — so hard for me to be critical of it.”

7:10 p.m. — To Clinton, would money be put aside only for health care or would be available to other programs.

Clinton begins an outline of her plan. She says there is about half of what is needed to provide universal health care. There will be $77 billion dollars a year saved if medical records are made electronic. She wants that money to be put back into the system. On follow-up she says that “yes” the money will be reserved for health care.

Woodruff wants to know why it hasn’t happened sooner. Clinton says that “this is a business that makes a lot of money for a lot of people.” She then talks about the threat of veto on the children’s health care program.

Now we are to Dodd — Woodruff tells him to comment on everything Clinton said. Dodd gets a laugh from the audience by finishing Woodruff’s sentence “in 30 seconds.”

Dodd says no one party is going to write all of this. It’s going to take cooperation and leadership, he says, with proven ability to bring both sides ahead.

Staying with Dodd… question from Boyton Beach, Florida discussing home health care for the elderly that is done by people (family?) that are not receiving payment.

Biden says he believes those family members should be paid, that he doesn’t understand why foster care is, but long term care isn’t.

Richardson also believes there should be payment for caregivers.

Clinton interrupts Woodruff to say she wants to comment. She hits on the Respite Care Bill and says there are many great ideas out there to help families deal with long-term care issues.

Now to Edwards — The Bush tax cuts will be used to pay for health care? Will it be enough money?

Would tax rates on very wealthy go above 39 percent?

He says he is happy he was the first who had a health care plan. Beyond the tax cuts, he says he also has a tax reform proposal.

Long term health care is a big problem. He says he’s proposed eight weeks of paid leave for those who need to stop work to help with a family member.

7:08 p.m. — Clinton continues to talk about how Medicare and health care should be more cost effective. She believes preventive care is key.

On to Biden… question about national health care. Biden has pointed out individual states are already moving ahead, would it be best to let them?

It’s not the plan, says Biden, “it’s the man or the woman pushing the plan.” It has to be someone who will take on the insurance companies.

He says that allowing the states to go first allows people to get more adjusted to the idea, allows them to see the benefits.

Same question to Edwards who says this isn’t a “state problem” this is a “national problem.” Edwards hits his stump speech and launches attacks against lobbyists.

7:05 p.m. — Richardson starts up with a Medicare question. He says it needs to be changed… needs to be simplified, especially Medicare Part D. He also wants to see more focus on preventive care.

Richardson pulls part of his stump speech about pulling funding currently going to Iraq to fund health care.

Clinton agrees that changes need to be made. She says she voted against Part D because she felt there had to be better options. She hits on the “donuthole” in coverage that has been an issue for so many Iowans.

7:03 p.m. — Woodruff does the welcome. Questions were submitted by Iowans and Americans throughout the nation. Candidates were asked to keep answers a minute or under.

She says all candidates with an office and at least one paid staffer in Iowa were invited.

Candidate introductions… Richardson and Edwards seem to get the largest crowd response.

7:00 p.m. — It looks like we are underway in Davenport. Sponsors are being announced on the screen.

6:57 p.m. — I’ve just uploaded a video clip of the sign wars prior to the event. As soon as YouTube finishes processing, I’ll add it to this post.

The candidates are behind the podiums now. It looks like Joe Biden and Chris Dodd are having a nice exchange. The line up, from left to right, is Edwards, Richarson, Clinton, Dodd and Biden.

6:52 p.m. — Hey, there is sound and picture in the press room. The candidates have entered the stage and are posing for the press corps. Woodruff is making her way down the line, shaking hands and greeting them.

6:45 p.m. — Moderator Judy Woodruff is on the stage and outlining the ground rules. We’ve got sound, but no pictures in the press room. Let’s hope that gets fixed.

Just spoke quickly with Taylor West, Iowa spokeswoman for Sen. Chris Dodd, who relays that today has been a bit crazy. Due to votes in the Senate, the Senator had to miss his first flight and then had to cancel a second. He is here tonight, but will be flying back to Washington after the forum. Although I haven’t seen other spokespeople in the press room, I would guess this is true of all with active seats in the legislature.

The “Divided We Fail” AARP/IPTV Democratic presidential forum will be underway in roughly 20 more minutes. About 75 members of the press have signed in at the Adler Theater in Davenport and the press room is buzzing while all the laptops boot up.

The camera crew in the theater is going through checks and images of empty podiums are flickering back and forth while logos that I’m guessing will be run during the broadcast swoop into the picture and fade out.

Tonight’s forum will feature all of the Democratic presidential hopefuls except Sen. Barack Obama, Congressman Dennis Kucinich and former Sen. Mike Gravel. Obama was invited to participate, but declined. Gravel and Kucinich were not invited, although Kucinich has supporters on the ground and handing out information flyers.

Sound checks are underway on stage…