Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, walk backstage after a forum on health care Saturday at UNLV. The event drew seven Democratic presidential candidates and an audience of about 600. Photos by John Locher. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., speaks during the forum Saturday at UNLV. The event was sponsored by the Service Employees International Union and the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Gov. Bill Richardson is seen on a video screen at a forum Saturday in Las Vegas. Sen. Barack Obama speaks at the forum.

If Las Vegas had the fever for the Democratic presidential candidates Saturday, each was eager to convince Nevadans he or she had the cure for American health care.

Seven candidates addressed an audience at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, at Southern Nevada's first showcase of presidential wannabes since the state got an early voice in the nominating process last year.

"What we need to do is to make a commitment, and I'm proud that everyone running on the Democratic side is committed to universal health care coverage," New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton told a crowd of about 600 at the event, sponsored by the Service Employees International Union and the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

"But we don't only need candidates to talk about it, to have a plan," Clinton added. "We need a movement. We need people to make health care the No. 1 issue to send a message to the special interests and to Congress."

Clinton, who tried and failed to enact sweeping health care legislation during her husband's presidential administration 13 years ago, was the obvious crowd favorite at Saturday's event, the first issue-specific forum of the 2008 presidential race. Her tales of people faced with insurance nightmares got wild, standing cheers, and much of the arena emptied when she left the stage.

The candidates took the stage one by one and answered questions from a moderator, Karen Tumulty of Time magazine; audience members, most of them union members and UNLV students; and a Web site where members of the public could post queries.

Many of the union members were health care providers. The SEIU's 15,000 members in Nevada include 80 percent of the state's nurses.

In addition to Clinton, former Sen. John Edwards, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. Chris Dodd, Rep. Dennis Kucinich and former Sen. Mike Gravel addressed the gathering.

Organizers said Republican candidates were invited, but none accepted.

Although there was broad agreement among the candidates that the current health care system's gaps in coverage and up-spiraling costs must be addressed and that the federal government should come up with a way to give everyone health insurance, there were subtle divisions.

Edwards said unequivocally that his plan would require new taxes and that the cost was worth it; others were reluctant to go that far.

"We've spent a great deal of time studying this issue, working with health care economists across the country," Edwards said. "I do not believe you can have universal health care without new sources of revenue."

The former North Carolina senator said he was trying to be honest about what he was proposing.

"The American people have heard so many politicians say for so long, 'Oh, we're going to have universal health care, we're going to transform the way we use energy in America, we're going to end poverty in America, and in the process we're going to eliminate the federal deficit,'" he said. "They've probably got a bridge in Brooklyn they want to sell you."

Edwards has put forward and made a centerpiece of his campaign a detailed health care plan that mixes mandates on employers, government and individuals to ensure everyone is covered.

Hanging over his speech and the entire forum was the specter of his wife's illness. Elizabeth Edwards announced Thursday that her breast cancer has returned and is incurable.

John Edwards sought to allay doubts that he can continue to campaign in such circumstances, saying he was "definitely in the race for the duration."

Richardson, speaking after Edwards, said attention should be focused on the need for more funding for cancer research.

Unlike Edwards, Richardson said he didn't think taxes would be needed to universalize health care. He proposed expanding programs already in place, such as the federal employees' health plan, Medicare, Medicaid, state children's health insurance programs and veterans' health programs, and requiring that everyone be covered.

Cutting health care costs and redirecting money being spent in Iraq to health care would pay for these changes, Richardson said.

And that wasn't the most ambitious proposal from Richardson: He said he'd get it all done in a single year.

"I believe with a Democratic president, a Democratic Congress, I believe this plan that I outlined, which is basically a plan that is taking new ideas into an existing framework, could be achieved my first year as president. I believe it's doable," he said.

Obama's time frame was more modest. He promised to achieve universal health care by the end of his first presidential term if elected.

The Illinois senator said he didn't have a detailed plan yet; he said his campaign was still working on it and would present something in the next couple of months. He said his plan would be based on the principles that coverage must be universal and that employers, government and individuals must all contribute.

But he also said the details weren't necessarily the most important thing.

"Every four years, somebody trots out a white paper and they post it on the Web," Obama said. "The question we have to challenge ourselves is, do we have the political will and the sense of urgency to actually get it done? I want to be held accountable for getting it done. I will judge my first term as president based on whether we have delivered the kind of health care that every American deserves."

Clinton has previously said she'd need two terms in the White House to fix health care, and she didn't back down from that position Saturday.

"We all are going to try to start as soon as possible" on the problem, she said. "We can move quickly, but make no mistake, it's going to be a series of steps."

Clinton emphasized insurance companies' practices that she said keep people from getting the care they need.

"Insurance companies make money by spending a lot of money and employing a lot of people to try to avoid insuring you, and then if you're insured, to try to avoid paying for the health care you receive," she said.

Her Senate office, she said, regularly intervenes to help constituents wrangle with their insurance companies.

"I just don't think people should have to go to their United States senator to get their insurance company to pay for what they should already have," she said. She also called for an end to "insurance discrimination" against people with pre-existing medical conditions.

Clinton said there should be a government health plan that exists as an affordable alternative for people whose employers don't cover them; employers who don't cover employees would pay into a government fund, and individuals would be required to get coverage.

Dodd pitched a wider-ranging approach, saying factors such as nutrition, employment, wages and the environment also affect health. Relatively unknown nationally, the longtime Connecticut senator touted his record of "reaching out to the other side in the political system."

Dodd authored the Family and Medical Leave Act, which he said he labored to pass over seven years and two presidential vetoes. He also founded the Senate Children's Caucus and pushed several children's health initiatives.

Dodd said he wasn't someone who'd always cherished presidential ambitions but was moved to run by concerns about his two young children's future in the wake of Sept. 11.

"My daughter Grace was born 48 hours after 9/11 in Arlington, Virginia. ... I could watch her being born and see the Pentagon burn," he said. "And I thought, what kind of a life is she going to have growing up? What kind of world is she going to grow up in? So I feel a certain amount of impatience about all of this."

Dodd said that he didn't want to set a deadline, but that reforming health care would be "the first order of business in a Dodd administration."

The candidates considered to have the slimmest chances, Kucinich of Ohio and Gravel of Alaska, went last and spoke to a largely empty hall. Both proposed a totally government-run, single-payer health care system and were critical of the other candidates for proposing what they deemed half measures.

Audience members interviewed were nearly unanimous in their enthusiasm for Clinton. Some said they'd arrived undecided or planning to support other candidates but were won over by Clinton's speech.

Derrell Joseph, 50, of Los Angeles, said hearing Clinton speak was almost like listening to President Clinton all over again.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to take anything away from Hillary,'' she said. "She was taught well and took everything in, that's obvious. Now she is as strong a candidate as anyone else, if not stronger.''

Wayne Smith, 48, who works in the Clark County Department of Aviation, said he was "going to a Richardson event after this, but after listening to Hillary, I don't know. Hillary knew what she was talking about and seems to have some answers.''

As for Obama, who is No. 2 to Clinton in most preliminary Democratic polls, attendees lauded his speaking abilities but said there wasn't much there in terms of substance.

"He's an outstanding speaker,'' said Carol Chesnut, 67, of Las Vegas. "I just don't know if he has the experience to run the country. I like him a lot, though.''

Review-Journal writer Annette Wells contributed to this report.