A dicey Midwestern ice storm couldn’t keep most of the presidential hopefuls from attending the Heartland Presidential Forum: Community Values in Action in Iowa, which was moderated by Radio One chairwoman Cathy Hughes.

With the Iowa caucuses only a month away, five democratic candidates were anxious to connect with the voters who could decide their political fate on Jan. 3.

Senators Barack Obama (D-IL), Chris Dodd (D-CT), along with Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and former North Carolina senator John Edwards stood before a crowd of more than 5,000 everyday citizens whose struggles against poverty, homelessness, discrimination and oppression were woven in into the fabric of American politics. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) was delayed by ice storms and airport closings, and did not make it to Iowa for the forum. Instead, she addressed voters at the forum by telephone.

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The non-traditional format of the forum allotted each candidate 20 minutes to address questions from a diverse group of citizens and local community leaders.

The issues of health care, immigration and predatory lending were at the center of much of the discussion.

Hughes, whose company co-sponsored the event along with local community organizations, echoed the purpose of the event throughout the forum. "This is not a debate," she said, "It a conversation for real people with real power to affect real change. We are unified, and we mean business."

Following the forum, the new Des Moines Register poll put Obama at 28 percent, compared to 25 percent for Clinton and 23 percent for Edwards.

Obama opened his session by acknowledging that the first three years of his postgraduate career was spent as a community organizer similar to many of those in the crowd.

"I apply those same principles of community organizing to everything I do," he said.

When one Ohio citizen asked what Obama would do about the problem of foreclosures sweeping the nation, Obama said he would put a moratorium on adjustable lending. "I’m going to put pressure on banks and those that securitize these mortgages. Lenders will have to fully disclose interest rates," he said.

Before asking about his plans to provide health insurance for all Americans, a mother told Obama of her daughter's rare eye ailment and how the SCHIP legislation had allowed her to get the care she needed. Before responding, Obama embraced the little girl.

Obama proposed expanding the use of Medicare and Medicaid and forcing insurance companies to extend eligibility to those with pre-existing conditions and cause the private and public insurance markets to become competitors, which will lower prices.

Responding to one community activist who asked how Clinton was going to extend health care coverage to every American as president, Clinton said, "I've been fighting this fight for a very long time. We have to have more cost-effective and higher-quality health care for everyone. My plan regulates the insurance companies, it’s going to expand Medicaid and make Medicare more efficient."

Clinton said that she would support the health care plan currently being discussed in Congress.

"I don't want to leave anyone uncovered. If it’s good enough for Congress than it’s good enough for the American people," Clinton said.

Edwards, in a fiery oration, said, "We have 35 million Americans who were hungry in the richest nation on the planet. Brothers and sisters, the United States of America is better than this."

Edwards said that as president, he would stand up to big corporations, drug companies and insurance firms and "show a little backbone."

"As president, I will enforce clean air laws. I will enforce clean water laws and put a moratorium on factory farms," Edwards said.

In relation to people of color and discrimination, Edwards promised to aggressively attack racial discrimination by implementing an infrastructure of for success.

"We can’t build enough prisons to solve the problem of [unequal] opportunity," Edwards said. "Raising the minimum wage to a living wage, addressing the disparity between crack and powder cocaine convictions, providing drug and alcohol counseling, is the only way to solve the problem."

In a rousing display of bilingualism, Rep. Dennis Kucinich addressed the crowd in Spanish. Kucinich even displayed his watch bearing a picture of the Lady of Guadalupe, a beloved Catholic saint, to a presenter who asked what he was going to do about immigration.

"There are no illegal human beings," said Kucinich noting that, to him, immigration reform is a high priority. "We need the Dream Act fully reinstated, and young people need an opportunity at education. I got this watch from some friend in El Paso when I was standing up for the rights of immigrants."

Appealing to his populist base, Kucinich, the former mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, proposed some lofty endeavors: a not-for-profit health care system, a full-employment economy, bolstered by federal investment in new energy technologies and infrastructure rebuilding; a fully funded education from pre-kindergarten through college and a living wage for all American workers.

Clinton was trying to get to Iowa, but was prevented from traveling because of the ice storm. She used a telephone to address forum attendees. When asked if she would overhaul the nation's immigration system in her first 100 days.

She said immigration reform "would be a high priority" and that she would do "as much as possible" to encourage Congress to act.

Later that day, the candidates partcipated in the Black and Brown debate, sponsored by Latino and African-American leaders aimed at talking about minority issues.

Sen. Joe Biden, who arrived late for the second event due to the inclement weather, also weighed in on the immigration issue, saying it's time to stop pitting people against each other.

"Look that's what white boys have done for a long, long time, bang people against each other," said Biden. "Let's not let the established system play one against the other."

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was asked to explain those income disparities facing minorities, and he pointed to the high dropout rate they face and he called for more spending on education and preschool programs.

"This is a huge tragedy and there's been no improvement," said Richardson.

At one point, Richardson joked about his status as a a Latino as he pleaded for more time, referring to himself as "the only brown guy on the stage."

"Is there any chance we could get have some more civil rights equity and let the brown guy get a little more time?" said Richardson.

Richardson asked Clinton, given her husband's tenure in the White House after being governor of Arkansas, whether it wasn't logical to say governors make good president.

"Well, Bill, I also think they make good vice presidents," said Clinton.

Obama was asked how he would bring the hip-hop generation of minority youngsters into play, and he said that's part of his effort to reach out to young people.

"They are eager to be involved, they haven't been invited to be involved," said Obama. "They feel as if nobody is speaking to their issues, they feel as if nobody is listening to them."

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Michelle Nealy is a reporter for Diverse: Issues In Higher Education. Associated Press contributed to this article.