Democratic presidential candidates in Chicago

By John McCormick

NOTE: This item will be updated throughout the morning.

Speaking to a sea of union members wearing orange T-shirts, Sen. Hillary Clinton received numerous standing ovations this morning during a speech in Chicago where she pledged her commitment to health care for all.

"There is hardly a square foot of America that doesn't have your fingerprints on it," the New York Democrat told about 1,000 members of the Laborers' International Union of North America. "You have built the infrastructure, and now we are going to have to build some more."

Clinton was the first of three presidential candidates expected to speak today at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware are expected later in the morning, and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is on Tuesday's schedule.

Sen. Barack Obama, meanwhile, bypassed the audience in his home city, instead traveling to Wall Street today to deliver an economic speech. The Illinois Democrat said last month that he would skip most candidate forums because they were getting in the way of his speaking directly to voters.

Clinton made the stop in Chicago after appearing Sunday afternoon with five other Democratic presidential candidates in Iowa. She was set to immediately return to the first-in-the-nation caucus state to unveil her health care plan.

"We need to get to a point where health care is a right, not a privilege," she told the construction union members. "We have to take on the special interests to get this done."

Clinton said she has lengthy experience in taking on Republicans, one of several lines she offered that drew a standing ovation.

"I have been in their gun sites more than 15 years," she said. "But guess what, I'm still standing."

Clinton hammered at President Bush, saying he has run the country in a way reminiscent of the robber barons of the industrial age.

"They call it the ownership society," she said. "I call it the you're on your own society."

Clinton pledged more work for the construction workers if she is elected president.

"We all saw the tragedy in Minnesota, but the fact is that one bridge is one of 60,000 that are in need of serious repair," she said. "We don't need any more warnings. We don't need any more commission reports. We just need an infrastructure policy that is fully funded in America."

Clinton repeatedly stressed her experience for the job, saying she knew "a little bit about how hard" it is to be president.

"Following George Bush and Dick Cheney, oh my goodness," she said. "I'll tell you what, I'm not sure we know all the damage that has been done. It's going to be a huge clean up effort. I'm going to put out the word: laborers, come to Washington. Bring all your tools."

Clinton also confronted a question that might have been on the minds of the almost entirely male audience.

"There may be a few people that say, 'Well, are we ready for a woman president?'" she said. "All I can tell you is I think we are ready for this woman to be president."

The union is not expected to endorse any of the candidates for some time, but hopes instead to mobilize and educate its half million members about the issues and candidates.