Weird debate going on tonight, that I will blog lightly. It’s sponsored by the AARP in Davenport, Iowa, and it includes Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, and Chris Dodd. No Obama, Kucinich, or Gravel. I had heard next to nothing about it in the run-up to it.

So far, there’s been absolutely nothing that you haven’t heard before.

Hillary is upset about the president’s veto of the S-CHIP expansion.

Moderator Judy Woodruff asks John Edwards if he would raise taxes on those making more than $200,000 above 39 percent, which is what it would be after the Bush tax cuts were eliminated.

Edwards says he was the first to come up with a truly specific plan for universal health care. “I’m glad that others are speaking on this issue now.” Jab, jab.

He says the capital gains tax is completely out of whack with what working people pay on their income. “It’s not rot.” Oh, right, but his accent seems a little stronger tonight.

Edwards says Hillary’s proposal “is a very good health care proposal – it’s very similar to mine.” Campaign Spot Dad just said, “look at her face. She’ll get him for that.”

Hillary’s response: “Well, been there, done that. Fifteen years ago, I was fighting for universal health care. It was kind of lonely back then. I never gave up, though…” Subtext: Where were you, John? Then she hits the Republicans for not backing universal government-mandated health care.

The audience of seniors seems to like these answers, but I have to wonder, are any of them seeing anything they haven’t seen before?

For what seems like the millionth time, Chris Dodd says the country can’t afford on-the-job-training for the next president, and that he has twenty-six years of experience.

Ye gods, an hour and a half of this? Folks, I hope you’ve got something better to do this evening.

Biden, as usual is the most interesting speaker, jabbing Bill Richardson: “My friend Bill Richardson, God love him, saying you can unify a state with a couple million people and thus you can unify a countyr of a couple hundred million people, it’s like saying that because you played halfback in high school, you can play halfback in the pros. It’s a different deal.”

More Biden: “What’s changed that makes you think Hillary Clinton is going to be able to bring over 10-15 percent of Republicans? What makes you think John Edwards is going to get this passed when he was in charge of the Patient’s Bill of Rights in the Senate and couldn’t get that passed?”

Edwards blames the powerful lobbyists of the drug company, “the insiders who are running our country today.” Like I said, you’ve heard, seen, and read this all before.

Dodd just said “the Republicans want to destroy the Social Security program, we want to save it”, before an AARP crowd. No pandering or scaremongering there.

Biden calls Bush Houdini for making the surplus disappear. I was going to snark that he was making such a cutting-edge reference for the comparison, but the audience appears old enough to have seen Houdini in person.

John Edwards wants the Social Security taxes to be raised on beyond the top $97,000 to $200,000. “These millionaires on Wall Street ought to be paying their Social Security taxes.” Notice how his wording sounds like they’re somehow evading what they owe.

Hillary seems to oppose it.