WASHINGTON — John Edwards aimed for their tear ducts, Hillary Clinton appealed to their fighting spirit and Barack Obama asked them to join him in pursuit of a thing called "hope."

The hundreds of Democrats — a focus group of the faithful — gathered for the winter meeting of the Democratic National Committee weren't in a mood to choose candidates on Friday, it being almost a full year before the first primary and caucus votes will be cast in the 2008 presidential primary.

They wept, let out whoops and rose to their feet in agreement mostly as a unified group, with even those clutching one candidate's signs responding enthusiastically to the other five presidential hopefuls — including a woman with a "Hillary" placard who pronounced herself "ready to swoon" for Obama.

Even the lower-tier Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and retired Gen. Wesley Clark of Arkansas managed to whip up the faithful with their anti-war, anti-Bush rhetoric. And Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut unleashed a condemnation of the "Abu Ghraibing, Exxon-loving" Bush administration, which he said should be pining for the days when their worst problem was that "the vice president had just shot somebody."

It was the first group appearance by the field of Democratic presidential candidates in what rapidly is becoming the longest primary campaign in history. More than 400 members of the committee and their guests were on hand to inspect up-close the candidates who'll be vying for their support, sizing them up during lengthy addresses in a crowded ballroom and, later, in smaller private sessions.

The campaign of a newcomer or a dark horse can catch fire at such a winter meeting, as former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean demonstrated with a fiery speech in this venue before the 2004 presidential election. Now the chairman of the DNC, Dean is stressing the importance of keeping an open mind.

"This is one of the strongest fields I have ever seen run for president of the United States," said Dean. "We are leaving ourselves and our doors open to any and all candidates." The most that party leaders should promise at this point, he said, is to help preserve "a level playing field."

Some of the candidates think the DNC could be getting in the way of exactly that, as officials consider the possibility of limiting the number of debates among primary candidates. But advocates for Clinton, Edwards and Obama — generally considered the early leaders in the field — are worried about how to squeeze the burgeoning number of joint events into their schedules.