Six GOP Candidates Meet in Iowa Forum

July 1, 2007 — -- DES MOINES — Six Republican candidates for president appealed to a key group of Iowa GOP activists in the leadoff caucus state Saturday, each trying to position himself as the right combination of fiscal and social conservative.

Participants in a Des Moines forum included several of the crowded field's lesser-known candidates, some of whom took subtle jabs at former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the Iowa leader in recent polls of GOP caucusgoers.

"I did not become pro-life because of politics," former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee told the more than 600 GOP stalwarts at the forum put on by Iowans for Tax Relief and the Iowa Christian Alliance.

The comment echoed former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson's comment earlier:

"I didn't become right-to-life on the road to Des Moines." Romney, who also attended the forum, has faced doubts from some conservative voters and criticism from opponents for changing his position from supporting abortion rights to opposing them.

Strong opposition to abortion rights is vital for some socially conservative Republicans, an influential bloc of Iowa's GOP caucusgoers.

"Conservatism doesn't need an adjective. It needs a leader," U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo said. "It needs a leader who will oppose abortions, not just because Iowa caucusgoers oppose abortions." Also participating in the forum were Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback and U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter of California.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Sen. John McCain were absent from the forum.

Romney has said an awakening in 2004 cemented his opposition to abortion rights.

Romney has told anti-abortion audiences that it is less important when he arrived at the position than the position itself. But he made no mention of the change during his remarks to the forum.

Instead, Romney was one of the few candidates Saturday who brought up President Bush's name, specifically praising the embattled president for his terrorism-fighting strategy and appointment of Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and John Roberts.