DES MOINES, Iowa — Six of the eight Republican presidential candidates vying for the hearts of social conservatives filed on and off stage in a cavernous hall here Saturday evening to proclaim allegiance to conservative evangelical principles.
In speeches woven with spiritual references, the candidates spoke of reversing abortion rights and defending traditional marriage, and they cast the 2012 election as one that would determine whether the nation’s very freedom endures.
“Stupid people are ruining America,” businessman Herman Cain thundered in a well-received address before about 1,000 activists at the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition’s annual dinner.
“The Founding Fathers got it right. We have to be the Defending Fathers,” Cain said. “We’ve got to get it right in 2012, and I believe that we will, because we’re reminded that while we are on this journey, we all have just a limited amount of time to be here, and we have to decide how we’re going to use our time, our talents and our treasure in order to make a difference.”
Cain’s rise in the polls, and his comments to CNN that put his position against abortion in doubt, made him a target on the stage. Texas Gov. Rick Perry referred to the interview, in which Cain said families should be able to abort a pregnancy in instances of incest and rape.
“It is a liberal canard to say, ‘I am personally pro-life, but government should stay out of that decision,’ ” Perry said. “That is not pro-life. That is pro-having-your-cake-and-eating-it-too.”
The candidates forum came as competition for religious conservatives here is intensifying among the White House hopefuls, with the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses approaching.
Each candidate gave a 10-minute speech and took a few questions from the event sponsors.
The activists, who gathered in a showroom hall at the Iowa State Fairgrounds over fried chicken and fruit punch, seemed emboldened and energized. And while one candidate was absent from the stage — former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, considered the national front-runner for the nomination — those who did speak here made oblique references to him.
Although Romney campaigned in Iowa on Thursday, he did not stay to address the assembled social conservatives. Instead, he was in New Hampshire on Saturday, thanking volunteers at his Manchester campaign office and calling targeted voters.
Although many here do not trust his conservative convictions, Romney maintains a sizable grassroots network in Iowa from his 2008 race, made up of more mainstream GOP activists and business types.
Meanwhile, other candidates used the Iowa forum to try to jump-start their struggling campaigns. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota was one of them.
“People have made up their mind,” she said. “They have decided that Barack Obama won’t have a second term. Now the question will be who will we replace Barack Obama with? . . . This is the year when social conservatives can have it all.”
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania also addressed the forum.
