Republicans make pitches at Iowa Freedom Summit

No one seemed to regret the absence of Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush from the stage during a marathon session of conservative political theater in Iowa, as a string of GOP speakers urged Iowa Republicans not to buckle to the establishment.

A parade of nine Republicans who are considering presidential bids engaged in an all-out battle for the conservative vote at U.S. Rep. Steve King's inaugural Iowa Freedom Fest.

While the 1,500-member audience, made up predominantly of constitutional and religious conservative activists, seemed plenty happy with the speeches by Ben Carson, Donald Trump, Rick Perry, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum and Carly Fiorina, it was Scott Walker and Ted Cruz who were best received.

Even Chris Christie, who argued against the conventional wisdom in some quarters that he isn't conservative enough for Iowa, got an enthusiastic standing ovation for a speech audience members later described as heartfelt and genuine.

Christie, the governor of New Jersey, said he knows Iowans won't always agree with him. "Go home and look in the mirror — you are the only person you agree with 100 percent of the time," he said. "But I can tell you, you always know who I am, and you'll always know what I believe."

Bob Klaus, a Cedar Rapids religious conservative who sells billboard advertising, told The Des Moines Register later in the lobby of Hoyt Sherman Place: "I wish some of our real true conservative candidates would have the gravitas to tell it like it is like that."

But, Klaus said, Christie still isn't in his top five.

The audience made it clear how they felt about Bush when New Hampshire state Rep. William O'Brien asked them why they would vote for a guy who backs Common Core and has an overly familiar last name. "Are we going to do that again?" O'Brien asked.

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The audience responded with a loud: "Noooooo!"

And Trump, a Manhattan-based real estate developer and reality TV star, lobbed radioactive bombs at both Bush and Romney, the 2012 GOP nominee. "Mitt ran and failed. He failed. So you can't have Romney," he said, as the audience cheered robustly.

Bush, a former Florida governor, has stepped up his efforts lately to woo Iowa influencers, although from locations outside Iowa. Romney has been talking privately with Iowa confidantes about another presidential bid since an Iowa trip in late October. But both made the much-talked-about decision not to come Saturday.

"I like Romney a lot. I do," Altoona Republican Floyd Allen told The Des Moines Register in an interview in the lobby of Hoyt Sherman Place. "But he had his opportunity, and he blew it."

Republican David Heath, a sales manager from Ankeny, said he thought Bush should've been there Saturday. "This group needs to hear his positions, his rationales," he said.

But Heath said he was most interested in Walker, Christie and Santorum anyway.

One of the speakers, Tennessee U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, told the Register that Romney and Bush "will meet and work it out, but by and large I think the American people are looking for fresh faces and new perspective." And that's not Romney, she said.

Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas, took swings at the establishment candidates without naming names, telling Iowans that every candidate would tell them "they're the most conservative guy that ever lived."

"You know what? Talk is cheap," said Cruz, who made more religious references than any other speaker. "The Lord tells you, you shall know them by their fruits."

Cruz said Iowans should demand the candidates show them examples of when they stood up and fought against abortion, same-sex marriage, Common Core — and against "career politicians" of both parties.

Walker, the governor of Wisconsin, was the center of buzz after his speech. He said voters appreciate it when conservatives aren't afraid "to go big and go bold."

"You can actually get results," he said.

Steve Scheffler, one of Iowa's two Republican National Committee members, told the Register in an interview: "I thought he was phenomenal. ... Good track record, you know? I think he's got a lot of untapped potential here in Iowa."

Scheffler added: "The national press says Bush is the front-runner, but I think here in Iowa, I suspect that it's a wide-open field."

A few Iowans said Fiorina, a former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, was a standout.

"We'd certainly like to see more of her," Jeff Jorgensen, chairman of the Pottawattamie County GOP, told the Register.

Margaret Stohldorf, a GOP activist from Red Oak, said she's an unbending Santorum backer, but she was impressed with Fiorina.

"She said, 'Only I can take Hillary down,' and that makes sense to me," Stohldorf said. "If a guy takes Hillary down, they're a bully."

The biggest applause lines of Fiorina's speech came when she went hard after Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee. "Like Hillary Clinton, I too have traveled hundreds of thousands of miles around the globe. But unlike her, I have actually accomplished something," she said, adding that she has done business in over 80 countries and chaired the CIA's external advisory board.

Sarah Palin also ripped on Clinton, joking about her pantsuits and her long history on the political scene.

"Hey, can Iowa stop Hillary?" said Palin, a former Alaska governor and the 2008 vice presidential nominee. "To borrow a phrase, yes, we can!"

Three other noteworthy absences Saturday were Rand Paul, a U.S. senator from Kentucky; Marco Rubio, a Florida U.S. senator; and Bobby Jindal, governor of Louisiana, who cited scheduling conflicts. But each of those three have been putting in the time in Iowa. Rubio has made four post-2012 trips here, Paul has done six trips and has another planned for next month, and Jindal has made seven trips.

Liberals blasted the GOP lineup for bowing to King to "kiss his ring," and worked to associate the presidential hopefuls with his "ideological extremism" and most controversial comments, including his 2013 zinger that young illegal immigrants have developed "calves the size of cantaloupes" from hauling marijuana across the desert.

Eight protesters from the DREAM Action Coalition yelled comments during Perry's speech, such as: "If you become the president, will you deport families?" Perry continued his speech in a booming voice, then audience members stood and shielded him with applause. Perry seemed untroubled, and did a fist-pumping cheer — "YEAH!" — as he left the stage after finishing his remarks.

When a lone protester later interrupted Christie's speech, he quipped: "Don't they know I'm from New Jersey?"

Rand Paul to visit Iowa

Rand Paul couldn't make Saturday's conservative summit, but his aides wanted Iowans to know he'll be back in February.

Here's his schedule:

• Feb. 6: 5:30 p.m., a Liberty Iowa "Audit the Fed" rally at Jasper Winery, Des Moines.
• Feb. 7: 9 a.m., an event with U.S. Rep. Rod Blum at Legends American Grill in Marshalltown; 12:30 p.m., Iowa State University basketball game; 2 p.m., College Students Gametime! at Iowa State Center, Suite 102, Scheman Building, in Ames.