DES MOINES — The Republican candidates for president (with the exception for Mitt Romney who declined and Jon Huntsman who wasn’t invited) met at a large church here Saturday night for a debate aimed at Iowa’s social conservatives.
For the most part, the debate stood our for its focus on doom, gloom and widespread Christian persecution. Except for the part when Rick Santorum, Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann and new frontrunner Newt Gingrich teared up under some personal questioning from Frank Luntz. That was different.
There’s a debate this cycle here in Iowa about how important the social conservative vote will be to the final outcome of the caucuses. Though in years past candidates had to reach out to Iowa’s conservative evangelicals to have a shot at the first prize on the primary calendar, Republicans TPM spoke with this week said it looks to them like social conservative support isn’t as important this time as in, say, 2008 when Mike Huckabee rode an evangelical wave to victory.
Voters are more concerned about the economy, TPM was told on more than once occasion by Republicans here. The social conservatives just don’t have the pull they used to. That’s good news for Romney, the Mormon who flamed out in Iowa in 2008 and is only running a poorly-kept secret campaign here so far this time.
Still, Saturday was for the social conservatives. And so they got their moment — and essentially two hours of prominent Republicans talking about how persecuted Christians are in modern America, and how secularism is out to destroy us all.
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/11/candiates-except-romney-gather-in-iowa-for-doomiest-and-gloomiest-debate-of-all.php?ref=fpnewsfeed_beta
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