Conservative Conference Brings GOP Hopefuls To Iowa

Host Scott Simon talks with Rep. Steve King (R-IA) about the Conservative Principles Conference being held Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa. Several 2012 Republican presidential hopefuls — including Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich; and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann are expected to attend. King's political action committee is sponsoring the event.

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SCOTT SIMON, Host:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon.

A number of potential Republican candidates for president are in Des Moines this weekend for the first ever Conservative Principles Conference. It's the latest in a series of events that mark the opening of the 2012 campaign.

Of course, the Iowa caucuses are the first major electoral event in the nominating process. Republicans there have already started sizing up their choices.

Republican Congressman Steve King has represented Iowa's 5th District since 2003. His political action committee is hosting the Conservative Principles Conference. Congressman King joins us on the phone from Des Moines. Mr. King, thanks so much for being with.

STEVE KING: Oh, thanks for having me on. I appreciate it.

SIMON: Who's going to be there?

KING: Well, we have a whole list of presidential candidates and also other luminaries, I call them. Newt Gingrich will be here along with Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, and then also Ambassador John Bolton will be here, and Phyllis Schlafly will be the honorary chair for the day. I think we've got a good event from an audience participation standpoint and a presidential candidate standpoint.

SIMON: Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, another possible presidential contender, has suggested what he calls I believe a truce on social issues to try and focus on limiting government and fiscal issues. How do you react to that? How do a lot of the people at that conference feel about that?

KING: Well, I've given a little speech on this in the last few weeks and I made this point that in '92, when the Clinton campaign popularized the phrase, it's the economy is stupid. And as soon as I heard that, I thought, no, that's stupid. It really is the culture.

We know that the ideal way to raise children and is in a two-parent family. A household that has an anchor in the core of their faith, that teaches moral values and work ethic.

So if we suspend our awareness of the core values that are the essential building blocks of this civilization for the sake of taking on an economics issue exclusively, I think that we have missed the big issue and we've gone to a temporary fix to something that has a much deeper problem.

SIMON: But, Mr. King, as a politician, and someone at the House who has to run for election every two years, isn't there a lot to be said if not for a temporary fix at least for some ideas that will jumpstart the economy in a country that has a 9 percent unemployment rate, regardless of whether or not they come from people who agree with you on the primacy of the family.

KING: Well, I think that, yes, there's plenty of room for that and there's plenty of room for Mitch Daniels agenda as well. What we disagree is that he's calling a timeout.

And I'm not going to stop defending marriage. I'm not going to watch our civilization erode around this wall we turn our exclusive focus on economic issues. Let's develop ourselves and improve ourselves socially, at the same time we're doing so economically, significantly advancing, I believe, the definition of American exceptionalism.

SIMON: Mr. King, recognizing that there's no reason for you not to kind of play your cards close to the vest, do you want to mention one or more candidates who've especially impressed you? You've been quoted as saying that conservatives are looking for what you call their own Barack Obama, a fresh face.

KING: Well, they seem to be. And I'm not sure that I've identified a fresh face. I know the people that have presented themselves and I look at them and listen to them speak and I think any one of them would be preferable to the president that we have today.

And it's going to take a full spectrum approach of constitutional conservative that believes in free enterprise, that believes in foreign trade and that will be a strong national defense conservative as well.

SIMON: Republican Congressman Steve King, speaking with us from Des Moines. His Conservative Principles Conference is held today in Des Moines Iowa.

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