"What would a truce look like?" asked Danny Carroll, who is with the conservative group the Family Leader, which led the charge against the judges. "To those true believers, other things just don't get them out of bed in the morning. If you called a truce, people would just say 'I'll stay home and do something else.'"
Chuck Hurley, who heads the conservative Iowa Family Policy Center, has nothing but disdain for those seeking to downplay social issues.
"Anybody who calls a truce when the abortion clinics are running 24/7 is not a true pro-lifer," said Hurley. "That's giving up the battle."
Steve Roberts, a former member of the Republican National Committee before he was ousted by a religious conservative activist, said those who want social issues to go away are dreaming.
"It's not going to happen in Iowa," said Roberts, who said social and religious conservatives virtually run the show in Iowa. As for moderates, he said: "You can find them occasionally in a large phone booth."
Social and religious conservatives showed their might earlier this month, when 1,500 of them gathered in a suburban Des Moines church to hear a pitch from five potential presidential candidates — and remind them not to stray too far from their religious base.
"If you turn your backs on the pro-family, pro-life constituency you will be consigned to permanent minority status," veteran religious activist Ralph Reed told the cheering throng at the gathering.
Starting this week, there's certain to be even more focus on such issues.
Home school advocates, largely evangelicals, plan a mass rally at the Statehouse on Wednesday, and at least three potential presidential candidates are to attend. And over the weekend, U.S. Rep. Steve King is hosting a forum where five potential candidates are to appear.
Kim Pearson, who won her seat in the Iowa House with opposition to abortion as a key issue, said she expects to hear that same message from White House hopefuls. Said Pearson: "They are going to have to address the social issues" — whether they like it or not.
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Tim B of WA 8:57PM March 21, 2011