Phones are Quiet among Prominent Moderates in Iowa

Joy Corning is a former two-term Lieutenant Governor of Iowa, a Republican that one would think campaigns would be clamoring to get an endorsement out of. But, according to the Des Moines Register, Corning's phone is silent. She hasn't even been contacted by any campaign seeking an endorsement.

Why? "They are all trying to appeal to the far right." says the moderate Corning.

Conservatives make up two-thirds of Iowa GOP caucus participants. And what do these voters want to hear?

- Conservatives in Iowa solidly oppose abortion rights and gay marriage.

- Many also say they oppose earned citizenship for illegal immigrants.

- They support President Bush's execution of the war in Iraq

And Let's look at the big names to see how they stack up:

While, as the chairman of the Dickinson County Republicans Mike Koenecke says, "Conviction to principles is more important to me than winning," he is still "hard right" when it comes to abortion rights, gay marriage, and amnesty for illegal immigrants.

So how do the big-name candidates stack up? Well...

Rudy Giuliani supports abortion rights, gay rights, and earned citizenship for illegal immigrants. Three strikes - yet he still leads most polls in Iowa.

John McCain opposes abortion rights and gay marriage...but he opposes a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. He is also a strong supporter of allowing illegals citizenship if they pass a number of steps, such as paying back taxes and penalties.

Mitt Romney...well, who really knows? The Massachusetts Governor supported abortion rights and gay rights during his 1994 U.S. Senate bid, but now he is opposed to both.

So the big-names are not fairing so well with Iowa voters, it seems - does this open the chance for a lesser-known candidate?

Mike Huckabee seems to identify with Iowa voters more, except for extending healthcare and education to illegals as Governor. And he has spoken out against President Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq, which Iowa conservatives seem to ardently support.

Then there is Senator Sam Brownback (who?), who is supports defining marriage, is anti-abortion, and very pro-Iraq. Now if he could just get voters to recognize him, maybe he could get his views across.