Iowa Republican U.S. Senate candidates stress conservatism at TV debate

JOHNSTON - Last night, during an Iowa Public Television debate, one of five Republican U.S. Senate candidates faced the question of whether his conservatism would be a general election liability.

The other four candidates, however, offered comments in one answer or another that declared their conservative bona fides.

Had they all been asked, each likely would have given an answer similar to the one by northwest Iowa professor Sam Clovis.

'I find it very difficult to believe that anyone can be too conservative,” Clovis said. 'Mr. Braley is so far left it's hard to imagine that he could be that far over. Those issues will come back, because that becomes his writ, his religion, his progressivism.”

Clovis was referring to U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, whom the five are vying to take on in the general election. Braley is running unopposed in the Democratic primary.

The primary election is set for June 3, and early voting began Thursday.

Those who joined Clovis last night on the IPTV Maytag Auditorium stage were state Sen. Joni Ernst; energy businessman Mark Jacobs, attorney Matt Whitaker; and salesman Scott Schaben.

While Clovis started listing federal programs he would cut - the Internal Revenue Service and rewriting the tax code - Ernst built on the list. She said she also would call for the elimination of the Department of Education and the Environmental Protection Agency. Ernst said the issues those agencies deal with could be handled at the state level.

All of the candidates except Jacobs said they would not have voted for the U.S. House-approved budget proposal by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., because it did not do enough to tackle the nation's budget deficit and national debt.

'We have to get there faster. I agree with Scott that we have to get there faster,” Ernst said.

Schaben called for not just a balanced budget but a path to solvency. Whitaker said he would not support Ryan's plan because it did not include a balanced budget amendment, and Clovis said he couldn't because it doesn't do enough to tackle entitlement spending.

Jacobs said it is important to start having the conversation about balancing the budget.

When asked how marriage equality has changed Iowa over the past five years, only Schaben said it hasn't. He said he's still happily married, and now other couples can live their lives as they want.

Jacobs and Ernst said they support traditional marriage. Whitaker and Clovis agreed but added that they were concerned the Iowa Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriages may open the door to infringements on religious freedom.

Throughout the hour-and-a-half debate the five candidates found little common ground with Braley or President Barack Obama, often specifically drawing contrast with the former.

All five candidates sought to repeal the federal Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. They agreed that farm subsidies are different than those subsidies that help people get health insurance, due to the unique nature of the agriculture industry and its importance in Iowa's economy.