Republican hopefuls rip Obama, Clinton at Cedar Rapids Rising Tide summit

CEDAR RAPIDS — Five candidates for the Republican presidential nomination vied for the support of conservative grass-roots activists Saturday by promising to protect their freedom and security as well as their gun rights.

'Iowa has a bullhorn to speak to the nation,' Texas Sen. Ted Cruz told more than 1,000 people at the Rising Tide Summit in Cedar Rapids.

That gives them a unique opportunity to be the 'human resources department for the United States,' added former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

With retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, former CEO Carly Fiorina and Kentucky Sen. Rand they encouraged the activists to send a message to the nation that they want a government that respects their free speech and religious liberties, balances its budget and protects the nation from radical Islamic terrorism.

The Rising Tide Summit was organized by 1st Congressional District Republican Rep. Rod Blum and FreedomWorks, which advocates for smaller government and free markets. Its activists, a spokesman said, are coveted because they are willing to make phone calls and knock on doors for candidates.

Carson blamed selfishness — 'I want mine and I want it now' — for the nation's $18.5 trillion debt, which he said is 103 percent of the nation's GDP. He also called it absurd that the federal government has 4.1 million employees and 645 agencies 'and is just continuing to grow … and they're asking you to pay for it.'

Others spent much of their time addressing terrorism — in the Middle East and the recent shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., and the threat terrorism poses to individual liberties.

Cruz promised to 'carpet-bomb (ISIS) into oblivion. I don't know if sand can glow in the dark, but we're going to find out.'

He also rejected new calls for gun control in the wake of the San Bernardino shooting.

Americans 'are secure because we can speak out and we are armed,' he said. In reference to a front-page editorial in the New York Times on Saturday, he added: 'You don't stop the bad guys by taking away our guns … but by using our guns.'

Fiorina called it 'delusional that as a terrorist attack is ongoing for President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to be tweeting about gun control.'

There are a lot of good candidates running in the Iowa GOP caucus campaign, Santorum said, but he warned against choosing a candidate without also checking out his or her resume because commander in chief 'is not an entry- level position.'

None of the other candidates 'have any sort of record to look at,' Santorum said, while he has a record of defeating Democratic incumbents to win House and Senate seats as well as leading the charge on tough issues like welfare reform.

'If you want a leader who has a record of accomplishments, a vision that can unite this country on the issue of Iran and ISIS, I'm the only candidate in this race who has been featured in an ISIS magazine … as an enemy of ISIS,' Santorum said.

Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton was a frequent target of criticism.

Referring to Benghazi — where Ambassador Christopher Hill and others were killed in an attack of the U.S. diplomatic compound, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said Clinton should forever be precluded from holding office because of 'significant dereliction of duty' as secretary of state, who 'by not defending the country, by not providing adequate security, by having significant dereliction of duty, Hillary Clinton should forever be precluded from holding office.'

Fiorina suggested she's the best match for Clinton because if she's the nominee, the former secretary of state 'can't ask for your support because she's a woman.'

She'll have to talk about her track record or lack thereof,' Fiorina said, predicting that in that case the GOP wins.

Although they all are seeking the GOP nomination, the Republican Party came in for criticism, too. Paul said the tea party arose because of opposition to 'big-spending Republicans.'

'Do you want to be the party that maybe adds debt just a little bit less slowly, but still doubles the debt?' he asked. 'Or do you want to be the party that believes in more freedom, small government … so small we can barely see it?'

'To win again,' Paul said, Republicans need 'to believe in what we believe in. We need to be more for what we are for that we have ever been before. We shouldn't dilute one iota of beliefs or principles.'