Five Republican presidential hopefuls auditioned for Iowa's party insiders at a fund-raising dinner on Friday, sparing each other from criticism but dishing up plenty of red-meat attacks on Washington and President Barack Obama. Two months before Iowa kicks off the battle for the Republican presidential nomination, the two candidates who led a recent state poll - Herman Cain and Mitt Romney - skipped the chance to address about 1,000 party activists.
The contenders who did appear - Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann - promised a quick end to Washington's big-spending, big-government ways if they occupied the White House. "Some want to reform Washington with a pair of tweezers. I'm for bringing a wrecking ball to Washington," said Perry, the Texas governor, joking the candidates were on "Operation Occupy the White House."