WASHINGTON — Republican presidential contenders Rudolph W. Giuliani and Mitt Romney made their case to influential conservatives Friday, positioning themselves as allies to the gathering despite mixed records on such high-profile social issues as abortion, gay marriage and stem cell research.
Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, and Giuliani, the former New York mayor who has staked out an early lead in polls of the GOP rank-and-file, each drew overflow crowds of several thousand at the annual meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Also addressing the crowd, but attracting less attention, were four GOP candidates with more solid conservative credentials but lesser national identities -- Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Rep. Duncan Hunter of El Cajon, and Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado.
Noticeably absent was Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who in his second bid for the Republican presidential nomination has sought to overcome opposition from the party's conservative base that helped doom his campaign in 2000. But McCain has made little discernible headway among the activists at Friday's event and he skipped it to campaign in Utah and his home state.
The conference is sponsored by the American Conservative Union and dozens of other like-minded organizations, and it provides an opportunity for power brokers based in Washington and conservative leaders elsewhere in the country to compare notes and plot strategy.
Giuliani pitched himself as a fiscal conservative who in New York cut taxes, reduced crime and thinned out welfare rolls -- and would do the same at the national level. He defended the Bush administration for launching the war in Iraq, conducting a controversial domestic spying program and enacting the Patriot Act, saying that the U.S. needs to remain "on the offensive" in fighting terrorism.
Giuliani did not disavow his support for abortion rights, gay rights and gun control -- issues he did not mention in his speech. But in a clear reference to his stands, he called for conservatives to embrace President Reagan's brand of big-tent Republican politics.
"We don't all agree all the time," Giuliani told his audience. "But the point of a presidential election is to decide who you believe the most."
He received sporadic applause during his remarks. Romney, who spoke several hours later, provoked a more enthusiastic response.
