GOP Candidates Play Nice in Iowa Debate

The Republican presidential candidates were mostly civil to each other in today's debate in Iowa, but they hammered Democrats on foreign policy and taxes. The tensest exchange occurred early, the Washington Post reports, when Sam Brownback accused Mitt Romney’s wife of working for Planned Parenthood. Romney called the charge “desperate.”

In the debate, which aired on ABC’s “This Week,” the candidates united in targeting Barack Obama, who Romney quipped went "from Jane Fonda to Dr. Strangelove” on foreign policy. Most candidates said they wanted a less assertive VP than Dick Cheney. Romney leads in a Post poll, but just 19% of likely Iowa voters are satisfied with the candidates. (More Tom Tancredo stories.)