In Iowa, foreign policy means security

By Ed Stoddard

OTTUMWA, Iowa (Reuters) - In the snowswept American heartland, discussion of foreign policy often boils down to one word: security.

As the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates vie for support in Iowa, which on Thursday kicks off the nominating races, the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has thrust foreign policy into the campaign.

"We have to have good diplomatic relations with other countries to keep ours safe and sound," said Constance Cavanaugh, 43, an evangelical Christian who home-schools her children and supports Republican candidate Mike Huckabee.

"There's a relationship between how we interact with others and how they react to us," she said Friday while waiting for Huckabee to deliver a speech before a packed auditorium in the south Iowa town of Ottumwa.

Democrats also expressed concern, with some audience members quizzing Sen. Barack Obama about his views how to best handle the upheaval in Pakistan, while others wanted to discuss trade with China and diplomacy in the Middle East.

Herb Harmison, a retired professor from Ames, said the United States needs a leader capable of improving America's image abroad. "The impact on the world of having a guy like Obama elected would be immeasurable," he said.

All the candidates sweeping through Iowa this week seized on Bhutto's assassination to emphasize what they presented as their particular strengths.

Huckabee, an ordained Baptist preacher and former Arkansas governor, said America must be vigilant about Pakistanis illegally entering the country, including through the porous border with Mexico.

Such comments resonate with Iowans who fear that a lack of strict border controls leaves the United States vulnerable.

"The No. 1 foreign policy issue is the border," said 36-year-old John Spaulding of Muscatine, Iowa.

Beth Stelle Jones, 53, a pre-school Iowa teacher who supports Republican candidate John McCain, said she was impressed with the Arizona Senator's grasp of the political situation in Pakistan, which he discussed on Thursday at a campaign rally in Des Moines shortly after Bhutto's slaying.

"In this environment of international uncertainty his experience is overwhelming ... We're scared by what happened in Pakistan," she said.

Concern about the Iraq war is another foreign policy issue that worries many in this heavily rural state.

Ardyce O'Neill, 65, a cattle breeder from Beebeetown, Iowa, said Iraq was a huge concern to her.

"I'm not opposed to the war, but I've got a granddaughter that's a brand new United States marine, and the war has just come closer. It would be my choice not to have her go over there, but I am proud of her and she's ready to go," she said.