DES MOINES — Gov. Mitt Romney came to Iowa Saturday with a message from Massachusetts to the GOP faithful of this important swing state: Don't let his state's senator reach the White House.

Sen. John F. Kerry lacks the resolve to be an effective president, Romney told a group of Republican activists at a fund-raiser Friday night. Only President Bush has the steadfastness to lead the nation in a time of uncertainty, he said, echoing sentiments he conveyed to a national audience at this summer's Republican National Convention.

"We need a strong leader like George W. Bush," Romney told reporters before his remarks at the fund-raiser. "When the president, for instance, talks about big spenders from Massachusetts he's not talking about the 15 percent of lawmakers who are Republicans in the Legislature; he's talking about Mike Dukakis, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry."

Romney was the keynote speaker at Friday night's annual Ronald Reagan Dinner in Des Moines, a $100-a-plate event for Republican Election Day turnout efforts. The speech capped a hectic three days of national stumping for Romney, who also made stops in Nevada, Missouri, Michigan and Oklahoma with other GOP governors as part of the Republican Party's "Leadership Matters" tour.

But while Friday night's speech was officially on behalf of the Bush-Cheney ticket, the buzz surrounding Romney's visit to Iowa's capital city was attached to the Massachusetts governor himself.

Forget for a moment the deadlocked race for this state's seven electoral votes: Some Iowans, with their first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses, are already thinking about the 2008 election. The Republican activists who helped put together last night's event weren't under any illusions as to why Romney accepted their invitation, and they were eager to check him out. Local reporters also asked him several questions about his ambitions.

"Obviously, the beauty contest for 2008 has started," said Ted Sporer, chairman of the Republican Party in Polk County, which includes Des Moines and is the state's most populous county. "People come out here to be seen. He seems like a very reasonable, sharp candidate, and he was able to win in a Democratic state. That's attractive to us, because we want to win."

Romney and his aides dismiss talk of a possible presidential run, saying the governor is entirely focused on serving Massachusetts. Romney has to worry about his own re-election, in 2006 — not to mention more immediate efforts to elect more Republicans to the Legislature — before he can think about setting his sights higher, they point out.