His comments seemed directed at countering McCain's assertion that Romney doesn't have the foreign policy experience necessary to run the county. The pair have been trading barbs in ads about that and other issues in New Hampshire, where both men are headed next. In Iowa, Romney's been the aggressor, targeting Huckabee in commercials that had some voters complaining about the negative tone of the campaign.

When Romney took questions for the first time in several days from the Principal Financial Group audience, he was asked whether he would continue targeting his opponents in ads.

"Absolutely," Romney answered quickly. "You can bet what we'll be talking about are differences on issues." He went on to say he would not attack the character of his opponents, however.

But Alexis Warden, 32, a company technician, told reporters that she wasn't satisfied with Romney's answer. "I think he should be focusing now on what he's doing, not on what Mike Huckabee's done," she said, identifying herself has as a supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, who dropped out of the race Thursday following a poor Iowa showing.

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Contributing: Associated Press

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