DES MOINES - Iowa GOP leaders argued Tuesday that Iowa voters would question Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's judgment if they knew the true link to 1960s radical William Ayers.

Vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin has accused Obama of palling around with terrorists, referring to Ayers, a leader of Weather Underground that staged bombing attacks against government buildings and other sites to protest the Vietnam War.

At a news conference at the John McCain campaign's Midwest headquarters in suburban Des Moines, top legislative officials reiterated concerns about Obama's connection with Ayers.

Iowa House Minority Leader Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City, charged that Obama started his campaign for the Illinois Legislature in Ayers' home and pointed out he accepted a campaign contribution from him.

"To be honest, I'm not sure the American people really understand the connection," Rants said. "If it is about judgment, if Sen. Obama's claim to fame is that he has better judgment, then he needs to explain this."

Senate Minority Leader Ron Wieck, R-Sioux City, said voters should look at a candidate's past as well as what he or she is promising to do.

"The interesting thing about Barack Obama is that he has a history and then he's confronted with the history, he has this whole series of reasons why it doesn't apply to him," Wieck said.

He said during a five-day stretch this month, the Obama campaign had nine separate stories about why he wasn't associated with Ayers.

Obama has denounced the acts of the Weather Underground. His campaign has denied that Obama's career was launched at Ayers' home. They said it was one of many coffees hosted in the neighborhood, not the first, and note that Obama served on a charitable board with Ayers working to improve Chicago public schools, a board funded by Republican Walter Annenberg.

Brad Anderson, a spokesman for Barack Obama's campaign, said the GOP was focusing on distractions in the campaign.

"It's just remarkable that in a time when Americans are trying to figure out how to pay their bills, at a time they're trying to figure out how to stay in their homes, all the Republicans and John McCain wants to do is distract from the issues. And what Americans and people in Iowa want to talk about now is the economy," Anderson said.

Contact Charlotte Eby at (515) 243-0138 or chareby@aol.com.