GOP values voters say they'd back Romney, if they had to

WASHINGTON -- With the field of conservative presidential candidates now known, attendees at the Values Voter Summit here say they have begun to accept that the race for the Republican presidential nomination will come down to former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and someone else.

Should Romney prevail, most said they would support him whether they like it or not, but they are not yet willing to give up hope that someone else will prevail.

It may take some time for them to get enthusiastic about Romney, if they ever do.

That showed in the straw poll conducted Saturday, which Rep. Ron Paul of Texas won handily with 732 votes, followed by businessman Herman Cain with 447.

Romney finished with 88 votes out of 1,983 cast. Only former House speaker Newt Gingrich and former Utah governor Jon Huntsman fared worse with 54 and two votes, respectively.

Tricia Galloway, who attended the conference from Trumbull, Conn., said she would love to see former senator Rick Santorum, R-Pa., elected president but she didn't think he would win the nomination.

In his absence, Romney would do.

"I think he's the strongest, he's the statesman and he has the executive experience and the economic background to pull together the best people and get us back on the road to prosperity," she said.

"I believe he's more conservative there than people believe," Galloway said.

Conservatives will back Romney but not with the same fervor that other candidates would create, said Colin Hanna, president of conservative non-profit Let Freedom Ring.

"I think if Romney is the last man standing, people will back him to support him, but I don't think you'll see at any point the kind of enthusiasm that Herman Cain is about to generate," he said.

Throughout the early part of the Republican race, Romney has tried to keep his campaign squarely focused on the economy. But values voters, a group that has been particularly skeptical of Romney's conservative credentials and of his Mormon faith, want to know more about social issues.

Romney's religion was thrust into the spotlight Friday when Robert Jeffress, a Dallas-based Baptist pastor who introduced Texas Gov. Rick Perry at the conference, told reporters he believed Romney was in "a cult" and was not a Christian.

Romney addressed a list of values issues during his speech to the conference Saturday and did not address Jeffress' comments.

"The blessings of faith carry the responsibility of civil and respectful debate," Romney said. "The task before us is to focus on the conservative beliefs and the values that unite us."

Tony Perkins,president of the Family Research Council, which put on the conference through its legislative and lobbying arm FRC Action, said there was a difference between the religions but "we are not here to discuss religions. That's not what the Values Voter Summit is about."

Romney must keep showing he and values voters have the same concerns, Perkins said, acknowledging that Romney has tried to do that for the last four years.

"I think he did talk more about the values of the social issues here than he has been, generally speaking on the campaign trail," Perkins said. "When he's asked, he talks about these issues, I think in a very forthright way, I think he's going to need to connect more with the values community."

That might be enough for Tom Green of Westminster, Md., who stood in a long line Friday with his son, also named Tom, to have books signed by Cain and Gingrich.

"Too fake," said the elder Tom Green of Romney.

His son nodded in agreement and said, "He flip-flops conveniently."

"In the last election we had to vote for (Sen. John) McCain and I hated McCain," the elder Green said. "This time we aren't looking for that polished guy."