Candidates leave some Christians cold

WASHINGTON -- Somebody's got to win the presidential straw poll this weekend at a gathering of Christian conservative luminaries and activists. The question is whether it will be "undecided" or an actual candidate.

Grumbling, ambivalence and talk of bolting to a third party have marked the weeks leading up to today's "values voter" conference sponsored by the Family Research Council.

All the Republican presidential hopefuls are set to make personal appeals and, perhaps, prove themselves to a crowd that could top 2,500.

Author and radio host William Bennett, the former U.S. Education secretary, says the two-day conference — in his words, the season's "premier meeting of social religious conservatives" — could be a turning point. "Somebody could do very well in the straw poll and surprise people," he says, or somebody could do badly and be damaged.

Christian conservatives have not coalesced behind any Republican and have objections to most of them. Rudy Giuliani supports legal abortion, a deal breaker for many. Fred Thompson and John McCain oppose a federal ban on same-sex marriage and led efforts to limit political spending by interest groups. Mitt Romney is Mormon — troubling to some Christians — and didn't oppose abortion until 2004.

"None of these guys are running because they're social conservatives," says Rick Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator. "They all have problems on these issues, and most of them aren't comfortable talking about them."

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee is a Southern Baptist pastor and Christian conservative but hasn't turned that into first-tier polling and fundraising. "Mike is strong on core social issues," says FRC president Tony Perkins, but conservatives are critical of his tax record, and he "is not making it clear that he has a firm grip on the threat" of radical Islam.

One of the most influential religious conservatives in the country, psychologist, author and radio host James Dobson, has ruled out Giuliani, McCain and Thompson. He is a leading voice for ditching the GOP if Giuliani, who tops national polls, is the nominee.