GOP Contenders Vie for Conservatives

Republican presidential hopeful, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, gestures while addressing the Family Research Council, a conservative advocacy group, Friday, Oct. 19, 2007, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) (Jose Luis Magana - AP)

WASHINGTON -- Republican rivals Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney and John McCain sought on Friday to become the favorite of anxious social conservatives, each suggesting he offered the best chance of thwarting abortion rights supporter Rudy Giuliani.

"This is not the time to turn our back on the progress we've made on the issues that matter most," McCain, the Arizona senator, told a receptive gathering of "values voters." "I have a record that can be trusted."

Drawing whistles and applause, Mitt Romney said: "We're not going to beat Hillary Clinton by acting like Hillary Clinton." The former Massachusetts governor added: "I'm pro-family on every level from personal to political."

Thompson, who acknowledged last month that he wasn't a regular churchgoer, earned a standing ovation and cheers when he said what he would do immediately after being inaugurated: "I would go into the Oval Office and close the door and pray for the wisdom to know what was right, and I would pray for the strength to do what is right."

Without mentioning Giuliani by name, the trio each made pitches to be the main alternative to the former New York mayor's candidacy. Giuliani's success so far in the GOP nomination race has prompted talk among leading conservatives of possibly backing a third-party candidate.

The thrice-married Republican leads in national popularity polls and has sought common ground with social conservatives despite his support for abortion rights and gay rights. He argues that whether or not people agree with him on the issues, he has the best chance to beat Clinton, the Democratic front-runner.

Campaigning in Florida on Friday, Giuliani said, "What I've found among what you call social conservatives is a great respect for the fact that I'm honest with them and I'm not trying to change all my positions just to fit what somebody wants. What I am able to do is to say to them, 'On the very big issues, on the important issues, we're together. On nine out of 10 issues we agree with each other.'"

Giuliani speaks to the group Saturday, as does former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Southern Baptist minister who is favored by Christian evangelicals but whose campaign has made little headway.

As the conference convened, Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, another favorite of the religious right, bowed out of the race. Of social conservatives, Brownback said: "I came to them with the cause, but I don't have the resources and the name."

Religious and cultural conservatives make up a significant part of the GOP base but have not yet coalesced around any one candidate. Recent Associated Press-Ipsos polls found roughly one in five conservatives, churchgoers and Christian evangelicals still undecided.

Their leaders have largely rejected Giuliani because of his moderate-to-liberal positions on social issues and view the other three leading candidates as flawed for various reasons.

_Romney, a Mormon from Massachusetts, once backed abortion rights but has reversed himself on that issue and shifted to the right on others during his presidential run.