But unlike Iowa, where evangelical Christians ultimately coalesced around Rick Santorum and gave Romney a run for his money, South Carolina’s religious right remains divided as the Jan. 21 primary nears. Christian conservatives distrust him for his shifts on social issues - especially abortion - and look askance at his religion, but, with support split among several contenders, their impact on the race is limited. Seeking to counter that trend in South Carolina and nationally, 150 Christian conservative and activist leaders meeting in Texas yesterday endorsed Santorum.
That endorsement may, however, have come too late to heal the divisions among South Carolina’s religious conservatives and stop Romney. “This is the perfect storm for Mitt Romney in a state like South Carolina,’’ said Linda Abrams, a political science and history professor at the famed Christian fundamentalist Bob Jones University in Greenville.
Still, Romney’s relatively recent conversion to social conservatism - he now opposes abortion rights and is no longer a defender of gay rights - tamps down his appeal to the religious right much more than his Mormon faith.
“Of all the negatives against him, his religion is the least salient,’’ said Oran Smith, head of the Palmetto Family Council, an organization focused on faith and family values. “People discredit him as a Massachusetts moderate. Just using Massachusetts as a dirty word in South Carolina can have some oomph to it.’’
But some evangelical leaders here in South Carolina’s hilly upcountry, home to the state’s most religious voters, consider Romney’s nomination almost inevitable given the divide of Christian support among Santorum, whose standing surged after a near-win in Iowa, former House speaker Newt Gingrich, and to a lesser extent, Texas Governor Rick Perry, who is staking the future of his campaign on the Palmetto State.
