Romney seeks to be alternative to McCain

WASHINGTON -- From his outspoken defense of President Bush on interrogating terrorism suspects to an appeal to Christian conservatives here yesterday, Governor Mitt Romney is increasingly trying to position himself as the leading conservative alternative to Senator John S . McCain III of Arizona in the 2008 presidential race.

Romney, elected just four years ago as a moderate Republican, is seizing on the opening created by an unexpectedly tough reelection campaign this year for Senator George F . Allen of Virginia, the prospective presidential candidate who had been widely seen as the standard-bearer for the GOP's conservative wing.

As Allen has been forced to put his 2008 hopes on hold, analysts and observers say, Romney has rushed to fill the vacuum by appealing to the right on homeland security, immigration, and social issues, particularly in South Carolina, a crucial early primary state home to many conservative voters.

``He's maximized his window of opportunity very well in South Carolina," said Scott Malyerck, executive director of the state Republican Party. ``He's hitting those conservative buttons that folks are concerned about."

On his blog this week, conservative writer Andrew Sullivan called Romney the ``theo-cons' favorite nominee" who has ``clearly positioned himself as McCain's opponent on the issue" of interrogation methods.

``I presume he thinks it will win him votes among Christian, Republican base voters," Sullivan wrote, citing two often interconnected constituencies in the Republican Party.

Though McCain is still considered the front-runner for the Republican nomination, his independent streak on issues such as immigration and tighter campaign finance rules has long alienated some conservatives. With the 2008 jockeying intensifying, Romney is trying to exploit that rift by articulating positions that fall to the right of McCain's and by courting religious conservatives.

When McCain and two other Republican senators broke with Bush last week in insisting on greater rights for terrorism suspects in American custody, Romney firmly backed the president, labeling the move by McCain and the other maverick senators ``a big mistake." Romney told The New York Times he was ``foursquare behind the president" and went out of his way to cite several other areas, including immigration policy, where he held more conservative views than McCain.

Romney's criticism drew a curt response from McCain, but it has won plaudits elsewhere.

``Romney gets it, and McCain hasn't got a clue," reads a blog entry on gopbloggers.org.

Republicans in South Carolina, Malyerck said, appreciate Romney's support for the president, despite the fact that one of those bucking Bush was Lindsey Graham, the state's senior senator.

McCain's chief strategist, John Weaver, said the senator was focused on ``broader national security issues and helping people get elected or reelected in 2006 and not focused on what anybody may or may not be saying."

McCain makes decisions based on what he thinks is right, not to score political points, Weaver said. ``I think that's a fair lesson for everybody, including Governor Romney."

Yesterday, Romney joined leading Christian conservatives at the 2006 Values Voter Summit, sponsored by the Family Research Council, an influential conservative Christian organization. Speaking to more than 1,400 people, Romney invoked the hugely popular evangelical pastor Rick Warren, expressed patriotic sentiments about family and country, and called for a federal constitutional ban on gay marriage. (McCain opposes such a ban.)

Romney also cited a 1913 Massachusetts law that has prevented same-sex couples from outside the state from marrying in the state if their marriage wouldn't be recognized at home. Romney proudly noted that because of that law, legalization of gay marriage in Massachusetts ``has not affected the entire nation."

But he warned that if the Democrats win the governor's office in November, ``that will change, I am afraid." (The Democratic nominee, Deval L. Patrick, has said he supports repealing the 1913 law, opening the possibility that the Legislature could wipe it from the books.)

McCain was given an invitation to speak at the summit, but turned it down, said Connie Mackey, senior vice president of Family Research Council Action, the legislative action arm of the organization that sponsored the event.

Romney, Mackey said, is getting a surprisingly warm reaction from many on the right.

``There are people I would have thought would support other conservative hopefuls that are expressing real interest in seeing Romney move ahead," she said.

Other prospective GOP candidates scheduled to speak included Allen, Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, and former House speaker Newt Gingrich.

Aside from competition from those potential contenders, Romney still faces obstacles in winning over conservative voters.

First, he has shifted his views on abortion in recent years. Though he now describes himself prolife, he said in 2002 that he supported the substance of Roe v. Wade. Also, Romney is Mormon, a religion that many evangelicals consider non-Christian.

Phil Burress, the president of the Cincinnati-based group Citizens for Community Values and a participant in yesterday's summit, said he isn't convinced Romney is the genuine article. He said he leaned over to someone sitting next to him during Romney's speech and said, ``I think I'm looking at a Stepford husband."

``Shallow voters will love Mitt Romney, and the deep voters might, too, once we know what his issues are," Burress said.

Another participant, Molly Smith, a 54-year-old from Cleveland, said she is concerned about what she called Romney's changeover on abortion. ``Was it a real change?" she asked, ``or because he wants to run for president?"

One conservative activist in Michigan, Gary Glenn, has been a thorn in Romney's side for more than a year. Glenn distributed a blistering critique at the Michigan Republican Party convention this summer in which he derided what he called Romney's ``conservative masquerade."

The Values Voter Summit wasn't the only appeal to conservatives that Romney made in Washington this week. On Thursday, he was invited to address 25 to 30 conservative House members at a weekly luncheon hosted by US Representative Jack Kingston of Georgia.

Kingston said Romney ``seemed to have the same values" as the group and made a very positive impression. Kingston agreed that Romney was trying to move into the role opposite McCain that Allen once occupied.

``I think the other side of the equation is, you've got members [of Congress] looking for somebody to step into it," Kingston said.

With South Carolina holding the first Southern primary in 2008, it may be there that Romney sees his strategy tested the most.

``He's played very well here so far, but whether you would bill him as the alternative to McCain . . . I don't necessarily think a lot of these people think of him that way," said Neal Thigpen, a professor of political science at Francis Marion University in Florence, S.C. But, Thigpen said, ``there are party regulars who just don't like McCain, and they may find Romney an appealing alternative."

Scott Helman can be reached at shelman@globe.com. Helman reported from Boston; Green reported from Washington D.C.