COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Mitt Romney asked the nation on Thursday not to reject his presidential candidacy because of his religion, assuring evangelical Christians and other religious voters that his values matched theirs in a speech that used the word Mormon only once.
The only passing mention of his Mormonism in his 20-minute speech at the George Bush Presidential Library underscored just how touchy the issue of Romney's faith has been since he began running for the Republican nomination. He and his aides had agonized for months over whether to even give the speech. Those arguing against it said there was no need to do it because he was doing so well in early voting states, advisers said.
But Romney's former dominance of the Republican field in Iowa was faltering as evangelical voters have been drawn to Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist pastor, in these final weeks before the state's caucuses. Evangelical Christians, who make up a crucial voting bloc in the Republican Party, consider Mormonism to be heretical, and polls have indicated a significant number of Americans are less likely to vote for a Mormon presidential candidate.
Huckabee said he did not see Mitt Romney's speech Thursday but he praised Romney for doing it.
"I think it's a good thing and healthy for all of us for people to discuss faith in the public square," Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas, said outside a private fundraiser in Greensboro, N.C. "I have nothing but respect for his coming forth and sharing what he did. I've been very clear about my own personal views. I think all of us who seek the office of president should be candid with the American people."
But asked whether he believes women should serve in a church's pastoral leadership - an oft-discussed issue among Southern Baptist congregations - Huckabee said the topic shouldn't be a campaign issue, and he kept quiet about his views.
"It's so irrelevant to being president that I wouldn't even get into that," Huckabee said
Huckabee has given the same explanation every time he has declined to discuss his views on the creation of the earth. Pressed on why, as an active Baptist preacher, he wouldn't detail the inner-workings of his faith for Christian voters, Huckabee said Baptists have so many different opinions about the details of Biblical doctrine.
"When you get down into the weeds of the doctrine, frankly, where two or more Baptists are gathered together, there are at least seven different opinions," he said. "There's no such thing as what I'd call an 'absolute Baptist theology."'
The ordained minister added that he's happy to discuss his faith generally and the role it plays in his life.
Romney said he would not distance himself from what he called "the faith of my fathers."
"I believe in my Mormon faith and endeavor to live by it," he said.
But showing the fine line he was treading, he promised not to be beholden to church authorities, and devoted the majority of his address to calling for a robust role for religion in public life, declaring there was a common moral heritage across religious lines in the country that he would champion.
"I will take care to separate the affairs of government from any religion, but I will not separate us from the God who gave us liberty," he said, drawing applause from an audience of about 300 invited guests, which included supporters and religious leaders. "Nor would I separate us from our religious heritage."
Romney's speech was part of a delicate balancing act in which he asserted specific religious doctrines should not matter in the voting booth but argued the nation's founders envisioned a prominent place for faith in the public square.
Romney pointed to his public record, his governorship of Massachusetts, as proof of his independence from his church.
"I will serve no one religion, no one group, no one cause, and no one interest," he said. "A president must serve only the common cause of the people of the United States.
His lone allusion to concerns about Mormonism as a departure from Christian orthodoxy came when he talked about his belief that "Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of Mankind."
In a notable difference from the way he has talked about this on the stump, he added a caveat: "My church's beliefs about Christ may not all be the same as those of other faiths."
Information for this article was contributed by Mike Baker of The Associated Press and Michael Luo of The New York Times.