Romney faces skepticism in Republican US South

JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) — Mitt Romney faces a tough sell in the U.S. Deep South.

With Mississippi and Alabama primaries coming up next Tuesday, there's concern that he's too slick, not really a conservative. In a region where the evangelical vote is important, some are skeptical about his Mormon faith.

But if Romney wins the Republican nomination, and it's a November choice between him and President Barack Obama, the former Massachusetts governor may be just good enough for some Southerners.

"If push comes to shove and he gets the nomination, I'll go in the voting booth like this and vote for him," says Mississippi retiree David Wilke, holding his nose.

Former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich, who represented Georgia for 20 years and now lives in Virginia, needs to win every state from South Carolina to Texas to get to the Republican nominating convention this summer, spokesman R.C. Hammond says.

Staff for former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, whose chances of again leading the race are slimmer after Romney won six of 10 states that voted this week, say their candidate will be aggressive in states where Gingrich expects to perform well.

Gingrich scored an early primary victory in South Carolina and won this week in Georgia. Romney added a Virginia win this week — Gingrich and Santorum weren't on the ballot — to his Jan. 31 win in Florida, which is culturally not entirely a Southern state, despite its geography. Santorum won Tennessee.

After Mississippi and Alabama next week, Louisiana votes March 24, North Carolina and Texas on May 8, Arkansas on May 22 and Texas on May 29.

Romney's victories this week put him on a delegate-winning pace that would secure the nomination — the needed 1,144 delegates — in June, and at their current rate, none of his Republican foes will reach even half the number needed. To date, Romney has won 55 percent of the delegates at stake in primaries and caucuses.

Santorum and Gingrich are invoking God and country as they campaign in Mississippi and Alabama, They're winning applause by saying Obama has been a weak ally for Israel, a point that resonates with Christian conservatives.

Mary Dockery, director of a Christian youth group in Mississippi, said she's voting for Santorum because she believes he's the most pro-Israel candidate.

"In God's word, he tells us about the blessings of those people who support Israel," Dockery said at a Santorum rally Wednesday night.

Santorum didn't mention Gingrich during his appearance. "If we win in Mississippi, this will be a two-person race," he said.

Still, Romney is supported by top Republicans in many Southern states, including in Alabama, and he'll speak there on Friday. He's been endorsed by former Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, though Riley concedes Romney is an underdog there.

"Mitt Romney is the only candidate with the leadership and business experience to take our country through this difficult economic situation and bring us out stronger," Riley said. "If there was ever time to have a job creator in the White House, it is now."

In Louisiana, state Republican Executive Director Jason Dore said support for Republican candidates seems to be fluctuating to match the national battle over the nomination.

"Gingrich and Santorum seem to both ebb and flow all the time," Dore said.

In Mississippi, Romney has been endorsed by most statewide elected officials.

Waiting to hear Gingrich speak Thursday in Mississippi, Shane Brown, a 43-year-old Christian minister, said he and his wife are not Romney fans, but they're resigned that he will probably win the nomination.

"He just does not seem like a real person," Brown said. "We're going to end up getting a candidate that the base doesn't really love. You may go vote for him, but you're not going to tell 10 people to go vote for him."

Bettye Fine Collins of Alabama, a Republican National Committee member, said she's supporting Santorum in the primary because "he has never flip-flopped on conservative values." But she said she'll back Romney if he wins the nomination. She said Santorum's background, as the son of the coal miner, will appeal more to the common man and woman than Romney's multimillionaire standing.She said Obama won in 2008 by targeting the common voter.

"We didn't target the people who are out there struggling to make a living," Collins said.

Next up: Saturday caucuses in Kansas, the Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Wyoming also wraps up its caucuses Saturday.