Romney declined to predict the outcome of Saturday's straw poll, where candidates typically pay the $35 cost for Iowa voters to participate as well as provide them with transportation, food and entertainment.

His Iowa state director, Gentry Collins, said even if Romney tops the list of 11 candidates by only one vote, it will be a victory. "A win is a win," Collins said.

Verv Davidson, a Korean War veteran who lives in Iowa Falls, said he'll be voting in the straw poll for Romney. "Not many people could have handled the situation in Salt Lake City like he did," Davidson said, referring to Romney taking the 2002 Winter Olympics from scandal to success.

No one gathered for "Ask Mitt Anything" campaign events in Iowa Falls or nearby Hampton had any questions for the candidate about his religion. But Ann Koenigsberg, a retired children's librarian from Hampton, said she wanted Romney to bring it up.

"I was hoping he would address the Mormon issue," Koenigsberg said, because she's not sure Romney shares her Christian beliefs. "My faith is very important to me. I'm a believer."

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