Kennedy told the gathering he would make decisions based on what his conscience would tell him would be in the best national interest, not what outside religious pressure would dictate.

"But if the time should ever come — and I do not concede any conflict to be remotely possible — when my office would require me to either violate my conscience or violate the national interest, then I would resign the office; and I hope any conscientious public servant would do likewise," Kennedy said.

Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said Romney should make the speech. He said Kennedy stressed that he would vote by his conscience, not the pope's, and Romney needs to assure people he would not be taking orders from the LDS Church.

"I believe Mitt Romney's being a Mormon is not a dealbreaker," said Land, who was named one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in America in 2005 by Time magazine.

Land said some religious conservatives would vote for Romney over former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is also seeking the Republican nomination. Land said if the final election turns into a race between Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, on the Democratic ticket and Giuliani on the GOP ticket, he would have to abstain from voting because he could not vote for a pro-choice candidate, as is the case with both Clinton and Giuliani.

Francis Beckwith, an associate professor of philosophy and church-state studies at Baylor University, said that if Romney does make the speech, he needs to be careful because claiming that his religious beliefs would not influence his decision-making at all could cost him votes from those who want a president to be religious.

Romney, who ran the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, said Saturday in New Hampshire that he is "happy to answer any questions people have about my faith, and (I) do so pretty regularly."

"Is there going to be a special speech? Perhaps, at some point. I sort of like the idea myself," Romney said. "The political advisers tell me no, no, no — it's not a good idea. It draws too much attention to that issue alone."

But the issue attracts attention, speech or no speech.

Sen. John McCain's 95-year-old mother made headlines Saturday when she said Mormons were to blame for the scandal surrounding 2002 Winter Games.

"As far as the Salt Lake City thing, he's a Mormon, and the Mormons of Salt Lake City had caused that scandal. And to clean that up, again, it's not a subject," said Roberta McCain said Friday on MSNBC. McCain, who is also seeking the GOP nomination, immediately responded that he did not share his mother's views on this issue.