The speech, made less than a month before the first votes in the 2008 presidential race will be cast in the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3, was aimed at soothing concerns raised by evangelical voters who don't see Mormons as fellow Christians.

Thursday's poll also asked Utahns whether they thought the perceptions of the LDS faith in other areas of the country were fair, and 62 percent said they weren't fair. And 82 percent said religion shouldn't be a factor in presidential campaigns.

Many Utahns have been startled to realize, Jowers said, that a significant core of the Republican Party believes that Mormons may not be eligible to be president because of their beliefs.

"As American children, we always hear than anyone can grow up to be president, but LDS children were hearing, perhaps for the first time, that that aspiration didn't apply to them in the minds of some of the religious right," he said.

Jones said the speech helps reinforce that Romney's candidacy is a chance to overcome religious biases, just as Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama represent opportunities to support a woman or an African-American candidate.

The pollster cautioned that it's too soon to tell, though, whether Romney's speech will translate into votes in Iowa, where he's facing tough competition from former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Baptist minister, and in other states.

Romney spokeswoman Gail Gitcho said the candidate, the former leader of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, "is pleased with the amount of support he has received in Utah. He has a tremendous team in the state."

She said through the speech "the American people were given an opportunity to learn exactly who Mitt Romney is — a man of faith and moral strength who understands that our common religious heritage is critical to our nation's strength."

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