Evangelical leader says Mitt Romney's faith 'could make the difference' in tight race in South Carolina

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GILBERT, S. C. — Lois Buffington shook her head when she talked about the evangelical Christians she knows who won't vote for Mitt Romney in Saturday's presidential primary here because he's a Mormon.

"That angers me, and I am a Southern Baptist from day one and will always be," said Buffington, a retired business owner from nearby Lexington who stood outside in the rain Friday to hear Romney speak on the final full day of campaigning before Saturday's primary vote.

"Mr. Romney is a Mormon because that's his belief and his choice. That's what America was built on, freedom of choice," she said. "If the rest of us had the morals the Mormon people have, we wouldn't have any problems."

New polls show Romney no longer leads the GOP field in South Carolina, thanks to a sudden surge in support for former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Romney's campaign is already shifting its focus to Florida's Jan. 31 primary.

Buffington, who supported Romney since his first bid for the White House in 2008, said she's "been preaching" to those who don't see Mormons as fellow Christians to put aside their concerns about his faith.

That's a tall order in South Carolina, she said, a state seen as the first real test in the presidential race of a candidate's ability to connect with the GOP's conservative base.

"I believe some of the people here are more bothered by Mr. Romney being a Mormon than Newt Gingrich having three wives," Buffington said.

Gingrich came out on top in a Clemson University poll released Friday, with the support of 36 percent of the likely voters surveyed Wednesday and Thursday compared to 24 percent for Romney.

Earlier polling had given Romney a comfortable 10-point lead, Clemson political science professor and pollster Dave Woodard said. He's now predicting a win for Gingrich on Saturday.

Woodard said voters like what they've heard from Gingrich in this week's debates. Especially, he said, when Gingrich slammed the media Thursday before denying allegations from an ex-wife that he wanted an "open marriage" while having an affair.

In contrast, Woodard said, Romney has been "hemming and hawing" in the debates over releasing his income tax returns, after weeks of being hammered by his opponents over his business career. "The more he talks about it, the worse it sounds," Woodard said.