Former Gov. Mitt Romney is said to have emerged as a top contender to be John McCain's running mate. But are fellow Republicans blocking his way?

Several evangelical and conservative leaders suggested evangelicals might be more open to potential candidates like Gov. Tim Pawlenty, although he remains an unknown quantity to many.

"I think when you look at Mitt Romney, he's not in the totally uncomfortable column, but he's not in the completely comfortable column," said Tony Perkins, of the Family Research Council. "Those that do have opposition to him, they're pretty adamant in their opposition."

Mathew Staver, dean of Liberty University School of Law and founder of the conservative legal advocacy group Liberty Counsel, recently organized a meeting in Denver of 100 top Christian conservative leaders in which they agreed to try to coalesce around McCain. He said that choosing Romney would "not advance the ball within the evangelical bloc of voters that McCain needs."

Romney's tone on abortion, gay rights and other issues clearly figure into his critics' feelings, but his Mormon faith also remains a factor. Evangelicals do not consider Mormonism a part of Christian orthodoxy.

"I think Romney would be very acceptable to the foreign policy conservatives and the economic conservatives," said Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention's public policy arm. "But I think it's fair to say that about 15 to 20 percent of evangelicals would have a difficult time voting for a Mormon on either side of the ticket."

Pundits said the danger for McCain is not that Christian conservatives won't vote for him if he chooses Romney, but that they will not be as energetic in turning people out to vote.

NEW YORK TIMES