The major contenders for the Republican nomination for president touted their Christian bona fides Friday and Saturday in the hope of wooing the religious right. At the Faith and Freedom Coalition's two-day conference, the candidates framed economic issues as moral ones and emphasized their commitment to anti-abortion laws. John Huntsman and Mitt Romney played down their Mormonism, and Romney stressed his opposition to legal abortion, which he once supported. Tim Pawlenty invoked Bible verses, while Michele Bachmann promised to defund Planned Parenthood. The speeches and interviews given by the candidates come as onlookers remain uncertain who will best attract the religious right, particularly in the absence of a Mike Huckabee candidacy.
