WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Republican Mitt Romney urged conservatives on Friday to overcome their doubts about him and help him win the party's presidential nomination, then defeat Democratic President Barack Obama in November.
Romney, a wounded front-runner in the nomination race after losses this week to Rick Santorum in Missouri, Michigan and Colorado, has struggled to attract conservative Republicans wary of his record as the governor of Massachusetts.
On Friday he unleashed what amounted to an aggressive sales pitch, using a flurry of conservative buzzwords during his speech before a conference of the party's right wing. He called for lower taxes and limited government, and voiced opposition to gay marriage and abortion.
Romney mentioned some version of the word "conservative" two dozen times, and at one point rather awkwardly called himself a "severely conservative" governor of Massachusetts.
He added that after a Massachusetts court found a legal right to same-sex marriage in the state, he "prevented Massachusetts from becoming the Las Vegas of gay marriage."
"I understand the battles that we, as conservatives, must fight because I have been on the front lines," Romney said during his speech before the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). "I'm here to ask you to stand with me shoulder-to-shoulder as we fight for America."
Two of Romney's rivals, Santorum and former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich, tried to sow doubts about Romney's electability.
Santorum, for example, criticized the view held by many Republicans that while Romney may not be the most conservative hopeful, he would be a strong candidate in the November 6 election against Obama because he would have more appeal to independent voters than any other Republican.
"Why would an undecided voter vote for a candidate that the party's not excited about?" Santorum asked.
Romney's losses to Santorum this week halted the momentum he had enjoyed after victories in Florida and Nevada in the state-by-state nominating process. The defeats put pressure on him to convince conservatives to support him as the best candidate with a chance to beat Obama.
During his speech, Romney mentioned his rivals only indirectly. He said his opponents -- Santorum, Gingrich and Texas Congressman Ron Paul -- are "creatures of Washington" and that he is the only candidate left in the race who has never worked a day in the U.S. capital.
Romney got a strong reception, several standing ovations and heavy applause -- a better response than Santorum received earlier in the day. He also was praised by several speakers at the conference.
Conservative commentator Ann Coulter called him "the most conservative" remaining candidate, and Al Cardenas, president of the American Conservative Union, said Romney meets the conservative test.
Not everyone was buying it.
Tony DeBenedittis, a 75-year-old art teacher, said that "Mitt Romney can call himself a conservative, but I'm not convinced."
SANTORUM ATTACKS
Santorum's wins this week gave him a burst of momentum and a reason to promote himself as Romney's main conservative alternative in the weeks leading up to the "Super Tuesday" on March 6, when 10 states vote.
Santorum said Romney's more moderate record does not draw enough of a contrast with Obama.
And Foster Friess, a Santorum backer who introduced him on stage, told a joke aimed at bolstering a stereotype about Romney - that he has flip-flopped on many positions.
"A liberal, a moderate and a conservative walked into a bar," Friess said. "And the bartender said, 'Hi Mitt.' "
Gingrich, with a rare introduction by his wife, Callista, said he offers "bold solutions" and that voters should "contrast it with the timidity with managing the decay" of the United States - a reference to Gingrich's past descriptions of Romney and other "establishment" Republicans.
THE CONSERVATIVE SCENE
The conference is a beacon for conservative gadabouts and past stars who return to rub shoulders and sell books to their fans.
On Thursday, hundreds queued up to get the autograph of Herman Cain, the former pizza executive who left the 2012 race under the weight of sexual harassment allegations.
Christine O'Donnell, the failed 2010 Senate candidate from Delaware whose previous dabblings with withcraft led her to make a campaign commercial in which she tried to assure voters that she was not a witch, was on hand to support Romney.
"I'm for anyone except Newt," O'Donnell said.
Gingrich's supporters, meanwhile, handed out what they called a revised schedule to the day's events.
The flyer, nearly identical to the official schedule and with marked with language saying it had been paid for by the former speaker's campaign, tweaked Gingrich's opponents.
Romney was described as "author of Obamneycare," an attack on the former governor's healthcare overhaul in Massachusetts that Democrats and Republicans say was used by Obama as a model for his nationwide reform plan.
Santorum was demoted to "congressman" on the Gingrich campaign's fake schedule, and Santorum's speech was labeled, "In Defense of Big Labor."
The crowd's embrace of Romney was not without reservations. Throughout the day, occasional barbs came from the stage.
Immediately after Romney's address, a health policy advocate, John Goodman, listed all the ways he said healthcare reform has failed in Massachusetts.
And radio host Laura Ingraham said, "Don't you love it when people come to CPAC and they don't really have access to conservatives? And I'm not talking about Governor Romney, by the way."
(Editing by David Lindsey and Philip Barbara)
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