For a few days there, it seemed to God-o-Meter that Mitt Romney, after winning the Michigan primary on his economic message and placing fourth in South Carolina because of anemic evangelical support, was deemphasizing religious conservative outreach. Over at Townhall, though, GOM sees that Romney has sealed up endorsements from Florida’s most important Christian Right leaders, including the heads of the Florida Family Association (connected to Focus on the Family) and the incoming head of the Christian Coalition of Florida. From an email making the rounds in Christian conservative circles and posted on Townhall:

Dennis Baxley, David Caton, Carole Griffin and Anthony Verdugo, representing over fifty years of combined pro-family leadership in Florida, support Mitt Romney in the Florida Presidential Preference Primary.
The election results from Florida’s Primary on January 29th will play a significant role in the Republican nomination for president. Florida’s election results are expected to heavily influence the choice of voters during the February 5th Super Tuesday primary that will be held in many other state.
Mitt Romney is clearly the most conservative candidate among the top three competitive candidates (Giuliani, McCain, Romney) appearing on the Florida Presidential Preference ballot in Florida.
Dennis Baxley is the incoming Executive Director for Christian Coalition of Florida and former Florida State Representative for District 24.
David Caton is the Executive Director of Florida Family Association.
Carole Griffin is a pro-family lobbyist in Tallahassee and heads the Eagle Forum in Florida.
Anthony Verdugo is the president of Christian Family Coalition.

In a related development, the Romney campaign is also publicizing the addition of former Fred Thompson backers to its Advisory Committee on the Constitution and the Courts, which religious conservatives hope is an advisory committee on how to overturn Roe, stop gay unions, and keep God in the public square.

Joining Romney for President after having served as National Co-Chair of Lawyers for Fred Thompson, Victoria Toensing said, “Appointing strong judges is one of our President’s most important responsibilities. The next President will make a number of appointments, and I am confident Governor Romney will nominate judges in the mold of President Bush’s nominees, Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito. I am proud to work with Governor Romney and this outstanding group of legal minds.”
Also joining the Advisory committee from Lawyers for Fred Thompson are Lizette D. Benedi, Rachel L. Brand, Reginald Brown, Charles J. Cooper, Joseph E. diGenova, Michael R. Dimino, Viet D. Dinh, Noel J. Francisco and Eileen J. O’Connor.

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