"Anybody who was prejudiced against Mormons, I don't think he made any inroads in that group," said Nicholson, 69, who is Catholic. "A lot of people don't understand what Mormonism is about. Anytime you don't understand something, you're always suspicious."
Romney's aides said he didn't plan to go any deeper into his beliefs. "If anybody asks the question, he can say, 'I've addressed that; I've spoken to that. Let's move on,' " one staffer said.
That leaves the court open, however, for pundits to pick apart Mormon theology and endlessly rehash some of the doctrines that may strike voters as unusual, such as secret ceremonies to baptize the dead and to "seal" them in temple marriages so they can reach the most exalted realms of heaven.
"If it goes to a point where everyone is taking apart what Mormons believe and what they don't, that's not good for Romney," said Charles Cook, a nonpartisan campaign analyst.
Other analysts noted that Romney's problems ran deeper than his religion.
In proudly laying claim to his family's Mormon tradition, Romney noted that Americans "tire of those who would jettison their beliefs . . . to gain the world." But that may have served only to remind voters of Romney's shifting beliefs on issues such as abortion. (When he ran for governor of Massachusetts, Romney supported abortion rights; he now opposes them.)
Romney also ran the risk of looking as though his talk on faith was little more than a calculated strategy to parry Huckabee's rise in the polls.
"He should have given this speech six months ago, when he could have done it on his own terms," said Alan Wolfe, director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life at Boston College. "I think he stopped the bleeding. I don't think he gained much."
miguel.bustillo@latimes.com
stephanie.simon@latimes.com
mark.barabak@latimes.com
Times staff writer Seema Mehta contributed to this report.
