WASHINGTON — Near the end of his speech before the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference Friday night, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty began to recite 2 Chronicles 7:14, the verse he said Ronald Reagan laid his hand on while taking the presidential oath of office.

Extemporaneously, and apparently from memory, many of the estimated 1,000 people in the audience joined in: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Pawlenty was one of seven declared or potential Republican presidential candidates to speak at the conference, organized by Ralph Reed’s coalition of evangelical and social conservatives. Five of them spoke Friday — Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, Jon Hunstman, Ron Paul and Minnesota’s Michele Bachmann

Of them, Bachmann is perhaps the most vocal on social issues. Hunstman, for example, has voiced support for civil unions, and while Romney and Pawlenty may support similar policies as Bachmann, they have to this point run a campaign focused almost exclusively on fiscal issues.

Much of Bachmann’s speech focused on social issues that played heavily on the audience’s sensibilities — opposition to gay marriage and abortion, support for defunding Planned Parenthood and a desire to defend Israel. She told stories about maintaining her marriage and raising and homeschooling her children and offered a prayer at the end of her address.

The crowd cheered Bachmann frequently during the speech, but the line that got the biggest response involved her opposition to a fiscal issue — the health care reform law Congress passed last session.

“I will not rest until we repeal ObamaCare,” she said to a standing ovation. “America will not rest until we repeal ObamaCare … The American people are with us on this issue, that’s why the window of opportunity we have in 2012 is so crucial.”

Pawlenty did play to the crowd, offering support for some social issues that had become standard talking points for the convention’s speakers. For Pawlenty, they came mostly in the form of rapid-fire quotations in the middle of his speech.

On opposing abortion: “You can’t have a quality of life if you don’t have a life.”

On opposing gay marriage: “Traditional marriage … should be put on a platform, it should be protected.”

On supporting Israel: “We need a President of the United States who stands shoulder to shoulder with our friend Israel.”

The rest of his speech was a well-worn campaign message about economic policy and what he called the “broken promises” of Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign. “If we don’t tell the truth, we’re going to lose our country,” he said, highlighting the stern messages he’s given to otherwise friendly audiences, such as opposing ethanol subsidies in Iowa (though he offered no such message to this socially conservative, largely religious crowd).

But the audience seemed captivated. They greeted Pawlenty, the first formally declared presidential candidate to address the convention, with a large ovation, and they stood to cheer a couple times during the speech, especially after his defense of Israel. And, as it always does with such audiences, Pawlenty’s reference to Minnesota as the “land of Al Franken” drew a chorus of boos.  

Romney, likewise, delivered a message largely similar to those he’s given before, based on the contention that “Barack Obama has failed the American people.”

He painted unemployment and increased government debt as moral tragedies, but he shied away from social issues that had won applause for other speakers.

Romney, who is Mormon, also conspicuously avoided discussing religion, offering only a credo of unity in the opening lines of his speech: “We’re united tonight in a lot of things. We’re united in our love of this country; we’re united in our belief in the sanctity of human life; we’re united in our belief in the importance and significance of marriage between one man and one woman; we’re united in our belief in America,” he said. But from then on, he discussed economic policy almost exclusively.

Bachmann resonates with conservative crowd

Bachmann is known nationally as a Tea Party favorite, but she also struck a chord here with a conservative audience holding generally stronger social rather than fiscal views.

Virginia college students Caitlin Crawford and Meredith Johnson said they were both Bachmann fans. Neither was willing to commit to a presidential candidate yet, but they said they appreciated the way Bachmann carries herself as an example of a powerful woman in politics.

Philadelphia resident Janet Kempf said she mostly agrees with Bachmann, but she thinks Bachmann’s gender could become a distraction if she were to launch a serious presidential bid.

Kempf said Bachmann runs the risk of being “Palined,” or treated differently by the media than liberal women in politics.

“I think they’re going to really attack her,” Kempf said.

George Hiller of Atlanta said he is leaning toward supporting Romney, but when asked to judge Minnesota’s two presidential hopefuls, Bachmann was the one who drew his attention.

“I like Bachmann a lot,” he said. “She’s not ashamed of bringing her faith into the discussion.”

Many of those asked still said they don’t know a lot about Pawlenty. Kempf, though, said she had seen Pawlenty on Sunday morning political talk shows and “liked what I heard.”

But, “I think he needs a little oomph,” she said. “He might be able to find it.”

Devin Henry is an intern in MinnPost’s Washington Bureau.