Romney asks Republicans to rally around him

SCOTTSDALE: Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney worked on Friday to rally party leaders behind his cause and overcome lingering suspicions that he is too moderate, but failed to get all to pledge allegiance.

Romney called for unity at a Republican National Committee conference in the Arizona desert that brought together party representatives from each state, some of whom had backed one of Romney's rivals for the nomination.

In his speech, Romney kept the focus on Democratic President Barack Obama's handling of the sluggish US economy. He recognized his vanquished Republican rivals, from Michele Bachmann to Rick Santorum, mentioning them all by name and thanking them for having the courage to run.

"Each one of them is going to play a vital role in making sure we win in November," said Romney. The former Massachusetts governor needs as much support as he can get from fellow Republicans in what is expected to be a tough fight with Obama as the Nov. 6 election approaches.

Romney lagged Obama by 6 percentage points in a new NBC/Wall Street Journal survey, although a few other polls have shown him ahead.

Some Republican committee members declined to fall in line with Romney's attempts to bring the party together under his candidacy after months of bruising primary fights.

In a private reception before his luncheon speech, Republican delegates were asked to sign a pledge to support Romney and about 100 did so, a campaign official said.

But Iowa's three conservative representatives did not sign the pledge and CNN said there was a heated exchange in the hallway outside the reception.

Some party representatives had been hoping one of Romney's rivals would become the standard bearer. Iowa, for example, narrowly voted for Santorum over Romney in its January nominating contest.

Reinforcing the idea that Romney, who is trying to dispel criticism that he is too stiff, has a "likeability gap" with voters, a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll offered a glaring picture: 56 percent said they had a favorable opinion of Obama while only 35 percent said the same of Romney.

The NBC/Wall Street Journal poll also showed that the president is seen as more likeable and someone who cares more than Romney, a former business executive, about average people. Romney had 43 percent to Obama's 49 percent in a match-up.

But in a key area - ideas to improve the US economy -Romney led Obama by 40-34 percent. (Reuters)