COLUMBIA, S.C. ? A splintered conservative vote in South Carolina could pave the way for Mitt Romney to win this week's pivotal primary, some rivals said Sunday, acknowledging an outcome that prominent state lawmakers suggested could end the nomination fight.
"I think the only way that a Massachusetts moderate can get through South Carolina is if the vote is split," said Newt Gingrich, portraying himself as the lone conservative with a "realistic chance" of beating Romney in the first-in-the South contest.
Polls show Romney, the former Massachusetts governors who struggled to a fourth-place finish in South Carolina during his 2008 White House run, with a lead heading into Saturday's vote. The state has a large population of evangelicals and other conservative Christians, and concerns arose four years ago about his Mormon faith.
But Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry all said Romney, after victories in Iowa and New Hampshire, continued to benefit from the fractured GOP field and the failure of social conservatives to fully coalesce around a single alternative.
"If for some reason he's not derailed here and Mitt Romney wins South Carolina ... I think it should be over," said the state's senior senator, Republican Lindsey Graham. He added, "I'd hope the party would rally around him if he did in fact win South Carolina."
Santorum said South Carolina is "not going to be the final issue" and spoke of the "need to get this eventually down to a conservative alternative" to Romney. "When we get it down to a two-person race, we have an excellent opportunity to win this race," said the former Pennsylvania senator who won the endorsement of an influential group of social conservatives and evangelical leaders Saturday in Texas.
Perry, the Texas governor, said it was "our intention" to compete in the next contest, Florida's primary Jan. 31, even if he finished last in South Carolina.
Gingrich said he would "reassess" his candidacy if he lost in South Carolina and acknowledged that a Romney victory would mean "an enormous advantage going forward."
The former House speaker appealed for the support of "every conservative who wants to have a conservative nominee."
"I hope every conservative will reach the conclusion that to vote for anybody but Gingrich is, in fact, to help Romney win the nomination," he said.
To Rep. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the equation is simple: "If Romney wins South Carolina, I think the game's over. This is the last stand for many candidates."
He noted that three candidates are pursuing the evangelical vote "very strongly and without any question that works to the Romney campaign's benefit. It's hard to find a single candidate that rallies all of the Christian voters in South Carolina and therefore that splintered approach will probably have a major impact" in the primary.
Romney took a rare day off from campaigning while his opponents focused on the South Carolina coast. They also attended church services and prayer breakfasts in a state with a large population of evangelicals and other conservative Christians.
At the Cathedral of Praise in North Charleston, Gingrich was cheered by church members as he criticized activist judges who he said had made "anti-American" rulings to keep God out of schools. Santorum spoke at the same church Saturday.
At a prayer breakfast in Myrtle Beach, Perry appealed to religious conservatives to back his candidacy.
"Who will see the job of president as that of faithful servant to the American people, and the God who created us?" Perry said. "I hope each of you will peer into your heart and look for that individual with the record and the values that represent your heart."
The candidates faced a packed week of campaign events and nationally televised debates Monday and Thursday. No Republican has won the party's presidential nomination without carrying South Carolina.
Santorum battled Romney to a virtual tie in Iowa before falling to fifth place in New Hampshire. Gingrich and Perry fared poorly in both states.
All three have the backing of well-financed independent groups known as super political action committee that can help keep their candidacies afloat.
Santorum refused to suggest anyone should drop out of the race as a way to consolidate conservative support behind an anti-Romney candidate. But he said Republicans would have a hard time beating President Barack Obama in November if Romney were the nominee. Santorum cited Romney's push for mandatory insurance coverage in Massachusetts.
Gingrich and Perry used television interviews to focus on Romney's former leadership of the Bain Capital venture firm. Both defended raising questions about Bain's business practices, saying Romney's tenure would come under relentless assault from Democrats in the general election.
Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman picked up the endorsement of The State, one of South Carolina's leading newspaper. Huntsman came in a weak third in New Hampshire after skipping Iowa, but the paper described him as a "realist" able to appeal to the centrist voters who will decide the general election.
Texas Rep. Ron Paul was returning to campaigning for the first time since Wednesday. He has spent several days at home in Texas after his second-place finish in the New Hampshire primary last week.
Gingrich, Graham and Scott appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press," while Santorum spoke on "Fox News Sunday" and Perry was interviewed on CNN's "State of the Union."
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Associated Press writers Tom Beaumont in Myrtle Beach and Julie Pace in North Charleston contributed to this report.
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Follow Beth Fouhy on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/bfouhy
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