Washington ? For the leaders of the religious right, the dilemma is obvious and troubling: how to deal with a Republican presidential front-runner when he’s not with you on your core issues and you haven’t agreed on an alternative.

Friday, the source of their predicament, the pro-choice former mayor of New York, tried to ease their worries, addressing their Values Voters Summit.

In his speech, Rudolph Giuliani neither defended nor disguised his views, asking “Isn’t it better that I tell you what I really believe than to change my positions to fit the prevailing winds?”

And he talked to the crowd of 2,000 about “our shared values and goals,” pledging to appoint strict-constructionist judges and support “any reasonable suggestion” to reduce the incidence of abortion.

“Please know this: You have absolutely nothing to fear from me,” he said early in his speech, adding at the end. “I’ll continue to extend my hand to you, and I hope you’ll take it.”

Giuliani didn’t find a lot of immediate takers.

“One drop of poison ruins the whole soup,” Phil Burress of Cincinnati said of Giuliani’s words. “Nominating a pro-abortion candidate would make the Republican Party implode.”

In a straw poll of 5,576 attendees and supporters voting on line, Giuliani finished eighth with 107 votes, 26 more than last-place finisher Sen. John McCain of Arizona. The winner was former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, with 1,595 votes, just ahead of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee with 1,565.

Giuliani did succeed in reassuring some conservative Christians as they look past the nominating process to November 2008.

“He alleviated some of our fears that he is some rabid liberal working for the other side,” said Tim Echols of Jefferson, Ga., a Huckabee supporter. “If he becomes the nominee and he keeps saying that kind of stuff, I’m working for him.”

If activists on the Religious Right agree on anything right now, as they grapple with the available options, it’s that these are trying times.

“A lot of people are frustrated that no one in the top tier of candidates represents both their values and who they are as people,” said Colin Hanna, leader of Let Freedom Ring, a conservative organization based in Chester County, Pa.. “The frustration is pretty deep, and it’s sincere. The question is whether it’ll be lasting.”

From social conservative leaders’ perspectives, each Republican candidate has a central flaw: Huckabee, a Southern Baptist preacher, hasn’t raised much money; McCain isn’t to be trusted; former Sen. Fred Thompson seems to lack the fire; Romney is a recent convert on key issues and a Mormon. And then there’s Giuliani.

“If Giuliani is the nominee, you have a race in which abortion, gay rights and some other social issues are off the table,” said John Green, senior fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. “Then what’s the reason for this voter group, which represents at least one-fourth of the Republican base, to turn out?”

The political landscape is not to their liking, either. In American politics, social issues usually recede in prominence when the electorate is worried about peace and prosperity. At this stage, this looks like an election about peace and prosperity.

According to a recent poll by the Pew Center for the People and the Press, even white evangelicals say they’re more concerned about domestic issues, including the economy, and the war in Iraq than abortion or gay rights. And a lot of them are backing Giuliani, at least for now.

So it’s understandable why movement leaders aren’t sure what to do.

“The vast majority of social conservatives have drawn a line: They will not support a pro-abortion candidate,” said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council which helped organize the three-day gathering. “We care about many issues. But I would say that life and (the definition of) marriage are deal breakers for many of our voters.”