About 700 people attended the dinner hosted by the ''pro-life, pro-family and pro-marriage'' Family Florida Policy Council, in what has become the largest annual gathering of its kind in Florida.

''Please don't give up now,'' said Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, who was followed by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. ``We can win this fight.''

It's a challenging time to be a religious conservative in Florida: Brownback and Huckabee, who received standing ovations, are considered long shots in the 2008 race. The council's political arm is struggling to pass a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in Florida.

Meanwhile, Gov. Charlie Crist -- who passed up an invitation to the event -- is winning accolades for his moderate approach.

Partly because of his influence, measures to restrict abortion and expand adult stem-cell research failed in the recent legislative session.

Where do social conservatives in Florida go from here?

''I don't really have concerns with the politics of it,'' the council's president, John Stemberger, said before the event.

``It's our job to do the right thing and speak the truth and let the chips fall where they may.''

The image of Brownback and Huckabee sharing a stage suggested a religious conservative's dream ticket -- one that could consolidate their limited financial and grass-roots support to win the nomination.

Brownback said society needs to stand up for children -- in the womb, in war-torn Darfur, in poor American cities.

''We should stand up for innocent life where ever it is,'' said Brownback, who has two adopted children. ``We're pro-life and whole life.''

He added, referring to the court decision legalizing abortion: ``We are one justice away on the Supreme Court from being able to overturn Roe v. Wade. We need to get that justice.''

He said he wanted to ''rebuild'' the family, and he called for expressions of faith in the public sphere. ''It is right and it is just for God to be honored in our society,'' he said.

Huckabee echoed his rival's sentiments: ``I am convinced that one of the reasons Americans seem confused and lost is because we have systematically tried to remove the landmarks that have given us our bearings as a country. This country has always been built on the idea that we value human life. . . . We treat the life of one as if it is the life of all.''

Huckabee contrasted the pro-life culture with the ''pro-death'' beliefs of Islamic jihadists.

But neither candidate registers in the polls. In Florida, the front-runner is thrice-married former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., once called evangelical leaders ``agents of intolerance.''

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Mormon believed by some Christians to be part of a cult, has supported abortion rights and gay rights.

The council that hosted the Orlando dinner is an offshoot of the Focus on the Family organization led by James Dobson, who recently wrote that he would rather sit out the election than vote for Giuliani because of his support for abortion rights.

''I think I like Huckabee, but does he really have a chance?'' wondered Jim Badman, an Ocoee doctor who attended the Orlando dinner with his wife Holly. They have five children. ``I would like someone with conservative financial and social values, but I have to be realistic.''

Republican Sen. Dan Webster of Winter Garden, a longtime conservative standard bearer in the Legislature who has not settled on a candidate yet, said religious voters will find their way in the campaign.

''It's far better to have a Republican who disagrees with us on some issues than a Democrat who we disagree with on every issue,'' he said.

He could have been talking about Crist, who has focused anti-crime legislation, insurance costs and property taxes and avoided debate on abortion and gay rights.

Although Crist supported embryonic stem-cell research during his campaign, he declined to take up the fight in Tallahassee.

''We should do as much as we can to have a big tent all across Florida, to not have wedge issues that drive us apart, but to have common ground that makes us stronger,'' the governor said in a videotaped speech shown earlier Saturday at a GOP meeting at the same Orlando hotel.

Crist has said the state party should not continue to bankroll a petition drive to ban same-sex marriage, which is being led by the council's political arm. The effort failed to garner enough signatures in 2006, and if it gets on the ballot in 2008, it would have to meet a higher, 60 percent threshold.

''It's certainly challenging, no question,'' Stemberger said.