Washington » A decade ago, Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman Jr. competed -- albeit behind the scenes -- for the same job.

Officials organizing Salt Lake City's scandal-plagued 2002 Winter Olympics were hunting for a Moses to deliver the Games.

They settled on Romney, then a thriving Boston businessman. Huntsman, who helped run his father's chemical business and cancer institute, scored only an interview.

Now, years after Romney led the Utah Olympics to the promised land -- catapulting himself to the Massachusetts governor's chair and a presidential bid -- and Huntsman vaulted to the Utah governor's mansion, capturing a second term by a record margin, the two soon may find themselves squaring off again.

This time for a much loftier prize: the White House.

Huntsman, 49, and Romney, 62, are buzzed about in Republican circles as potential presidential candidates. The two have similar backgrounds and experience, but they differ in style and substance. Both have deep pockets and boast strong Mormon roots -- a link that may help or hinder a drive for the Oval Office.

"The first important element in a presidential race is ambition," says Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. "They both have it."

But, he adds, "very few have the ambition to follow up with it."

It's too early to say whether either, neither or both will jump into the battle for the GOP nomination, but Romney and Huntsman are positioning themselves for the fight.

Romney, who fell short in the 2008 chase, is seen by many observers as a possible front-runner for 2012. The multimillionaire now runs a political action committee to help Republican candidates and travels the GOP speaking circuit.

Huntsman, too, is making headlines nationally, supporting civil unions and talking about broadening the Republican base.

The Mormon question

If both candidates dive in, their shared faith is sure to be a factor -- for good or ill.

Romney's Mormonism, observers say, cost him in 2008 with a key GOP constituency: Protestant evangelical voters.

"If you have two Mormons in the race, one could imagine you're diluting whatever religious opposition there might be," says John Green, a senior fellow in religion and American politics at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. "On the other hand, it could magnify that."

Romney was able to amass millions in donations from LDS followers (about $6 million from Utah alone) and Mormons nationwide enlisted in his army of volunteers.

"The fact that some evangelicals may have voted against Romney because of his faith was balanced somewhat by Romney having this network," Green says. "Having two accomplished Mormon candidates could divide up that network."

If Huntsman and Romney run, the two could help show Americans that Mormons don't march lock step politically and ideologically -- a point church leaders have taken pains to explain.

"The more candidates you have," Green says, "the more it would illustrate while they might share a certain faith, they don't share the same politics."

After all, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is a Mormon convert.

Handicapping 2012

It's unclear how Romney or, to a larger measure, Huntsman would fare.

Sen. Bob Bennett says Huntsman, who backed John McCain in 2008, might face a higher mountain, trying to climb from the Utah governor's mansion to the White House.

Former New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman Fergus Cullen, now a consultant, says Romney still has a hefty base of support in the Granite State, home to the nation's first primary.

By making appearances and doling out money to local candidates, Cullen adds, Romney stays in favor with people he can hit up later for support. "History suggests second-time Republican candidates have benefited from running before."

For his part, Huntsman is virtually unknown in that bellwether state and would have a lot of ground to make up.

"It's safe to say that Governor Huntsman's name ID is zero in New Hampshire," Cullen says. But even that can be a plus -- a fresh face with a fresh chance to make a fresh mark with voters. Contrast that with Romney, who still struggles to shed a flip-flopper label.

Washington-based political strategist Alex Conant says it's difficult this early to gauge the strengths of one candidate over another. President Barack Obama snagged the Democratic nomination partially on his promise to pull U.S. troops from Iraq, but he rose to the White House largely on an economic front.

"It's hard to tell this early what the issues are going to be in the Republican primary in 2012 and even in the general [election] what the issues will be," Conant says. "Leaders like Romney and Huntsman or [Minnesota Gov. Tim] Pawlenty or [South Carolina Gov. Mark] Sanford, all they can do right now is begin to lay the foundations for a run."

For Huntsman, that means introducing himself nationally; for Romney, that means maintaining a national presence.

Distinct differences

Romney ran in 2008 as a fiscal conservative and a champion of traditional marriage and other social issues. Huntsman appears to be spelling out more moderate positions -- with his backing of civil unions and other gay-rights initiatives.

"The stakes of the tent have to be pulled up and broadened for the party," Huntsman said earlier this year. "When you're left with limited demographics to draw from, limited geographic regions that are loyal, when you lose the youth vote to the extent we did, and voters of color, that's happened for a reason. We haven't kept pace in terms of modernizing and updating our worldview as a party."

So how do Huntsman and Romney view each other? Rumors of bad blood between them can be traced back to that Olympic job.

Jon Huntsman Sr. complained that Games organizers had interviewed his son, Jon Jr., and then-Madison Square Garden President Dave Checketts (Real Salt Lake's owner) only as window dressing -- that they already had offered the job to Romney.

But Peter Huntsman, the governor's brother, says there is no lingering anger. While the initial Olympic-selection process "may have left a bad taste in some people's mouths," he says, the Huntsmans have great respect for Romney. Jon Huntsman Sr. even donated to Romney's 2008 campaign.

Of course, if his son runs in 2012, that money surely would go to someone else.

tburr@sltrib.com

Tribune reporter Robert Gehrke contributed to this story.