It's not about the war in Iraq, health care or terrorism, but about faith.
In the back of the room, Sheri Williams grabs the mic and outlines the scenario: say there's a voter who is teetering between two candidates, both of them strong leaders. But the voter understands and identifies with one contender's religion, not the other one.
What, asks Williams, should the voter do?
"This is very theoretical, nothing like this exists, right?" Romney quips.
Unfortunately, for him, it's not a joke. And it's far from hypothetical.
Williams is deciding between Romney, a Mormon, and rival Mike Huckabee, a Baptist minister-turned-politician, a choice Iowans made rather decisively Thursday.
Political observers forecasted Romney's Mormon faith would hinder his White House bid, saying too many voters are wary of the Salt Lake City-based religion or see it as heretical to their own beliefs.
Romney attempted to downplay the issue, then moved to put it behind him by addressing it in a much-hyped "Faith in America" speech.
But Iowa made clear his religion is a hurdle he has yet to overcome. Romney finished a fairly distant second to Huckabee and managed to attract only about one of every five evangelical voters.
"It's virtually impossible for Romney to calm the religious fears of evangelicals," says Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University.
"There's a limit to what he can do with religion at this point. [And] it's only going to get worse after New Hampshire."
New England hopes Romney's road to the White House now heads through the Granite State, which holds its primary Tuesday.
New Hampshire doesn't have the hotbed of evangelical voters that played such a key role in Iowa. And it's now Arizona Sen. John McCain - not Huckabee - that has emerged as Romney's primary rival.
State Republican Party Chairman Fergus Cullen says it's definitely a "Romney-McCain dog fight" here.
"Certainly, evangelical Christians are an important, respected and welcome part of our winning coalition here," Cullen says, but voters are "New England Yankees," who deal with faith more privately.
Romney and McCain are locked in a neck-and-neck battle for the New Hampshire nod, and both are airing commercials contrasting their records to voters.
McCain has camped out in the state for more than a month hoping to score a victory here like he did in 2000.
Romney has a strong campaign in New Hampshire as well, clearly aimed at one target. His campaign Web site is issuing a series of press releases called "Straight Talk Detour," a takeoff on McCain's 2000 "straight talk express" campaign.
In New Hampshire Saturday, Romney changed up his standard Iowa stump speech, pointing more strongly to a need for new blood in Washington, a not-so-veiled slap at McCain, a 21-year veteran of the Senate.
The Romney camp unveiled a new sign, literally spotlighted in a high school gymnasium where Romney was speaking, declaring "Washington is broken."
That's a theme Romney highlighted immediately after the Iowa caucus results, and one he appears to be banking on to garner votes in New Hampshire.
"My view is Washington is broken," Romney said at the private Pinkerton Academy at a town hall forum. "My view is it's going to take somebody who knows how to bring change to get Washington on track.
"That's why I'm running for office.
"Is there anybody here who agrees with me that Washington is badly broken?" Romney asked the crowd, garnering a field of hands in the audience. "It looks like we have a pretty good consensus out there."
The newly polished "agent of change" theme made headlines for Romney, with some media outlets seizing on it as evidence that the former Massachusetts governor and one-time abortion rights supporter perpetually reinvents himself in the quest for votes.
Writing on the Washington Post's online diary of the campaign, Michael D. Shear called the new theme "a desperate attempt to convince people that Romney is the Republican equivalent of Barack Obama and John Edwards."
McCain's campaign jumped on that skeptical bandwagon.
"It is laughable that Mitt Romney would think anyone buys his latest act as an agent of change," spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker told the Associated Press. "The only thing he's ever changed are his positions on nearly every important issue."
Romney needs a good showing to stay competitive, bring momentum and attention on his campaign. A first-place would put him back to front-runner status; a loss could mean the beginning of the end.
Cullen says Romney could still lose New Hampshire and do well because he has money and resources to compete in other primary contests.
But Merle Black, a professor of politics at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga, and the author of "Divided America," says Romney needs a win in New Hampshire because he has staked much of his campaign on an early state strategy of winning Iowa and New Hampshire.
"If that's your strategy and he's 0 for 2, I don't see how he can continue," says Black.
After New Hampshire, the GOP candidates head to Michigan for that state's primary, where Romney again faces a steep challenge from McCain. Beyond that, though, Romney heads back to evangelic territory, to South Carolina and Florida.
"There are a lot of evangelical Christians who really do not believe the Mormon religion is part of Christianity," Black says. "This is what a lot of people feel. Itís out there."
Countering the concern Back in Manchester, Sheri Williams stands in the back listening intently as Romney lays out why a candidate's specific faith shouldnít matter.
Romney highlights America's foundation of religious liberty, how both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison believed in a higher power but not necessarily in an organized religion. He also noted how America has elected Quakers, Unitarians, and Deists.
The word Mormon isn't mentioned, but Williams appears satisfied.
"I think Mitt probably sold me," she says afterwards.
One down, tens of thousands to go.
