'Values Voters' Splinter on Evaluations

"You see more than 51 percent of the people at the meeting voting for Huckabee, and then you see the gatekeepers continuing to insist you should consider the others," Brinson said. "The bottom line is they have not bought into the Mike Huckabee camp. There's no quid pro quo like with other candidates."

Perkins dismissed the notion that he and other leaders had goals seemingly at odds with the will of the evangelicals at the conference.

"I personally have not endorsed any candidate and am not leaning in any particular direction," he said, though predicting that in the next few weeks others in the movement will start endorsing candidates. "I don't think you're going to see a group effort."