Mitt Romney, the once and likely future presidential candidate, didn’t show up to address the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, but that didn’t stop him from walking away with the big prize from the gathering. The former Massachusetts governor bested the competition in a straw poll conducted here over the past two days. Romney received 24 percent of a total of 1,806 ballots cast when voters were asked to name the candidate they would support if the Republican primary for president were held today. [snip] A group whipping votes for Romney, Evangelicals for Mitt, spent the day handing out plastic pink...