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Just a few months ago, the Christian right looked set to be growing once more in power and influence across America.

But after a series of blunders, evangelical Christian voters appear much less enchanted with candidates like Texas governor Rick Perry and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann.

Instead, the strongest contenders for the 2012 Republican nomination now appear to be former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who is a Mormon.

Has the religious right lost its best chance in a generation to contest the presidency?

And could the nomination go to a man whom many evangelicals see as a cultist, not a Christian?

Matt Wells reports from the first election battleground of Iowa, which is dominated by Christian conservative voters.

Photo: Mitt Romney. In 2008, he finished a disappointing second in Iowa after evangelicals went for a Baptist rival. Photo credit: AP/ Stephan Savoia