The Hill News

Republican presidential hopefuls wrestled with Donald Trump's surge in the polls, looking to distance themselves from his "birther" theories while not appearing overly hostile to the real estate mogul.

As a CNN poll showed Trump tied in the race for the GOP nod, the second poll in a week to show him at or near the top of the field, other Republicans vying for the nomination expressed more openly dismissive opinions of the theories about President Obama's birthplace that Trump has voiced.

But they've otherwise stopped short of open hostility toward Trump, who appears to be building some support among the Republican primary electorate.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said he would welcome Trump to the race.

"My view is come on in, the water's fine. The more, the merrier," said Romney, the nominal frontrunner for the 2012 nomination, Tuesday night on CNBC.

But Romney was much more vocal when it came to Obama's b! irthplace.

"I think the citizenship test has been passed. I believe the president was born in the United States," Romney said. "The man needs to be taken out of office, but his citizenship isn't the reason why."

Trump's built momentum in the polls in part due to his high media profile as of late and his vocal questioning of the authenticity of the president's birth certificate, forcing the other Republicans vying for the nomination, who are hoping to win supporters from Trump without espousing birther theories, to walk somewhat of a tightrope.

"As to Donald Trump, the 'Donald,' I think he's funny, I think he's exciting," said former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty last night on CNN. "He's obviously very successful. I think he brings a lot to the debate so I welcome him to it."

But Pawlenty's also said that he believes that Obama was born in the United States, differentiating himself from Trump, who says he's suspicious that Obama wa! sn't born in Hawaii, and therefore is legally ineligible to be! preside nt. (Obama long ago produced a copy of his birth certificate showing that he was, in fact, born in Hawaii.)

For some of the Republicans in the race, whether Trump is serious is, at this point, secondary to whether he's the most conservative candidate in the race.

"I think the Republican nominee is going to be someone that the people on the conservative base of the Republican Party trust to go up and fight for the principles that they care about across the board," former Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.) said Tuesday on Fox News. "And, you know, whether Donald Trump can prove that or not, he obviously will have the opportunity to do so."

In the case of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, she split the difference. Obama was born in the U.S., Palin said last weekend on Fox News, but she said she also supports Trump's search for Obama's birth certificate.

"More power to him. He’s not just throwing stones, you know â€" from the sidelines. He’s! digging in there. He’s paying for researchers to know why President Obama would have spent $2 million to not show his birth certificate. So more power to him," she said.