Philadelphia, Pa. — On Monday night, standing beside a 20-foot white marble statue of Benjamin Franklin, Mitt Romney met the Tea Party. Or, rather, the Tea Party met Mitt Romney, embraced him, and made him an honorary member.

Even in the City of Brotherly Love, the hearty reception was a tad surprising.

Romney, for his part, seemed pleasantly startled by the fist-pumping standing ovation and raucous cheers that greeted his entry, to the strains of Kid Rock’s anthem, “Born Free.” “What a welcome from the Tea Party,” Romney said, grinning, at the top of his remarks.

In certain conservative quarters, some may remain unwilling to stick a fork in the Republican primary, but here, among activists from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, Romney has already been accepted — quickly and painlessly.

No longer is the conservative base fixated on debating Romney’s merits. Instead, tea-party leaders, just a few steps from Independence Hall, speak eagerly about the upcoming battle with President Obama. Romney is the vessel and potential antidote for their Beltway-related frustrations.

He may not have been their favorite, but now he’s their guy, and they’re okay with that.

“I’ve been with Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain,” says Bill Miller, a New Jersey–based tea-party organizer, who wears a hunting cap decorated with Romney’s logo. “Romney was backed, right out of the gate, by the people I fight all of the time. But he’s getting cheers now because he’s our nominee, and there’s a lot of work that needs to be done before November.”

Robert Mansfield, an African-American congressional candidate and Iraq War veteran from north Philadelphia, agrees. “The Tea Party understands that Romney is the person who may be able to beat Obama,” he says. “I’m not surprised by the reaction. The Tea Party really wants to win, and its members instinctively understand that Romney is the candidate who could make this close.”

There was also a sense among conservatives, who huddled together under the Franklin Institute’s grand rotunda, that progressive forces will wage a brutal campaign this fall, and that anything but unity on the right could lead to electoral disaster. The loud protests outside of the Romney event, which included screaming Occupy allies who tried to crash the party, was a reminder to many that internecine warfare, though fun, needs to be eased. “This kind of thing is what we’ll see all year,” says Don Adams, a local tea-party director who clashed with the rowdy protesters.

Of course, Romney’s popularity with the Tea Party is hardly sky-high. There were some grumbles from some attendees, such as Marc Scaringi, a Pennsylvania Republican and United States senate candidate, about whether Romney will keep coming to rallies of this type. “He’s making strides,” Scaringi says. “I’m hopeful. He’s just got to make sure he sticks to limited-government principles. As this campaign moves ahead, I’d like to see some Ron Paul–like consistency, too.”

Up on stage, Romney stuck to his usual stump speech, but he did carve out chunks of red meat for the conservative crowd. Every phrase about winning or kicking Obama out of the White House drew roars. So did his plea for a united GOP front and his discussion of the Founding Fathers. Romney, who seemed to be lifted by the enthusiasm, stayed upbeat throughout. He clearly enjoyed slamming the president, especially on taxes and the so-called “Buffett rule.”

“This man is out of ideas, he’s out of excuses, and in 2012, we’re going to make sure he gets put out of office,” Romney said, prompting yet another standing ovation. “I just don’t think he understands the power of what makes America such a unique and exceptional nation.”

Looking up at the statue of Franklin towering above him, Romney referenced the Founding Fathers. “They said the creator endowed us with our rights, not the government, not the king, not the state, but the creator,” he said, pointing up to the marble sculpture. “Culture makes all of the difference. What people believe, their principles, what motivates them and what guides them, makes all of the difference in the world.”

Romney raised his voice and plowed forward, building his broad argument about American exceptionalism into a more specific case against Obama based upon the threat he poses to “economic freedom.” He pledged to eliminate federal programs, starting first with the president’s controversial health-care law, then some unspecified federal agencies. “President Obama thinks the economy is struggling because the stimulus wasn’t big enough,” he said. “The economy is struggling because government is too big and we’re going to bring it down to size.”

Chants of “go, Mitt, go!” reverberated throughout the hall. For the former Massachusetts governor, who has long struggled to click with conservatives, it was quite a moment. The Tea Party, for now, has lined up behind him. And after the event, once Romney had left the building, activists hung around, energized by the general-election buzz. The consensus was that the frequently awkward Romney had improved his game, but there are lingering whispers about whether or not it will last.

“Look, he’s still got to find a way to relate,” says Sam Rohrer, a former Pennsylvania state representative who’s now running for Senate. Rohrer applauds Romney’s decision to appear before a tea-party rally as the presumptive nominee, but he cautions that “showing up” will not be enough to sustain conservatives’ support. “He needs a message that’s simple and plainly stated,” he says. “There is an opportunity to win over the Tea Party, it can be done, but he’s going to have to work really hard. This event is a good start in that direction. But there’s a lot more to be done, starting with who Romney picks as his vice-presidential candidate in a few months.”

— Robert Costa is a political reporter for National Review.