Romney would have done worse with southern Evangelicals and Appalachian rednecks due to his Mormonism. The media and the comedians would have a field day with his flip-flops and his phoniness (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDwwAaVmnf4 ). And he wouldn't have any lingering good will with independents and moderates like McCain had.
OTOH, the base indeed viewed him as much more palatable than McCain, despite changing many of his positions. He would have no problems raising money and thus going toe to toe with Obama's machine. He would certainly have made a much more sensible choice of a running mate. And finally, when the financial crisis broke out he wouldn't have looked like a fish out of water.
