What's really surprising is how well "Wet Al" did in Utah.
There was a bit of a Mormon/Catholic solidarity thing going on in 1960, and it wouldn't shock me if it happened then as well. He did better in the Mormon parts of Idaho too.
The LDS' official stances are more liberal than their average active parishioners' views... in that respect they are quite like most historically state churches around the world. Which, for purposes of Utah, they effectively are.
The impression I've got is while the LDS Church is unquestionably against abortion and homosexuality they don't want this to be the primary focus of what they are about and most notable message. Much like most evangelical churches that aren't de facto arms of the GOP, which so many are now. The real pressure I suspect happens within the LDS community at the micro level, just like with evangelicals (and granted in the opposite direction in more liberal churches too. Some churches in Minneapolis have gotten really aggressive about the gay marriage vote and are getting to the point of basically saying voting for the amendment to ban it is a sin that will bring God's wrath on you. In nicer terms than the evangelicals campaigning for it obviously, but that is the gist.)
It just doesn't happen in Minnesota. My pastor in Laramie used to say things to that effect all the time, using the biblical parable of the servant who was punished for being cruel in the employ of his master.
What's interesting about the exit polling of the 2008 GOP primary is that a large majority of Utah GOP said that abortion should "mostly" be illegal. In all other states in the 2008 GOP primary, more exit poll takers said that abortion should "always" be illegal.
