Politics makes strange bedfellows.
If somebody had told me two years ago that I'd be trying to talk people into voting for Newt Gingrich despite his past history, and now being backed by a casino mogul, I'd have said they're crazy. Two months ago I was supporting Rick Santorum despite some significant concerns. Now, however, Gingrich is now the last conservative left standing. The alternative to him is worse.
I don't have a big problem with voting for a politically conservative Mormon, though I would want to ask some important questions first to a Mormon candidate before voting for him. I'd have similar concerns about any candidate who is a member of a cult group, though I could imagine voting for such a candidate if there is no good alternative or if the candidate is really good politically despite problematic religious views, so long as I'm satisfied his religious views don't make him unacceptable on key Christian conservative political issues such as abortion and homosexual marriage.
In any event, trying to run Sen. Hatch out of Utah is not a political risk to the Republican Party since whoever wins the Republican nomination is going to win Utah anyway. I think it's a win-win — if Hatch wins, the seat stays Republican and hopefully he'll realize he needs to be more attentive to his conservative constituents; if he loses, the seat gets held by a considerably more conservative candidate since the Democratic Party has virtually no chance in Utah.
Inject your prudent, wise, realistic crap elsewhere.................