My personal experience with Mormons is real, though limited. I do know that Mo Udall, at least, described himself as not being a serious Mormon (though his family goes WAY back).
In some ways, Mormonism strikes me as being almost tribal, like Judaism (except Jews don’t proselytize). That is, they are able to separate their personal code from how they vote easily and completely.
Joe Lieberman is supposed to be an Orthodox Jew, and yet has no problem voting for abortion funding. I suspect that the pro-abort Mormons must be able to think something similar, almost grouping violations of the natural law (abortion) with their religion’s positive disciplines (e.g. no coffee or spirits for Mormons, no pork for Jews).
I have known a number of Mormons who are conservative in their politics, and I won’t write them off. Utah votes more conservatively on average than its non-Mormon neighbors for the most part. Heavily Mormon Idaho even more so.
Mormons will vote for Mormons over conservatives. For them, it is all about what furthers ‘the Church’, and a Mormon POTUS will do that.
If Utah was conservative, why did it go 94% for Romney in the primary? I lived in Utah (Provo specifically) and it isn’t nearly as conservative behind closed doors as people think.
BTW, one of the reasons I converted to Mormonism (as a teenager) was because of the perception they are strongly conservative. I was shocked, and dismayed, to find out otherwise after I was in ‘the Church’ and moreso when I moved to Utah.