Is it possible that a huge number of the base didn’t want to vote for a Mormon?
It doesn't look that way.
The Case of the Missing White Voters
So who were these whites and why did they stay home? My first instinct was that they might be conservative evangelicals turned off by Romneys Mormonism or moderate past. But the decline didnt seem to be concentrated in Southern states with high evangelical populations.IMHO, looking at the results of the House, a lot of working class whites didn't vote for the top of the ticket.
The Mormon got 79% of the Evangelical vote, and 48% of the Catholic vote, and 26% of the no religion vote.