"Having a candidate from the West, I think it brings a unique perspective and a valuable perspective," said Bramble, who has endorsed McCain even though his name appeared on a list of Romney supporters in the Utah Legislature. "To me, religion isn't a consideration."

Besides, Bramble said, not every LDS candidate would be a good fit with most voters in what's considered one of the reddest of red — read Republican — states in the nation. Take Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, for example.

"What do you think the probability of me supporting Sen. Reid would be?" Bramble asked with a laugh. "I don't think the voters of Utah should make a decision on Gov. Romney because he's LDS. ... I don't think he'd want that."

That's true, his backers say. "Romney does not want to be the Mormon candidate," said Kirk Jowers, director of the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics and a Romney supporter.

"Romney's made it clear he wants people to support people (running for office) because of who they are, not because of their religion," Jowers said. "He wants to be evaluated on all fronts."

And that's what voters typically do before deciding which candidate to support, according to Kelly Patterson, director of Brigham Young University's Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy.

"People get the ordering wrong. They often think it's because of religion people support the candidate," Patterson said. "When people evaluate candidates there are a series of considerations they make. ... Religion is one of them but not a determinate factor."

But religion could be a reason why some Mormons won't back one of their own for president.

Raschke, the religious studies department chairman from Denver, said a "self-enforced insularity" among Mormons could lead to some members of the church becoming uncomfortable with all of the talk about Romney's beliefs.

"It's very possibly why Mormons may turn away from a Mormon candidate," he said.

Shurtleff said he's heard from family members who support Romney that a Mormon candidate is "very helpful" to the church's efforts to bring in new members. The attorney general, though, said he's not so sure.

"That may or may not be true," Shurtleff said. "Certainly, he's bringing a lot of negative attention to the church."

Romney himself called the critical comments hurled at LDS beliefs as a result of his candidacy "troubling and the fact that they keep on coming up is even more troubling," during his most recent visit to Utah.

He was reacting to statements made by an Iowa campaign worker for McCain citing allegations the LDS Church was involved with a terrorist organization and treated women similarly to the Taliban.