New York Times columnist Timothy Egan also pointed to evangelicals for Romney�s demise. "Blame Christians," he wrote. "By significant margins, in poll after poll, in vote after vote a solid block of evangelical Christians said they would never vote for a Mormon. Since evangelicals made up nearly half of the Republican primary vote in some states, Romney was up against a deep well of distrust of a religion that many evangelicals still label a cult."

The Independent of Dublin, Ireland, had this to say: "He (Romney) was also dogged by the question of his Mormonism. His religion, combined with doubts about his conservative bona fides, allowed Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist preacher, to win Iowa unexpectedly on the back of evangelical support."

Many of the nation�s newspapers picked up an article by AP religion writer Rachel Zoll talking about the dismay LDS members had with the electoral response to Romney. Two quotes capture the tone:

"It is prejudice," said Richard Bushman, an emeritus professor at Columbia University, who is a leading historian and devout Mormon. "Underlying all these questions is that these beliefs are basically crazy so you've got to explain them to us."

"I was surprised at the level of intensity and sometimes flat out animosity," said Lowell C. Brown, a Los Angeles attorney who is Mormon. "I had no idea. I'm in my 50s, I've been a Mormon all my life, I've lived in L.A. for 25 years, and it floored me."

On the positive side, Columnist Frank Mickadeit at the Orange County Register talks about how the Romney campaign brought together an evangelical Christian, a Catholic and a Jew as senior advisers. But in the end, Mickadeit observes, the nation is not ready for an LDS president.

Adam Probolsky, the aforementioned Jewish campaign worker, told Mickadeit: "Before I met Gov. Romney, I had several LDS friends, so Romney's religion didn't faze me at all. Every Mormon family I know is successful, happy and generous. They have never tried to convert me or anything.

"Jewish friends have expressed concerns to me about Romney's faith — suggested that Mormons have some very weird practices. I draw the comparison to our own traditions that appear strange to the outsider, and that usually gives them pause."