A more parsimonious explanation would be that Mormons can pack caucuses, but not primaries.
Steve Sailer offers that here; but one of the commenters on Steve’s post takes issue with the underlying numbers.
Steve also crunches numbers to show that without the illegal-immigration issue, Mitt would be pretty much invisible in California.
Mitt is obviously a decent man and a worthy candidate, but there’s no escaping the fact that he’s failed to raise the metabolic rate of many GOP voters. Why? I think Huckleberry got close to it with the quip about the guy who lays you off. That’s always the problem with economic conservatism. Capitalism is good — I’m all for it — but “cold.” Everybody likes the results delivered by a free economy, but nobody much warms to a successful businessman.