Vice chairman of the Utah Republican Party Todd Weiler on why Gov. Mitt Romney (R), not Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), has the upper hand in Utah for 2012:

"The conservative base in Utah, I think they're still looking forward to a Romney run in 2012," Weiler said. "I'm not surprised people aren't lining up to jump on the Palin bandwagon just yet."

Weiler said the success of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake guarantees Romney will "always be Utah's favorite son. If he wants to run, he's going to have a home base here. Just being Mormon is not enough."

During the Republican primary, Romney carried the state with 89.5 percent of the vote, a much higher share than the 51 percent he earned in Massachusetts.

Romney won a total of 11 states during the primary including -- you betcha -- Alaska, where he garnered 36 percent of the vote.