I don't think the problem is that Android does not support Atom power states. The kernel is basically Linux which Intel contributes a great deal to, so at that level including solid support for x86 shouldn't be much more work than changing some build scripts. It might even already be included for development purposes. Besides all the latest and greatest power saving tricks are outside of OS control.
The real problem is probably a lack of 1) drivers, or at least well optimized ones and 2) an optimized implementation of the Dalvik VM/JIT subsystem.
The first is not so relevant for this discussion, as decent x86 drivers will have to be written, ported or begged for at the respective peripheral manufacturers regardless of it's for Android or MeeGo.
That leaves the second. Android is supposed to be open, but how easy or difficult it would be for Intel to contribute to optimize Dalvik for x86 I wouldn't dare speculate. As you said Google has no real reason to put their engineers to work in that area, so it depends on how open they want to be, or in the worst case on Intels willingness to maintain a separate branche.
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