Amendment supporters, especially right-wing leaders Gayle Ruzicka and Susan Roylance, have been eagerly digging their own hole by offering sloppy responses to alliance charges that Proposition 3 is punitive ("t goes too far"). Their smug moralistic statements have generated more resistance than enthusiasm for Proposition 3.

Politically savvy supporters of the amendment recently discovered they were sharing an expanding chasm with clueless fanatics. They dropped the shovels, muzzled the extremists and formed Utahns for a Better Tomorrow (UBT). This organization is co-chaired by an impressive team of competent lawyers: Tiani Coleman (Salt Lake County Republican Party chair), Yvette Diaz (Utah State Bar commissioner) and Monte Stewart (BYU law professor); additional spokesmen are Anne Gardner Wood (local PR specialist whose father served as deputy campaign manager for President Gerald Ford) and Baptist minister Robert Wright. With the message of protecting traditional marriage while promoting tolerance, UBT hopes to increase support for the amendment, with a focus on "Nordstrom-shopping soccer moms." The attorneys are expected to articulate better answers to the alliance's effective attacks. UBT is seeking to raise $350,000 in six weeks.

By Election Day, Nancy Workman will have burrowed to the center of the earth. The challenge is on other Republican contenders and Proposition 3 advocates avoiding a similar fate.

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Republican LaVarr Webb was policy deputy to Gov. Mike Leavitt and Deseret News managing editor. He now is a political consultant and lobbyist. E-mail: lwebb@exoro.com. Democrat Frank Pignanelli is Salt Lake attorney, lobbyist and political adviser. A former candidate for Salt Lake mayor, Pignanelli served 10 years in the Utah House of Representatives, six years as House minority leader. E-mail: frankp@xmission.com.