Meeting her in her home, no one would guess she is a grass-roots political force with a steely determination and energy that would seem to be beyond a mother of a dozen children.

As the head of the Eagle Forum, she is staunchly, unabashedly pro family and God, and all her other beliefs flow from there — her uncompromising, unapologetic stands on abortion, homosexuality, day care, pornography, liquor, education, school curriculum and "anything that infringes on the freedom of the family to rear children the way they want to." She has rallied support from around the state for her morality-based legislation, with help from her politically active children and husband, Don.

Friends and enemies

Her black-and-white views, combined with her power and effectiveness, have made her a polarizing figure in Utah politics.

"I don't think much of that woman," says a former legislator. "I don't have any respect for her . . . , and her husband's worse than she is."

"Political people want to discredit her as a right-wing wacko," says Rep. LaVar Christensen, R-Draper. "She works hard to advance principles, and they try to discredit her. She doesn't deserve that."

"She's a hero," says Karen Clark, vice president of the Utah Eagle Forum. "I can't think of anyone who loves her family or country more. She's misunderstood. If people only knew her. Her main focus is the family, and that's dear to most of us."

Ruzicka has made her share of enemies. She says homosexual groups have attacked her home computer with a barrage of pop-ups, porn and gay-themed e-mails. She takes her computer to the repair shop with a certain regularity to get it cleaned up. The repairmen tell her they can tell that her computer has been targeted.

She can find more venom in letters to the editor and ugly phone calls to her house in which callers have told her children they have a horrible mother. At times callers fill up her answering machine with ugly messages and foul language and even threats on her life. It was a fact of life growing up in the Ruzicka household.

"When you're little, you wonder, why is that person being mean," says Kristyn, Ruzicka's daughter. "As you get older, you get tougher. We know how she really is. They mischaracterize her. They confuse political opposition with personal behavior. If you don't agree with her politically, don't attack her personally. It's not very mature. They say horrible things that have nothing to do with her political life. She's been called hateful, but if you talk to her, you find she's so kind, loving and generous."

Grass-roots democracy