• The elections last week were a tussle between kittens compared to the legislative competition scheduled for this week. All legislators will gather in their party caucus to determine the leaders, including House speaker and Senate president. Because the participants know each other so well, these contests are political hand-to-hand combat. The outcome is important because these individuals dictate the legislative agenda on matters that affect every Utahn. Furthermore, they will play a key role in shaping programs initiated by Gov.-elect Jon Huntsman Jr.

Webb: President Bush says he's going to spend his political capital, which means he's going to provide real leadership and aggressively pursue his second-term priorities even if they might be politically unpopular. That's exactly the right course. In doing so, he needs to remember the nation remains deeply divided, and he will be more successful if he reaches out to the other side.

• In Utah, we elected a moderate governor who I believe will also be willing to expend some political capital and be very aggressive in pursuit of his goals. Jon Huntsman Jr. is not highly partisan or ideological and will clearly seek to work with all sides.

He will have a nice honeymoon with the Legislature for at least the 2005 session, but don't expect the sweetness to last. Legislatures and aggressive governors don't mix all that well. That's sorta what the Founders intended.

• It's fair to say the Democrats, by hanging onto the 2nd Congressional District seat and picking up the Salt Lake County mayorship, actually made some progress in Utah's election last week. The state's two biggest mayorships are now held by Democrats. The county win by Peter Corroon gives Democrats their first office in a long time that has significant patronage.