• Death penalty: Ashdown opposes capital punishment. He says executing a murderer is more costly than life imprisonment, innocent people have been executed and capital punishment has not been shown to be a deterrent to murder.

Polls show that as many as 90 percent of Utahns support capital punishment. And while executions here are rare, Utah does have a capital punishment law.

• Health care: Ashdown favors universal health care coverage for all who need it. He says current federal programs that work, like CHIP and Medicare, could be extended to the uninsured.

• Federal tax reform: Ashdown supports a "true flat-rate income tax." He would keep only one current tax exemption, that for low-income Americans.

That puts Ashdown at odds with leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who have publicly asked that any income tax reform include some kind of deduction for charitable giving. "Yeah," the church's position "is the big wrench" that some have used against adopting a flat-rate tax, Ashdown acknowledges.

• Foreign affairs: Ashdown strongly supports the United Nations, and he wants the United States leading the world in adopting a variety of treaties, including the Kyoto trade/global warming accords.

Ashdown has also come up with some unique ideas.

For example, he says there is a relatively easy way out of Iraq. Just conduct a national vote asking Iraqis when U.S. troops should leave. Then do what the Iraqis want, he says.

A way to cut escalating drug costs is to ban general drug advertising — which is costing billions of dollars — letting drug companies only push their new drugs to physicians.

Finally, he also favors a number of issues that align him more with Republicans than Democrats.

In fact, Ashdown says in some ways he's a reluctant Democrat, and has some Libertarian leanings on keeping government out of people's lives.

"All in all, I find myself more closely aligned with Democrats but wish we didn't have a party system at all. I believe it prevents representatives from acting and thinking for their constituents' best interests," he says.

Ashdown says that like the late LDS Church apostle Hugh B. Brown, he's a Democrat because that is the party that cares the most about the poor.

Ashdown defends the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

He takes a tough stand on immigration. All U.S. businesses should be held liable for hiring illegal immigrants, borders should be secured, and there should be no advantage given to U.S.-living illegals in getting legal work permits or citizenship.

He wants to be tough on polluters, too.