Few politicians serve with humility. And the herd mentality of powerful GOP lawmakers is simple — the Constitution says Americans will elect representatives to make decisions for the masses. And anytime someone tries to put a public vote — in this case a referendum — over the representatives' vote, depend on the representatives not liking it.

Secondly, GOP lawmakers are paying more attention to their base — conservative county and state Republican delegates — than to their constituencies in general. Survival is the key word here.

Because of gerrymandered redistricting, few GOP legislators fear losing their seats in a general election. Indeed, when most Republican incumbents fall, it is either in their party convention votes or in a primary election — in both cases where they are opposed by fellow Republicans.

And rarely is a conservative Republican legislator voted out by a challenge from the left. Most often, they are beaten by a challenger from the political right (which is really weird, because how do you even get to the right of some of these conservative legislators?).

Who knows how the referendum vote will go this November? But voucher proponents have the uphill climb. Polls have consistently shown a close split on vouchers — but voucher opponents come out on top nearly every time.

How do you convince Utah voter that they should approve tax money going to private schools, when the voter is already paying considerable personal income and property taxes to support public schools?

This voucher election Nov. 6 and next year's legislative races will prove interesting political battles — with Utah voters getting the chance to reconsider how Utah state government operates.

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Deseret Morning News political editor Bob Bernick Jr. may be reached by e-mail at bbjr@desnews.com