Government is not a spectator sport, but many of us act as though it is. It's time to step up to the plate, time to play ball. Between now and election time, delegates and voters will be flooded with fliers and lawn signs from state legislative incumbents about how they stand for less government, family/Utah values, integrity and accountability, along with the usual bumper sticker slogans.

The incumbents can pay for ads and fliers because they have money left over that lobbyists stuffed in their campaign pockets before, and new dollars are coming in. Most challengers will be stuck with homemade fliers copied on cheap paper at their local copy store. And while some incumbents enjoy trips and lunches paid by lobbyists, those naive challengers who still believe they can bring about change in government will be sweating in the hot summer sun walking their districts. In the meantime, incumbents might also be out playing golf with lobbyists.

Years ago, a column by Mike Royko for the Chicago Sun-Times chided the League of Women Voters in Chicago for spending money trying to educate voters on the need to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. He told them not to waste their money that way, but simply "make the drop" to any legislator and they could get it passed. They could call it a "contribution" instead of a "bribe" if it would make them feel better, he told them. Unfortunately, looking at the campaign contributions to many Utah legislators, Royko had a point.

It may be that this time the naive challengers who want to bring back ethics, integrity and accountability to our government, just might win if — and it's a big if — the voters don't buy into the incumbent's slogans, or stay home and watch the game on TV. Just don't expect to change government with most of the same people in office. They've balked at any campaign, ethic or gift-receiving reform.

Many are the beneficiaries by keeping the status quo. They will tell you they are making a sacrifice for the public good, but all you have to look at are their batting averages on bills they pass (mainly drafted by lobbyists) to see who is receiving the "goods."

Maybe this time voters will elect those candidates who will work in the public's interest rather than being influenced by special interest money; and who will concentrate on exercising their "oversight responsibilities" — monitoring and enforcing the laws they pass — that incumbents have ignored. Maybe they can do "take-aways" regarding outdated and cumbersome laws that now fatten government at taxpayers' expense and bog it down with process and no results.

Until voters stop reading incumbent's mailings and start rooting for those who really believe government belongs to the people, the lobbyists will continue making their "drops" and make government work for them. Unless voters consider legislative candidates who take their oversight responsibilities seriously, rather than allowing them to write more laws, our government will get fatter. Voters who keep voting for the same team without looking at the player's performance become part of the problem. Accountability is trash talk unless someone is there to make sure things get done and there are consequences.

In baseball there are umpires who make the calls — strikes, balls, outs. In government, the voters are the umpires as well as team owners. Voters make the calls and decide whom they hire and fire. That's accountability!

It's now the middle of the second, and soon it will be the seventh-inning stretch; maybe this time the naive, but dedicated, candidates — the "Bad News Bears" — will win.

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Utah native John Florez has founded several Hispanic civil rights organizations, served on the staff of Sen. Orrin Hatch and on more than 45 state, local and volunteer boards. He also has been deputy assistant secretary of labor. E-mail: jdflorez@comcast.net