Dee Rowland is the government liaison for the Catholic Diocese of Utah. "I'm not surprised by that. I think we are more sensitized to religious issues here because of the dominance of one religion. I think LDS people are more sensitized, too, on (the prayer in school) issue. They perhaps are trying to be more tolerant of other religious views.

"And that is a good sign," said Rowland, "that we are all more sensitive to each other's feelings and not imposing our beliefs on others."

But the poll also shows Utah Republicans oppose abortion much more than do national Republicans.

A fledgling Utah Republicans For Choice movement was crushed here in the mid-1990s, the pro-choice GOP candidates losing badly in county and state conventions. But the GOP pro-choice movement has had strong legs in other states, especially in some Northeastern states.

The Republican base in Utah has at times slapped its elected leaders for proposing ideas outside of the hard-right political box.

Several years ago the state Republican convention actually adopted a resolution criticizing Sen. Orrin Hatch's attempt to enact a program that provided health insurance for poor children of working parents. Hatch took to the stage to lecture his fellow Utah Republicans on charity and kindness to those less fortunate. His CHIP program ultimately became federal law.

Two years ago GOP Gov. Mike Leavitt got on the wrong side of gun-rights advocates when he considered calling a special legislative session to deal with guns in schools and churches. Leavitt backed away from such a session.

Jones said that in assessing the poll's results, any difference in the mean scores greater than 0.50 should be considered significant. "That is a big difference between groups" being measured, said Jones, a pollster for 25 years.

Using that criterion, Utah Republicans are "significantly" more conservative than their national colleagues on issues of gay rights, government-sponsored open space, abortion and doctor-assisted suicide, the poll shows.

They are not significantly more liberal than national Republicans on any issue, Jones found. However, on the mean scale, Utah Republicans are slightly more liberal than national Republicans on questions of spending on national defense vs. domestic programs; national health care; the death penalty; and prayer in public schools.

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E-mail: bbjr@desnews.com