Lots of spending, little effort on issues

Webb: So who's winning the GOP gubernatorial nomination race?

With two weeks to go, some trends are emerging. However, big swings could occur over the next two weeks and at the May 8 convention itself.

A variety of candidates and organizations are doing delegate surveys, and most reports I've heard have Jon Huntsman, Fred Lampropoulos and Olene Walker in the top tier, with Marty Stephens, Nolan Karras, and Jim Hansen grouped closely behind.

Lest the frontrunners feel too confident, remember a lesson from sports: "Big Mo" can shift abruptly and precipitously, leaving a stunned candidate wondering what happened. Remember watching a basketball or football game and sensing a shift in momentum as a team that may be losing seems to catch fire and suddenly makes big plays and gets all the breaks? Precisely the same thing can, and does, happen in politics.

I don't believe the spread is so wide among the candidates that anyone is guaranteed a convention win. For example, things could get interesting if a couple of the six remaining major candidates acknowledge they aren't going to get out of convention and they throw their support to another candidate, perhaps not even one of the frontrunners. Assuming their delegates follow their lead, the convention dynamics could suddenly change.

• As a state delegate, I've not been exactly overwhelmed with mail, phone calls and e-mail from candidates. I average a couple of pieces of mail a day, and I've been called by three of the candidates.

I've been invited to a lot of candidate events but not an unexpected number. I get regular e-mail updates and information from Stephens, who is the most consistent e-mailer, and also from Huntsman and Lampropoulos.

Those three have also been the most consistent with informational brochures and invitations through the mail. Communications from Hansen, Karras and Walker have been more sporadic.

Walker has probably had the least amount of contact with delegates, mostly because she started late and had to build a campaign machine after her competitors had been organizing for months. Her campaign promises that delegates will see a lot more from her the last two weeks before the convention.

I've also been disappointed that none of the candidates have addressed major issues in real depth and detail. Stephens and Karras have probably produced the most substantive material on key issues, while Stephens, Lampropoulos and Karras have the most substance on their Web sites.