A guide to understanding Utah politics

WASHINGTON — When I attended graduate school in Ohio, professors loved to quote Theodore Roosevelt saying the only thing he never understood was Ohio politics. They are crystal clear, however, compared to Utah politics.

For fun, try explaining to non-Utahns — who tend to think everyone in Utah is a diehard Republican — how GOP delegates last week dumped an incumbent governor, advanced scandal-stained former Rep. Enid Greene in her race for lieutenant governor and forced four-term incumbent Rep. Chris Cannon into a primary.

And also try explaining how Democrats have serious chances — not just long shots — at winning the governor's race and the 2nd District House seat during a year that the state will almost surely vote overwhelmingly to re-elect President Bush.

Let's take those one at a time (as I do with bewildered acquaintances here).

1. Why was Gov. Olene Walker the first incumbent Utah governor dumped in 48 years? She forgot a basic rule of politics: If you snooze, you lose.

Polls show she is popular and would have been a tough candidate to beat had she won her party's nomination. But she waited too long to jump into the race. It seemed that half the state GOP hierarchy (I exaggerate, it was only a third) was in the race before she joined. The others had already committed many if not most of the delegates.

2. Why would GOP gubernatorial candidate Nolan Karras choose Greene as his running mate, and why would the state convention advance them — despite the campaign fraud scandal that sent Greene's ex-husband, Joe Waldholtz, to prison?

Many Utahns are a forgiving bunch who believe in redemption.

It helps that most blame Greene's problems on her being duped by Waldholtz, who falsely claimed to be a millionaire and illegally diverted money from her father and others into her winning 1994 congressional campaign.

It also helps that Greene is a nice person. And she suffered more pain and humiliation than anyone would wish on any 10 of their worst enemies. And Utahns seem to like comebacks because it gives us hope for redemption in our own lives.

But it could still backfire. Greene never fully explained (to my eyes, anyway) why financial peculiarities in her first, unsuccessful campaign (before she married Waldholtz) seemed to foreshadow later shenanigans she blamed exclusively on him. But Utahns also tend to have short memories about such details.

3. How did Cannon manage to be pulled into a primary? He has been acting like the hare in the fable of the hare and the tortoise. Why worry about that tortoise gaining on me? All is well, I can beat him easily — I'll start tomorrow.