Big name a big help in politics

What's in a name?

In Utah politics, pretty much everything, it would seem.

What I am about to speculate is not the result of any scientific sampling, but I am nonetheless prepared to say that when it comes to big-time politics in Utah, name recognition ranks up there in importance with having rich, generous friends.

If you happen to have a non-recognizable name — for some reason "Lampropoulos" comes to mind — that's not good.

The proof is in the scorecard. Just look at the names on the ballot. Starting with Matheson. There are two Mathesons running, Jim for another term as congressman and Scott as governor. Does anyone think it is even remotely a coincidence that Jim and Scott's late father, Scott Matheson Sr., was a very popular Democratic governor?

Look at the odds-on favorite to represent the Republicans in the governor's race: Jon Huntsman Jr. — son of billionaire industrialist Jon Huntsman Sr., whose name is on the Huntsman Cancer Institute and the arena where the University of Utah plays basketball.

If Huntsman survives the Republican primary election — and he probably will because he's running against someone named Nolan Karras — this fall's Matheson-Huntsman race will not only determine who gets to live in the governor's mansion, but which son's name is most famous.

Nolan Karras has a chance, though, and that's because his lieutenant-governor running mate does have name recognition. That would be former congresswoman Enid Greene. And even though Enid stepped out of politics when her last name was Waldholtz after it was discovered her husband, Joe, was a cheating, lying fraud, it is a well-known fact of politics that disgrace can be trumped by a well-known name. Just look at Marion Berry, who got caught smoking crack cocaine when he was mayor of Washington, D.C., resigned in disgrace, went to jail, and then came back to be mayor again — the ultimate case in point that voters have a longer term memory when it comes to someone's name than to what someone actually did.

Plenty of others who have made it to the finals in this year's Utah races have big names on the recognition scale. Republican Bob Bennett, running for re-election to the U.S. Senate, is, of course, the son of the late Wallace Bennett, himself a United States senator. It's entirely possible that there may be more than one voter out there who isn't aware there are actually two Bennetts.