Though Utah's other Republican senator, Orrin Hatch, often gets the public spotlight, Bennett has compiled a list of accomplishments and positions that have earned him acclaim during his two terms. Most notable was his involvement with security and transportation for the 2002 Olympics and his pet project of the late '90s — his consistent blowing of the Y2K dilemma warning trumpet as the chairman of the Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem.

Harris Miller, president of the Information Technology Association of America, lauded him for being one of the first "to understand the significance of the issue and helped educate his Senate colleagues. This could have easily turned into a partisan battle."

Bennett fought to tackle the issue head-on rather than forking over the money to replace everything as some suggested. He urged the president to appoint a Y2K czar, helping lead to "virtually no event transition" when midnight 1999 turned into the year 2000. In other words, the world didn't stop clicking, and we weren't thrown back into the Dark Ages.

Without his clarion call, Bennett says "we still would've gotten through it pretty well, but it would've been more expensive. People were prepared and paying attention earlier."

His efforts also led to the first-ever computer inventory of the Department of Defense, which led to some startling finds — namely 286 ancient (relatively speaking) computers still being used in the system.

Bennett holds a post on the Senate leadership team, serving as chief deputy majority whip, allowing him to meet regularly with President Bush and advise Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist; he sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee, where he's helped garner funds for TRAX and commuter rail; he is a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee, helping push Bush's tax cuts; and he is chairman of the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee and the Joint Economic Committee.

Though he doesn't participate in trendy sports activities like golf or tennis, Bennett keeps in shape partly by hiking up and down stairs around Capitol Hill. He figures he climbs between 20 and 30 flights a day. "Do that three or four times a week, you stay in pretty good health," he says.

In his ad campaign poking fun at his lean 6-foot-6 frame, the senator is hoping for an "oh, yeah, Bennett" response — and he's had enough experience in politics to know "in an election year, you have to cut through the clutter. Your ads don't just compete with your opponent's." They also compete with ads for beer, cars, jail bonds and so forth.