• A big lesson of this election, I believe, is that Salt Lake County is clearly in play. Republicans can't take Salt Lake County for granted. A solid, well-financed Democrat can win in the county. Jenny Wilson beat incumbent Steve Harmsen in the at-large council race (all three countywide at-large council seats are now held by Democrats); Scott Matheson Jr. beat Jon Huntsman Jr. by nearly 20,000 votes in the county. Jim Matheson absolutely thrashed John Swallow by 64,000 votes in the county. Strong Republicans (like Bob Bennett and Mark Shurtleff) with weak opponents can obviously still win handily. But county voters are telling Republicans they can't be taken for granted; they don't mind at all voting for Democrats. Orrin Hatch, are you listening?

• Speaking of lessons, the disastrous 2nd District congressional race taught a big one: Utah Republicans don't want, or need, the kind of disgusting help provided by national Republican operatives in that race. Memo to the RNCC: Stay the hell out of Utah. You don't help, you hurt. You obviously think Utahns are brain-dead idiots. How could you possibly be so stupid as to run ads criticizing your opponent for supporting legislation that was sponsored and supported by other Utah Republicans and President Bush? Do you think Utah voters are that gullible? How could you possibly produce direct-mail pieces that were so bad they were repudiated by our local Republican Party?

I talked to a number of Utahns involved in Swallow's campaign who said the national consultants and GOP operatives basically hijacked the campaign. They were rude, obnoxious and dictatorial. They didn't understand Utah or Utah culture, and they didn't care. This fiasco is a crucial lesson for aspiring Republican candidates.

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Republican LaVarr Webb was policy deputy to Gov. Mike Leavitt and Deseret News managing editor. He now is a political consultant and lobbyist. E-mail: lwebb@exoro.com. Democrat Frank Pignanelli is Salt Lake attorney, lobbyist and political adviser. A former candidate for Salt Lake mayor, Pignanelli served 10 years in the Utah House of Representatives, six years as House minority leader. E-mail: frankp@xmission.com.