Chaffetz views his role in state government as something of a chief operating officer, overseeing the Cabinet, keeping everything in sync, and carrying out the governor's strategic plan. He will likely be more visible with the media than previous chiefs have been. He gets along great with Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert, who will focus on specific administration priorities, particularly transportation, water issues, running the elections office and rural affairs.

Chaffetz clearly has enough chutzpah to do the job. But I didn't get the sense that he's too cocky or full of himself. He will be dealing with a lot of department heads and legislators who are a lot older and more experienced than he is. But I'm guessing he will listen, strike the right note, and get the New Day off to a sunny start.

Pignanelli: For generations, federal legislation has long been identified by congressional sponsors (i.e. Smoot-Hawley, Taft-Hartley, Roth IRA). Until the introduction of the now famous Jones-Mascaro bill, there was no living memory of Utah governmental actions labeled by legislative authors. The Democratic co-author of this proposed shift in tax and education policies, Rep. Pat Jones, is a leader all Utahns should watch not only in 2005, but for years to come.

Jones possesses the characteristics important in Utah politics. Born in Holladay, she graduated from Olympus High School and the University of Utah. She is the mother of seven children and the joint owner of a successful business (thus, frequent "Women in Business" honors). Jones is an attractive, well-coiffed and articulate advocate of causes important to her, including senior citizens and public education. These attributes are enough to guarantee success for any elected official. However, Jones possesses additional resources that are the envy of all politicians.

Jones spends every working day learning, in detail, the fears and desires of Utahns on a variety of topics — she is a renowned moderator of focus groups for market research. Such activities have become an integral part of our society (i.e. The TRAX moniker was developed by a focus group supervised by Jones). Pat is married to Dan Jones, scion of Utah politics (co-owner with her of Dan Jones & Associates and pollster for the Deseret Morning News) and the state's leading pollster. Therefore, Pat Jones has an intricate knowledge of what is well-liked or an annoyance to Utahns.