• The hottest topic around the political water cooler last week was the Deseret Morning News poll conducted by Dan Jones & Associates regarding Utahns' opinions of federal government involvement in the Terri Schiavo controversy. By a margin of 54 percent to 34 percent, Utah residents opposed the congressional and presidential action to allow Schiavo's family an additional legal option to prevent removing the feeding tube. This result shocked politicos, including the patriarch of Utah politics himself, Dan Jones. Most thought Utahns would indicate overwhelming support of this effort. Instead, the Utah sympathies mirrored the reactions of most Americans as demonstrated in a similar nationwide CNN/Gallup poll.

This survey is additional evidence that while Utah may be the most crimson of the red states in presidential elections, we are not the "Bible Belt" in many other matters. (Thank goodness!) While most Utahns sustain President Bush's "culture of life" philosophy, a predisposition against extraordinary federal activity and an emotional belief that 15 years of courtroom wrangling over this personal issue is enough, prevent their support of "Terri's Law."

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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 City mayor, Pignanelli served 10 years in the Utah House of Representatives, six years as House minority leader. Pignanelli's spouse, D'Arcy Dixon Pignanelli, is executive director of the state Department of Administrative Services in the Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. administration. E-mail: frankp@xmission.com.