That, the governor suggested during a recent wide-ranging interview with the Deseret Morning News, is how the electorate sees him, not as a wealthy businessman or former diplomat.

In fact, Huntsman said, he doesn't even like being called governor.

"I don't like titles, even though I come from a world of diplomacy and protocol," he said, describing himself as neither arrogant nor someone who carries himself as if he is better than others.

"We're not trying to stand on pomp and circumstance," Huntsman said of his administration. "I've been really genuinely gratified that people are coming up to me and treating me like the kind of person they know I am. They come and talk to me as a human being."

That image is apparently resonating with all sorts of Utahns.

Jones, an independent pollster who has done some work for Huntsman this year, found that the governor has support across the board. Even 55 percent of the Democrats like the job that the Republican Huntsman is doing.

Not surprisingly, 84 percent of Republicans gave him a thumbs up, while 69 percent of political independents also approve of the job he's doing, Jones found.

So far, several of Huntsman's political stands have not harmed him with those citizens who seem most likely to disagree with him.

For example, 83 percent of Utahns with children in public education approve of the job he's doing, even though Huntsman supports tuition tax credits for parents who send their children to private schools.

And 68 percent of lower-income Utahns like Huntsman, even though he wants to repeal the state's corporate income taxes to stimulate the economy and help those corporations' profits. And it's unlikely lower-income Utahns own much corporate stock.

Huntsman has few clear critics.

Even some of his political foes hold a wait-and-see attitude.

Scott Matheson Jr., a Democrat who ran against Huntsman last year, declined comment on how the new governor is doing. "I don't feel comfortable," said Matheson, who returned to his old job as dean of the University of Utah Law School after losing last November.

Both Huntsman and Matheson ran clean campaigns, and both profess they became friends during the campaign. There was even talk privately about a role for Matheson in the new administration, although Matheson recently said those discussions have not led to any concrete offers.

Huntsman also defeated former Utah House Speaker Nolan Karras in the June 2004 Republican primary. "He still has a lot of big issues in front of him — tax reform and whether to move the prison. It will be months before we see the impacts of those decisions," Karras said.