Urquhart needs only 2,100 GOP delegates to unseat Hatch, a situation that holds promise for bloggers and their friends. Bloggers will increase their efforts to dissect and scrutinize every statement and action by Hatch, knowing that reporters will be mining the blogs for nuggets to use in traditional media outlets. They hope these activities will raise the political consciousness among potential delegates, who will then seek an alternative to Hatch. Moreover, studies demonstrate that bloggers are knowledgeable, enjoy high income and are well connected to the community — the kind of people who attend precinct caucuses and elect delegates. Thus, the bloggers' best chance to defeat the well-funded and hard-working Hatch is in the GOP convention; they simply do not have the numbers to make a real impact otherwise. Hatch has retained one of the best political minds in the country as his campaign manager, Dave Hansen — who is countering the bloggers' activities.

Some older politicos dismiss bloggers as loonies, but most political blog entries are well-written, substantive and witty. (My favorite is www.slcspin.blogspot.com, an insightful and humorous blog managed by Ethan Millard). Although their election plans may be unrealistic, campaign veterans are impressed with their strategy. The impact of bloggers on the democratic process will only increase over time.

• Yep, it's true. My mother, Patricia Murphy Pignanelli, filed as a candidate for the open Holladay City Council seat (and is challenged by Christopher Jensen). Readers can guess how I will be spending my time this fall.

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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, lobbyist and publisher of www.utahpolicy.com. 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.