"People can get to know more about the family and how important the family is to us. Hopefully it's a way for them to get insight into what kind of man my father is," Josh said of the brothers' participation in the campaign. "We're not perfect, but we all did pretty well."

All of the brothers attended Brigham Young University, like their father. Three, Josh, Tagg and Matt, also graduated from Harvard Business School; one, Ben, is in medical school; and the youngest, 25-year-old Craig, is a music producer in New York City.

Josh, though, is the only son living in Utah. He, his wife, Jen, and their three children — Grace, 4, Wyatt, 2, and Owen, 7 months — moved here two years ago and Josh went to work for his father's longtime friend, Utah developer Kem Gardner.

The young family considers Utah home and have tried to persuade some of the other brothers to join them without success — so far. They intend to stay put, Josh said, even if his father is elected in November 2008.

What would be different about his life if his father becomes president? "Probably nothing. If you know my dad, he's not going to give me a position," Josh said. "Mostly, it'd be great to watch. Hopefully I'd get some visits to the White House."

The election, though, is still more than a year away, and there are still a lot of miles to be traveled in Iowa. The state has long been seen as key to the campaign because of the straw poll and January's caucus vote, the kickoff to the presidential primary season.

Mitt Romney has been leading in the polls in Iowa and is expected to win the straw poll because the other top-tier candidates already in the race, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Sen. John McCain, have dropped out of the August event.

But that hasn't changed Josh's plans. He's already been to the state four times since his mother surprised him at a campaign event held there earlier this year by promising he'd fulfill the traditional presidential campaign goal in Iowa of visiting every county.

Josh has readied himself for repeated visits between now and the August straw poll by studying up on his father's positions on the issues as well as reviewing a book about Iowa's curiosities such as being home to the world's largest truck stop.

"People expect me to know everything my father thinks and know his position on everything," Josh said. "People feel passionately about issues." He recalled an Iowa man who became angry while discussing what constituted a fair tax on the wealthy.

One of the issues that Josh said he expects to be asked about is the family's membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "At some point, I'm sure I will," he said. "A lot of people think about it."

His answer about Mormonism sounds an awful lot like his father's, about how voters are looking for a president who shares their values, not necessarily their specific faith. "My dad says that a lot, but it's true," Josh said.

"The fact is we share values. The values our family has are as American as can be and mesh well with the values the rest of the country shares," Josh said. "The family is a big part of that. We're a normal family with normal values."

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