Utahns largely unfazed by term-limit reversals

Utahns got a clear picture this week of the seductive power of elective office.

Sen. Bob Bennett told a group of reporters and editors that he was going to ask Utahns in 2004 to give him six more years in the U.S. Senate. That in itself is not unusual. Long-time service in the U.S. House and Senate is commonplace.

But in running for office in 1992 for the first time, Bennett said he would serve only two six-year terms, retiring after 12 years to return to Utah life.

The truth is, being a U.S. senator is a heck of a lot of fun. Even in the minority — as Republicans find themselves now — a senator has power and influence.

Bennett is not the first officeholder to change his mind — to break a term-limit promise, if you will.

Various groups, including U.S. Term Limits, hound candidates to make promises to limit their own terms in office. And if they refuse to meet the groups' demands — as former U.S. Rep. Merrill Cook found out in 1998 — they can come into a race and spend considerable funds trying to unseat the incumbent if his or her opponent agrees to a term-limit pledge.

Assuming Bennett does run in 2004, wins the GOP nomination and is opposed by a Democrat who agrees to a term-limit pledge, expect term-limit groups to spend money against Bennett's re-election.

In any case, what can we draw from all of this?

First, term-limit issues aren't going to disappear.

Second, they really don't seem to matter much in Utah.

Why? Because it is difficult to unseat a Republican officeholder in this state — especially a high-profile incumbent like a U.S. senator or governor.

If the incumbent is relatively popular and well-funded, it just doesn't happen.

The exception, of course, was Cook in 2000. Millionaire Derek Smith spent a ton of his own money and beat Cook in the June 2000 Republican primary. Cook was clearly vulnerable, as public opinion surveys showed, and ripe for the picking. But Smith went on to lose to Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson in the final election, causing some GOP leaders to wonder if maybe the party wouldn't have been better off sticking with Cook in the first place.

The Utah GOP has its disgruntled members — as Cook and Gov. Mike Leavitt found out last year. In the 2000 state convention Leavitt was forced into a primary against an unknown conservative challenger; Cook was forced into a primary with Smith.

And Bennett will likely find some fellow Republican challengers in 2004.