If anyone would like to peer into the depths of a crystal ball and see the future, it would have to be Brent Morris.
But since he can't, he's looking on the bright side.Morris - with 2 1/2 years left on his term as Utah County commissioner - officially stepped down last week to campaign full time for the 3rd congressional district seat.
"Things are uncertain right now, but I feel positive about it," Morris said. "This is a big commitment to us (my family), but we feel it is important that we are willing to make that kind of commitment."
Morris' resignation fulfills a campaign promise he made last December when he announced his candidacy. The move allows him to devote full time to campaigning for Congress.
But what if he doesn't make it past the state convention June 15? "I guess maybe I'll start a lawn service or something," he joked.
The latest polls show Morris lagging behind his opponents, but he believes polls disrupt the political process. It is his accomplishments as a county commissioner that make him the best candidate for the 3rd District seat, he said.
"The hard part about leaving is I've enjoyed the job so much. It would be a lot easier for me to stay here than to go back as a congressman. Life in Washington, D.C., does not appeal to me, but the same issues I'm involved in on the county level need to be addressed on the national level.
"We have a leadership void locally and in the nation, and the reason we have a void is because when you take a leadership role you will have opposition. Politicians are afraid of opposition because it may get them unelected and they don't want that to happen."
Anyone who has watched the political arena knows that Morris isn't a status quo politician. He leaves behind a reputation of bold and forthright leadership as a county commissioner.
He has been accused of being a liberal and of grandstanding, but he says he has put the interests of the community before his own political career, sometimes to his detriment.
Morris' two greatest accomplishments as commissioner were his involvement in the Central Utah Project and the clean air issue, he said.
Those were primarily environmental issues - which sometimes earned him a liberal label. But Morris says it "it is the government's responsibility to protect the health of citizens."
"I think that we are seeing a change within the Republican party nationally. They are seeing that there is a responsibility for us as a nation to protect our environment, and it should be a non-partisan issue.
"In Utah County, we are conservative Republicans, and this is something new but something the Republicans have got to grasp ahold of and get involved in."
In addition to forming the Utah County Water Advisory Board and Clean Air Commission, Morris has also been involved in the Utah Lake Authority, forming a Central Utah Film Commission, developing plans for a cultural center in the county courthouse, seeing the Thistle Debris Basin completed and working on landfill consolidation and rezoning.
"If I would have been playing politics with the issues for political gain, I would have never gotten involved in them," he said. "I think June 16 will tell if they want my type of leadership or if they are more comfortable with one who goes along with the establishment - one who doesn't rock the boat. I hope that's not the case."
Accusations of being a grandstander for media coverage are also disputed by Morris. "What people don't see is the months of meetings I've attended and the hours I have devoted to subcommittees to get issues resolved."
"He has been very forthright and a dedicated public servant," Commissioner Sid Sandberg said. "There are very few who dedicate more time and energy to the job than Commissioner Morris."
Commission Chairman Malcolm Beck said, "We haven't always agreed on everything, but we have agreed on more than we have disagreed on. I think we learned to respect each other's positions."