Utah's political landscape has been dotted for months with office-seekers wooing delegates, campaign money and the voting public.
But even as they jockey for early advantage, the candidates harbor no illusions about the specter of voter ennui come November."I think they're going to have had a bellyful of it by the election," says LaVarr Webb, a former political reporter serving as campaign manager for Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Leavitt.
Potential candidate Pat Shea is more blunt: "I think the public is bored out of their mind right now.
"If you did a survey and said, `Would you prefer to have the election in November of 1992 or not,' you might get a majority who would say we don't want it," Shea said.
Times have changed since former Gov. Calvin L. Rampton announced in February 1976 that he wouldn't be running for a fourth term and Scott M. Matheson's last-minute candidacy won him the executive office the same year.
Electioneering today is far different.
Gov. Norm Bangerter gave two years notice he was leaving the office after two terms, and Sen. Jake Garn said in May that he'd be gone in 1993. Both wanted to allow enough time for hopefuls to mount their campaigns.
With seven announced or potential candidates in each race, the aspirants and their staffs know they'll have to continually stoke the fires in the 10 months before the November election.
"Our most precious resource all day, every day, is time," says Tom Stockham, who manages Democrat Doug Anderson's Senate bid. "We can get more volunteers and more literature, but we can't generate more time."
That means time to court delegates, consult with party officials at home and in Washington, raise money - lots of money - and build campaign organizations as pragmatic as they are idealistic.
Perhaps no candidate was earlier into the game than Richard Eyre, even though he did not make his formal announcement for governor until November.
His manifesto, "Utah in the Year 2000," was published last March, and he unveiled a citizens campaign and newsletter during the summer.
"I think he's running the longest gubernatorial campaign in Utah history," Webb said.
And when one candidate jumps, others don't dare lag behind.
Shea, who has said he'll decide later this year whether to run against Stewart Hanson Jr. and Kem Gardner for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, finds that lamentable.
He said the "professionalization" of politics has skewed the system in such a way that only early announcements open the spigot of campaign contributions.
"Politics is somewhat like charitable giving," Shea said. "It's not a question of there being a limit, as a question of when to ask.
"And so what has happened at the federal level, and then in turn at the state level, is that people are asking earlier and earlier - not for a principled reason, but simply to be the first one to ask," Shea said.
But there are other considerations in 1992, not least the sheer number of races.
Senatorial and gubernatorial campaigns will compete for public attention with the a presidential race, three congressional races and contests for other high state offices from attorney general to treasurer as well as legislative and county competitions.