His mamma always told him he'd catch more bees with honey.
So, Steve Beierlein figures a little of the sweet stuff will attract the hive of Utahns he needs to deliver the big sting to Congressman Jim Hansen.He has a busy job ahead of him, since the last four candidates fielded by the Democratic Party to wrest Hansen's job haven't been able to penetrate the congressman's seemingly invulnerable shield.
Beierlein, 40, announced his candidacy for the 1st Congressional District post last week, saying the wrong man has had the job for too long.
Labeling himself a conservative Utah Democrat who is opposed to abortion and favors capital punishment, Beierlein says Hansen's greatest flaw is his abrasive temperament.
"You can't constantly berate or belittle the president and expect him to do you any favors," he said.
Even though Clinton's creation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument has stuck in the throat of Utahns, Beierlein says Hansen needs to stop whining about it.
"He has made political hay with it. He's serving his own political interests, making sure certain people in the national Republican Party like what he has to say. He needs to get off that track of `we've been taken advantage of' and start turning lemons into lemonade."
Beierlein says he doesn't believe Clinton has targeted Utah to pick on, but rather, has zeroed in on Hansen.
"You can't constantly poke somebody with a stick at the same time you are asking them to help you. . . . I think the president has made a target of Jim Hansen because Hansen is constantly picking at him on every issue under the sun."
The antagonism produces a political roadblock Beierlein says he'll be able to breach.
"We need at least one Democrat from Utah who can speak to that side of the table. Like it or not, we have to deal with the Democrats in Washington. Isn't it better to have one of our own there?"
"You get more bees with honey. He's throwing battery acid and I'm trying to throw sugar."
Beierlein, 40, was born in New York and moved to Utah when he was 7. A Layton High graduate, Beierlein is putting his two daughters through college at Weber State University, but admits he never made it past high school.
"I'm self-taught."
His employment over the years has included everything from washing dishes at a steakhouse during high school, to maintenance work at the former Pilsbury Mill in Ogden, to his current career managing investment portfolios for Smith Barney.
"The system has worked for me. I never had a lot of money, but through hard work, perseverance and diligence I was able to succeed."
Weber County residents may be familiar with Beierlein's name because of his four-year term on the Riverdale City Council from 1991 to 1995, his current position as co-chairman of the St. Benedict's Foundation and his seven-year affiliation on the Weber School District Foundation Board.
During his employment at the mill, Beierlein was active in the union and served two terms on the ALF-CIO board.
Beierlein says he is no longer affiliated with the union, but embraces the ideal of standing up for workers' rights.
He plans to sink $100,000 of his own money into a spending campaign he hopes will top $800,000.
"If someone like me doesn't stand up, then in the end, you end up with someone like who we've had."
Longtime incumbent Hansen, who has been nearly 18 years in Washington, D.C., is out of touch with most Utah voters, Beierlein contends.
"I believe he has done a fair job at being a congressman. I don't think he's done a good job at being a representative. He doesn't have an understanding of what it is like to raise a family in Utah. Forty years ago when his children were young, he might have. But he doesn't know what kind of battles we face with crime, with work."