It seems a butcher, a baker and a candlestick maker are about the only professions not represented in the crowded Republican field for Utah's 1st Congressional District.
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There is a finance man, a teacher, a housewife, a Realtor and contractor. There are attorneys, retired soldiers, a bureaucrat and even a purveyor of rock 'n' roll.
Crowded? It would be tough to find any more bodies to stuff into this VW bug.
For most of the 10 Republicans, it all comes down to Saturday's state convention and whether they have managed to convince state delegates they can retain the seat held the past 22 years by Jim Hansen.
The real challenge for delegates may be keeping all the candidates' names straight.
"With such a crowded field, you have to do everything you can" to establish an identity in the minds of delegates, said GOP contender Scott Wyatt, a two-term Cache County attorney.
That includes sending out literature, attending meet-the-candidate ice cream socials, speaking at county conventions and meeting the delegates personally. Most candidates say the personal meetings with delegates are critical, especially for underdogs who do not have name recognition.
"With 10 candidates on stage all saying the same thing, I think it is imperative I meet as many delegates as possible, so they can see there is more to me as a candidate," said Vickie McCall, an Ogden Realtor.
In the 1st District, where Hill Air Force Base is a major economic player, a lot of the candidates are talking about bolstering national defense. But Wyatt, 40, says that is only one part of the equation.
"What we really need to be doing is defending families from the erosion of values that weaken us as a nation," he said. "The battle to defend America will be fought at our borders and in our kitchens."
Wyatt says that message has resonated well with delegates in recent days. And while he acknowledges he is not the front-runner, he believes he is running in third place or tied for second, with 60 percent of delegates still undecided.
"For us, the convention is big," he said.
McCall, 53, a former member of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission, also sees her support growing. "There are a couple of candidates leading the pack, but we are right up there," she said. "We are number one, two or three (on delegate ballots) with only a few exceptions."
McCall, more than any other GOP candidate, has been fending off criticism that she is too liberal, one opponent even going so far as calling her a member of the Clinton administration because she served on military advisory boards during the Clinton presidency.
"I think that is bothersome, an out-and-out lie," McCall said of accusations she is a liberal. "I am campaigning on the Second Amendment, lowering taxes, the right to life. . . . I will put my conservative platform next to the best of them."
G. Michael Lee, a 43-year-old retired Navy pilot and professional photographer living in West Haven, has been touting his military experience and commitment to "honor, duty and country."
Lee rejects the "ice-cream social" approach to meeting delegates as an insulting suggestion that delegate support is for sale. "So I invite them . . . to give me their tough questions and promise no one will be there pulling me away if the questions are too tough."
What does Lee tell the delegates? "I am not a millionaire, I am not a lawyer, I am not a lobbyist and I have never been a member of the Clinton administration like Vickie McCall," he said.
A former businessman and director of the Utah Department of Workforce Services, 51-year-old Robert C. Gross is focusing his efforts on convincing delegates he is the real reform candidate. And he reminds delegates of his experience with welfare reform, insurance reform and job education reform at the state and national level. And he is the only candidate who has experience taking "private sector principles and applying them in a public setting."
But experience is only one factor to his campaign. Neighbors and volunteers are calling delegates to tell them about Bob Gross, the person.
"My own gut feeling is I am in the top three now," he said. "They think I am speaking with a depth of knowledge, that I have real practical common-sense approaches."
Mark D. Jacobs, a 40-year-old Bountiful contractor, admits he is "a guy coming from nowhere," but the process is such that a good convention speech can sway a majority of undecided delegates.
"Maybe they (delegates) have made up their minds on a first choice, but they haven't on second or third or fourth," he said. "I truly believe the convention is open for the taking."
When delegates want to talk issues, Jacobs brings up school vouchers, "an issue that separates me a bit from the other candidates."
Kevin C. Probasco, a former chief prosecuting attorney for the Air Force and owner of a mortgage company, is meeting with delegates personally, sending out mailers and spending a lot of time talking issues on the telephone.
"I am telling them I am the only one with national security experience, which is vitally important to the 1st District," he said.
Probasco, 47, also focuses on Hill Air Force Base and the war on terrorism, saying he and only he is the candidate "qualified to make decisions on fighting terrorism and still protecting constitutional freedoms." Probasco believes 10 to 25 percent of delegates have him first on their ballots, with the remainder having him second or third.
Cathy Hammon Sundwall, a 57-year-old housewife, admits she is not as well known as the other candidates. A week before convention, she had still not sent out any information to delegates.
She has spoken at county conventions, she has responded to questionnaires from special interest groups and she has written position papers.
"They will hear from me," Sundwall promised. "We have four mailings in the next few days."
A former U.S. Senate staffer, Sundwall will remind delegates she has practical experience as a mother and wife. Now that her children are grown, "I don't have PTA meetings to go to, and I don't have to help with homework," she said. "I think politics suffer a lot because of the young-men-in-a-hurry syndrome."
Daniel Paul Barker, a former Hill Air Force Base employee, is also hoping to get the attention of state delegates in the final days before convention.
And judging from his campaign platform sent to the Deseret News, delegates will likely not confuse Barker with the other nine candidates. He takes bold, some might say politically unpopular stands, on issues, often pointing the finger of criticism at liberals.
Barker also believes the Republican Party has done a poor job "educating the public how to become wealthy," and he suggests teenagers should be taught how to form corporations and make money.
He supports the right to bear arms and, "I believe that we, as Republicans, should encourage people of color to participate in positive gun use. We should ask people in low-income areas to go hunting and target shooting with us."
Most of the GOP candidates agree there are two front-runners, former speaker of the House and state party chairman Rob Bishop and current House Majority Leader Kevin Garn. And both are speaking with the confidence of candidates who believe they can muster the 60 percent of delegates needed to avoid a nasty primary.
But it hasn't been as easy as Bishop thought. Many of the delegates were not even politically involved when Bishop was party chairman, and fewer yet remember his days as speaker.
"I did not think I would be spending so much time distinguishing myself from the other candidates because I have been around so long," said Bishop, a Box Elder County schoolteacher and lobbyist for the Utah Shooting Sports Council, a gun rights advocacy group.
Bishop, 50, said his discussions with delegates and third-party sources all point to a "positive finish" on Saturday, but "the undecided are in the lead. A lot of delegates are having a difficult time coming to grips with the number of candidates they have to choose from." Bishop said he hasn't been hurt by criticism that he was behind a letter from the National Rifle Association attacking Garn's legislative record on gun legislation. Bishop has denied involvement, although "I don't know if Kevin's staff believes I had nothing to do with it."
Garn said delegates know "exactly where I stand" on gun rights, and "they saw it for what it was, a horrible attempt to distort an otherwise clear record on the Second Amendment. And they want nothing to do with it."
Garn is counting on the name recognition that comes with 12 years in the Legislature. And with delegates he is sounding the familiar Republican theme that government has grown too big.
Garn said he is distinguishing himself "as an independent businessman who knows the pressures of making payroll . . . complying with federal regulations and paying outrageous taxes that could be used to expand business and create more jobs."
A millionaire after he sold Pegasus Records, the 46-year-old Garn has been involved in numerous business ventures. He also found time to write a book detailing his position on just about every issue imaginable.
Most candidates agree Garn is the candidate to beat, something Garn does not dispute.
"We have a message that resonates. That's what the delegates want to talk about."
On Saturday, the talking stops and the voting starts. And the burden will be on delegates to keep all the candidates straight.
E-MAIL: spang@desnews.com