Three cheers for members of Utah's Constitutional Revision Commission who said last week they aren't in favor of allowing state office holders to be recalled.

Or, in other words, for deciding that just because California put on a humdinger of a three-ring circus doesn't mean Utah should haul out the animal trainers and face paint.

We in this state ought to be capable of learning lessons from others. If California taught the nation anything last fall, it is that a recall process can be hijacked by politics and opportunism — two things that aren't good for orderly government.

With a recall provision in place, any unpopular decision can be reason enough to load the shotguns, light the torches and organize the posse. That isn't exactly an incentive for real leadership. Politicians study opinion polls too much as it is.

While it may be argued that Arnold Schwarzenegger has done reasonably well as California's new governor, the fact remains he was chosen from a slate of 150 or so candidates, and the old governor, Gray Davis, was removed because of a state economy that was in virtually the same shape as when he was re-elected one year earlier.

The only thing that changed was the spin. Any carnival barker can tell you there is a trick to getting attention.

Politics is muddled and confusing enough as it is. But voters have a time set aside to make choices during regularly scheduled general elections, and their choices ought to be honored until the office-holder's term is finished.

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State Rep. David Hogue, R-Riverton, drafted a resolution that would have started Utah down the road toward recalls. Last week, the Constitutional Revision Commission decided to shelve the idea. Commission members asked simply, "Does Utah want or need a recall?" No one seemed capable of finding a reason to say anything but "No."

A lot of Utah's neighbors — Idaho, Nevada and Arizona, for example — have recall provisions. It may be argued that their citizens have not abused that privilege. Most recall attempts fail, and California's success marked the first time a governor had been thrown out since North Dakota got rid of Gov. Lynn Frazier in 1921.

But that track record suggests recalls aren't really needed. Frazier, it is interesting to note, was elected to the Senate a year later and served for 18 years.

He learned the hard way that, while people enjoy being entertained by a circus, they don't really take it seriously.

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