Craig Campbell was a reluctant John McCain supporter - until the Arizona senator picked Sarah Palin as his running mate.
Her conservative views sealed his vote, Campbell said. But that Palin is a woman added to his newfound enthusiasm for the Republican's presidential ticket.
"It is really refreshing to see a woman's point of view come across, especially because she reflects so many of my opinions," said Campbell, 57, of Sandy.
Gender and race have stamped the 2008 presidential race as "salient" issues like never before, says Utah pollster Dan Jones. But it's unclear what, if any, impact they will have on the outcome.
Several polls this summer predicted racial attitudes will cost Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama some votes. And some pundits derided Palin's selection as a ploy to draw women.
But Campbell speaks for many Utahns when he says race and gender have made the race more intriguing, but neither trumps the candidates' stands on issues. And experts agree.
"It's about the party, it's not about the gender," said Debbie Walsh, of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers. For women, "it is about a set of policy issues, a philosophy of wanting government to provide a social safety net."
That results in a voting gender gap with women favoring Democratic candidates because of their stands on social issues, Walsh said. Jones points out women were decisively behind both of former President Clinton's victories.
Palin received an initial bounce in polls because of her compelling life story and appeal to working mothers, Walsh said. But since then, voters have refocused on issues, she said.
Nevertheless, John Pace, 51, of Salt Lake City, thinks it is "naive" to believe that race and gender don't matter.
"It is natural to identify more with a person who looks like you or went to your school or has a similar socioeconomic background," he said. "I think race or gender could play a role in a lot of people's votes even though they have never voiced overt racism at all. It is a subconscious thing we are all subject to to an extent."
Which is why pollsters like Jones say it is hard to measure Obama's support. "When they get in the booth, many will not vote for an African American, but they will tell pollsters and others they will," he said.
Philip Barlow, who holds the Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture at Utah State University, agrees. But, he added, "I just don't pick up much talk in the culture these days that convinces me that gender or race tilts one's choice for president or vice president."
Any hesitancy to vote for a woman or a black man is likely generational, Barlow said.
Ali Close, 20, agrees, saying younger voters like herself do not consider gender and race issues at all.
"I have not heard of his race being an issue except in the respect that 'OK, this is the first time,' " said Close, a Brigham Young University student who backs Obama's candidacy - much to her Republican family's surprise.
Obama "definitely excites youth, and I don't believe McCain does," she said. As for Palin: "I am much more about who she is aside from her gender," Close said.
Gender and race may be bigger obstacles in certain parts of the country. Priscilla Dewbury, of Salt Lake City, said she has encountered race-based opposition to Obama's candidacy from extended family who live in the South.
"It's annoying," she said. "I don't understand how in this day and age people can vote on color of skin and not the content of their experience and what a candidate is bringing to the table."
Wendy Knowles, 32, has been an Obama fan since his speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Knowles, who is white, figured her husband, who is black, shared her views. Turns out he was for Hillary Clinton.
"I was surprised because I thought, 'How could you not go for this wonderful guy who also is African American' but I learned it was because he knew [about] Hillary," said Knowles, of Taylorsville. "You have to agree with their issues foremost and then look at gender and race."
Paul White, an associate professor of psychology and ethnic studies at the University of Utah, said his wife, who is white, lined up with Obama before he did.
White, who is black, added: "Some may be for or against Obama based on ethnicity, but I feel those who are for or against him have based that on the issues - at least that is my hope."
Race may be a "bigger wild card" than gender simply because it has not been as openly debated, said Matthew Burbank, chairman of the political science department at the University of Utah.
But he sees one group for whom gender could be persuasive: Women who are not strongly attached to a major party. "They may just like the idea of voting for a woman," Burbank said.
About half of Utah voters are unaffiliated, though most tend to vote Republican in general elections.
According to the Pew Research Center, Palin's candidacy "scrambled" conventional wisdom on party affiliation and views of career and motherhood.
In an "experimental" survey conducted this summer, the center found that a congressional candidate who is a woman with young children pays a "mommy penalty" among Republican voters. Only 21 percent of Republicans said they were likely to vote for such a candidate, the center said.
But Utah Republicans have swiftly rallied around Palin. Cecelia Benson, 58, of Logan, marvels at Palin's ability to juggle her family and political career, saying the Alaska governor "stands for so many women in middle America."
Still, neither gender nor race are on her mind in the voting booth, Benson said.
"I am thrilled that we have an African American on the ticket and thrilled we have a woman," said Benson, a national board member of American Mothers Inc. "But more than anything it is how they vote and perceive the importance of family and recognize that our nation will never be stronger than our families."
