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BOSTON - In one of its many pep rallies at the Democratic National Convention, a Utah party wondered out loud about a future in which its home state would switch its political color code from blood-red Republican to navy blue Democrat.

"I'd be satisfied with turquoise," said Ed Mayne, Utah AFL-CIO president.

He said it jokingly, but it was one of the most clear-headed assessments uttered during a week of hyperbole and partisan platitudes.

Utah is not on the brink of a Democratic landslide and Democrats being honest with themselves know it. John Kerry may not receive his smallest percentage of votes in Utah, as Al Gore did four years ago, but he isn't going to win the state, either.

But that doesn't mean minority Democrats are dispirited. On the contrary, they are buoyed by the energy of a convention in the liberal hometown of a presidential nominee who they are reasonably sure will win the White House on Nov. 2.

Pragmatic optimism in the Republican-ruled realm of the Beehive State, though, means hope for incremental progress - focusing on the few, select state and local races that hold plausible chances of victory.

Maura Carabello says the convention is important for Democrats to plug into the bigger picture, renew their enthusiasm and suit up for the critical weeks to come back home where they are a seemingly perpetual minority.

"Recharging the batteries means remembering that Democratic values are alive and well in the United States and that we have nothing to be ashamed of," says Carabello. "You forget when you live in Utah that the Democratic principles we believe in are largely held in America."

To Carabello it is about making health care more accessible, creating good-paying jobs - "pocket-book issues. We're talking about practical things, the same thing they're talking about in cafes and barber shops."

Salt Lake County Councilman Joe Hatch, the Kerry campaign spokesman in Utah, says there is a different sense among Democrats than he can remember - freer of special-interest baggage and less whiney.

Hatch claims you can tell national Republicans are in trouble this year because of the pessimistic nature of their campaign, and he says some of the same flavor is seeping into Salt Lake County and other local races.

"The public doesn't like dour liberals and it doesn't like dour conservatives," he says. "To me, the Republicans are the unpatriotic ones because they say we can't do this or we can't do that. Of course we can do this, we're Americans."

Utah Democratic Chairman Donald Dunn predicts Kerry will win the presidency, but he isn't prognosticating that outcome among state voters.

"What's really important for us is that we each go back to our constituencies, our communities, and serve as an ambassador, if you will," Dunn says. "The loyal troops and the base get energized by this."

Dunn says Democrats are targeting the governor's race between Scott Matheson Jr. and Republican Jon Huntsman Jr. as "the No. 1 priority for us." He ticks off Rep. Jim Matheson's re-election and Salt Lake County mayoral hopeful Peter Carroon's challenge of incumbent Nancy Workman as solid races which Democrats should win. And, finally, he thinks Democrats can pick up three state Senate seats and have good shots at as many as half a dozen in the state House.

It is worth noting that none of the candidates in the races Dunn identified participated in the national convention. Jim Matheson, a super-delegate by virtue of his office, chose to stay home, while his brother, Scott, did not seek a delegate slot that he almost certainly could have won if he desired.

Both Mathesons deny they were attempting to put distance between themselves and the national party.

"I just felt I would most productively be spending my time in the state. That was the right choice," Scott Matheson said in a phone interview Friday from Salt Lake City.

Jim Matheson in an earlier interview said speculation that he was deliberately staying away from the convention for image purposes was "hooey."

By contrast, many of the state's elected Republican leaders are delegates to the GOP National Convention in New York next month.

Republican stalwart Ron Fox believes Utah Democrats are once again deluding themselves if they believe a new dawn is coming on election day.

"I see nothing in the future that will change the direction of the people of Utah," says Fox, vice chairman of the Bush/Cheney campaign in the state. "I don't see anything that is going to make them change from their current Republican leadership."

Fox, a political junkie who watched a good deal of the Democratic convention on television, says it was fascinating.

"It's almost like they watched videos of the last two Republican conventions and are trying to copy Republicans. But maybe they're trying to hide a little bit, too," he says, adding there was little talk of abortion rights, gay rights and other divisive cultural issues.

Utah Republican Chairman Joe Cannon also noticed the omissions and the attempt to out-Republican the GOP on issues like strengthening the military.

Says Cannon: "Sometimes, you could close your eyes and imagine you were listening to Ronald Reagan."