And since Salt Lake City's rabble-rousing mayor and Fox News' flamethrower will be sparring - this is a fight over war, after all - the unfortunate candidate must have large lungs.

Utahns' early ballots include a moderator menagerie. They range from Rod Decker (decibel level - check), Doug Wright and Chris Vanocur to Doug Fabrizio, Ken Verdoia and, uh, Michael Moore.

Tom Barberi, the self-appointed "Voice of Reason," even nominated himself.

On the sobering side, a Sandy resident suggested in an e-mail to The Salt Lake Tribune that the proposed debate over the Iraq war and Anderson's push for President Bush's impeachment should be moderated by a military person. "Preferably, a Pfc. who has recently spent a tour of duty in Iraq."

Nothing formal is scheduled between Anderson and Hannity - yet - although a University of Utah student is lobbying for the Huntsman Center on April 20. But one certainty exists: Utah's liberal lion wants a piece of the conservative commentator, and vice versa.

Over the weekend, The Tribune asked readers to name possible moderators who could rein in the rhetoric. Following are some of their nominees:

* "My vote would be for Rod Decker," Scott Yeates wrote. "I will never forget the way he blasted Governor [Norm] Bangerter just before he was re-elected. He had the man in tears."

* KSL Newsradio host Doug Wright, whom Hannity has suggested, cannot be impartial, others wrote, labeling him "a pawn of the right wing." Using him would be like "asking him to be impartial about a debate about the LDS Church vs. Church of Scientology," another reader wrote. "I suggest Chris Vanocur."

* "Rocky should not be the one to decide," wrote J. Jones, who scolded the mayor for his "hippie-type" behavior. "He will most likely already stack the audience with his followers."

* Some called for former Salt Lake City Mayor Ted Wilson or KUED's Verdoia, insisting the debate "requires someone who will moderate and not inject any bias" and someone "with some intellectual firepower that can see through dogma and spin."

* Other candidates ranged from staid Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon or former KSL editorialist Don Gale to Tribune satirists Robert Kirby or Pat Bagley.

There were calls for National Public Radio personalities to swoop in as well as for coverage from C-SPAN.

Barberi, a longtime talk-radio host, said he could do it.

"It's not like I have anything else to do," he quipped. "Considering that Utah is the reddest state in the country and Doug Wright is the reddest local talking head on the reddest radio station in Utah, I think that this showdown needs 'The Voice of Reason.' "

In early returns, Barberi won the most votes from readers, followed by Decker and Vanocur.

Anderson will provide Hannity more ammo Saturday, when he speaks at an impeachment march scheduled from the Lincoln Memorial to the Pentagon.

But the Utah debate could run into a hitch. Hannity's team wants to limit news coverage to Fox affiliates and KSL, according to Anderson spokesman Patrick Thronson.

The mayor balked at the restriction. "We are hoping we can reach an agreement to make it open to all the members of the media," Thronson said.

Sandy Peck of the League of Women Voters of Utah said she would like to see the news media involved, as well as questioning from the public.

"If we could have it in a more structured and evenhanded format, I think people would get more out of it," Peck said. "You don't want a shouting match."

If the event lands at the U., some are advocating for Kirk Jowers, head of the Hinckley Institute of Politics.

"He'd handle it in a very professional way," said Jayne Nelson, Hinckley's assistant director, "even if it turned out to be more frivolous."

The moderator sweepstakes runs counter to presidential elections, whose candidates are grilled by a short list of journalists selected by the Commission on Presidential Debates. Those names have ranged from network mainstays Bob Schieffer and Charles Gibson to PBS' Gwen Ifill and Jim Lehrer.

Since Anderson and Hannity aren't representing anything "except their own views," U. professor Matthew Burbank said, "it seems to be largely an exercise in political theater."

"I'm not sure what the point of it would be other than to have a debate and have a show."

Along those lines, perhaps the partisans could choose the route of Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, circa 1858. Those pre-broadcast-era senatorial debates were staged sans moderator, mano a mano.

Either way, whoever wins the job may want to pack a whistle.

djensen@sltrib.com

How about these moderators?

* Ruth Todd - She's shopping for a gig and, unlike KTVX, this may actually be a ratings winner.

* Katie Couric - Speaking of needing a ratings boost, this might help CBS News carry Utah.

* Rod Decker - He's tough, he's nonpartisan and he's loud.

* Chris Vanocur - Can he find his way out of the political backroom?

* Dick Vitale - Awesome, baby! A mouth and an ego to rival the debaters.

* Peter Corroon - Perfect counter to two screamers, or is he just too dry?

* Blair Feulner - Make him earn that six-figure public-radio salary.

* Doug Fabrizio - Genial, bright, respectable. But what if it's pledge week?

* Chris Matthews - For a change, someone who could cut off Hannity in midsent. . . .

* Keith Olbermann - Astute, witty. But too smug, too condescending, too much like the debaters.

* Mitt Romney - Hey, the show could double as a campaign fundraiser.

* Tom Barberi - This smack-off needs a voice of reason. Just ask him.

* Ken Verdoia - Host the debate now, crank out the Rocky-Hannity documentary later.

* Dave Checketts - He's holding out for the Curtis-Corroon clash.

* Joe Cannon - He's no longer a partisan. Now he's a card-carrying member of the Fourth Estate.