Critics on the City Council and elsewhere chastised the Salt Lake City mayor for being too shrill, too self-serving with his anti-war activism. In short, too much.

But a funny thing has happened - an election is on. And suddenly, some of those same voices - now candidates vying to succeed the outspoken mayor - have softened their speech.

Glowering over Rocky Anderson has turned to glowing treatment on the campaign trail.

The eight-member field exhibits a common theme: Promise to be a kinder, gentler mayor focused on steering the city, but avoid trashing Anderson with any vitriol.

Instead, plaudits rain. Candidates praise Anderson's energy, his green agenda, his ability to raise the city's profile across the country.

The one exception, perhaps ironically, is fellow Democrat Meg Holbrook, who hurled heavy blows at the capital's maverick mayor, noting Salt Lake City has no part in foreign policy.

"The role of the mayor is not to promote a national agenda," Holbrook announced at a candidate forum.

But after a meager showing early in the chase, Holbrook dropped out.

Political observers are not surprised the rest of the group is guarded. Treating Anderson with paper gloves, they say, is sound strategy - considering the feisty two-term mayor likely would beat the field if he were running for a third term.

"They want to win," said Tim Chambless, a political science professor at the University of Utah. "You don't alienate a large bloc of voters. Mayor Anderson has won twice with them."

City Councilman Dave BuhÂler, a Republican, and Councilwoman Nancy Saxton, a Democrat, for years have been two of the squeakiest wheels against Anderson's agenda within the city and his crusading trips outside it.

Each has questioned his priorities and wondered publicly if Salt Lake City could be managed properly with the mayor attending so many anti-war marches.

But on the stump for the city's top job, the tone has changed.

Critiquing the mayor should be "for individuals to decide," Saxton told a debate audience at the U. "It's not a burning question in my heart."

What's more, Saxton insists, the next mayor has "a right and obligation to speak out" on "moral issues" such as the war and global warming. She also pledged to "build on what the mayor has done."

Buhler also has softened his stance, using humor to take on the mayor's alleged hubris.

"That's a little above my pay grade," Buhler joked when asked recently whether he would - if elected - speak out against the Iraq war.

In past months, Buhler has scolded Anderson for being an absentee mayor too quick to ignore the city's needs. But when one debate moderator suggested Anderson's lightning rod has "irrevocably damaged" the capital's relationship with the Legislature, Buhler rejected the premise.

"I don't believe [city and state ties] are all broke," he said. "His strong suit is advocacy, not relationships."

Asked why any criticism of Anderson seems muted, BuhÂler said it simply doesn't seem "relevant."

"I just don't feel like it's that interesting or useful to dwell on Rocky," he said. "Rocky is quickly becoming the past."

The other primary candidates appear even more cozy with Anderson, including Republican Keith Christensen - not surprising, perhaps, since he is the mayor's handpicked heir apparent.

"I give Rocky high marks for being passionate about things," Christensen said during a debate. "People may not see all he's doing behind the scenes locally. . . . Rocky's raised our awareness."

House Minority Leader Ralph Becker says he doesn't always agree with Anderson, but he respects him. He labeled Anderson's environmental legacy "magnificent." And the Democratic lawmaker pledged to "speak out," as the mayor has, on "important regional issues such as air and water quality."

Jenny Wilson, a Democratic candidate who hopes to trace her father's track to the top office at City Hall, agrees using the bully pulpit is appropriate. She argues Anderson - a "larger-than-life mayor" - has done "a world of good" for Utah's capital.

"I don't think anyone shares the passion at the level he carries," she said. "When it comes to issues, I would agree with him on, frankly, just about everything."

And for Wilson and Becker, at least, that includes the war.

Other contenders - Centro Civico Mexicano Director John Renteria and physician J. Preston Hughes - also refused to malign the mayor at a U. debate.

Still, as the horse race to replace Anderson continues, Hinckley Institute of Politics Director Kirk Jowers expects the candidates to keep their distance from the lame duck.

"It really is a no-win situation to speak for or against the mayor right now," he explained. "People either love him or hate him. And both sides have long memories."

Buhler and Saxton argue that any diatribes against Anderson were coerced by the media. But while Buhler dismisses having reversed course, Saxton acknowledges some political calculation.

"The reality is, Rocky is still very popular," she said. "I respect my constituents, and they respect the job that he has done."

On that point, Chambless and Jowers agree. Anderson's high-favorability rating in the city, they say, should cast a shadow over the race all summer.

"His opponents are not going to criticize him directly," Chambless predicted. "Each of the challengers know they have yet to win citywide."

djensen@sltrib.com

On Rocky in 2006

"It's not a burning question in my heart"

When asked on the 2007 campaign trail whether Anderson had crossed the line with his activism

Nancy Saxton

Candidate, longtime Rocky critic