Huntsman said his proudest accomplishment in his first term wasn't any particular piece of legislation or policy. Rather, it was his effort to reduce rancor and animosity, to bridge the state's ethnic, religious and political divides. "Make everyone feel they're taking a common journey," he explained.

There's a lot of wisdom in that statement, and in Huntsman's political philosophy and methodology. And it paid off handsomely at the ballot box Tuesday. Huntsman carried the state with a record 77 percent of the vote.

He's emblematic of a new breed of Utah politician, sharing centrist, consensus-seeking traits with Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon and Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker.

But while Huntsman governs from and for the center, the Republican majorities in the House and Senate stand far to the right of the governor, and the electorate as a whole.

There are, however, indications that Utah's "center" is tacking a tad to the left, as changing demographics alter the political climate, and temper intolerance.

House Speaker Greg Curtis, master of the backroom deal, was defeated Tuesday. And Sen. Chris Buttars, high priest of the politics of division, won with a mere 49 percent of the vote. Democrats captured the balance of power on the Salt Lake County Council, and gained a few seats in the Legislature. And Utah, by virtue of Barack Obama's 35 percent share of the vote, is no longer the reddest state in the nation. If Huntsman wants to maintain his centrist approach and satisfy the public craving for consensus he has helped create - and we think he should - he needs to spend some of his wealth of political capital. He needs to be more forceful in opposition to legislative extremism and in support of his health care, climate change, nuclear waste and energy policy initiatives. He should wave the veto pen, broker deals, champion legislation, and pound lawmakers into, not submission, but moderation.

Huntsman, like some of his predecessors, has learned that the path to successful governance in Utah runs neither to the right nor left, but down the middle. Now he needs to use his stick to herd his party along.