Some senators, of course, are more equal than others. The pull each one has also depends on such things as seniority, experience and a detailed knowledge of the grimy nuts and bolts of lawmaking and appropriations.

On that score, it is logical to return incumbent Republican Robert Bennett for a third six-year term in the Senate.

This realization is tempered by the fact that Bennett's Democratic challenger, former Attorney General Paul Van Dam, is a compelling, experienced and thoughtful candidate. Yet, as much sense as Van Dam talks, about deficits, defense and health care, incumbency and seniority matter in Congress, especially in the U.S. Senate.

The cold, hard fact is that Utah, with a small population largely surrounded by federal property, needs a quietly influential negotiator at the table when it is time to carve up what promises to be an ever-smaller pie of federal cash.

Bennett, with his prized seat on the Senate Appropriations Committee and his position as deputy majority whip, is in a position to make sure that Utah is not forgotten when it seeks to fund such vital needs as public transit and university research.

Of course, one of the problems with knowing so much about how things work is that a person can get far too comfortable with a process that even Bennett calls “sausage-making at its very worst.”

One aspect of the grind that Bennett seems all too at ease with are the Bush administration's incessant tax cuts for the rich - which belies Bennett's former credentials as a deficit hawk. Another is the senator's acceptance of administration assurances that its fascination with new generations of nuclear weapons won't necessarily lead to testing in Nevada - which frightens the many Utahns who remember how deadly previous testing regimes proved to be.

Bennett has, though, retained enough of an honest broker's reputation on the Appropriations Committee that he is in a better position than most to put the brakes on spending. He is even down in the gears of Social Security and Medicare searching for realistic, bipartisan fixes.

And Bennett has proposed legislation, admittedly borrowed from Democratic Utah Congressman Jim Matheson, to place several legislative hurdles in the way of any new nuclear tests. It's not perfect, but it is a tactic that, together with some legislative influence, can both slow the process and keep it out in the open.

Bob Bennett is one of those politicians who knows that a lot can be accomplished if you don't worry too much about who gets the credit. He deserves a chance to accomplish some more.