(The Democratic Party's smear machine might be just as automatic. But this is Utah, so we'll probably never know.)

Neither the Utah Republican Party nor the National Republican Congressional Committee will admit that it was responsible for a series of attack ads sent by mail to voters in the state's 2nd Congressional District. That's where Utah's lone Democratic congressman, Jim Matheson, is being challenged by Republican John Swallow in what, to no one's surprise, has become a particularly rough campaign.

It's not the suggestion that they were overly negative, offensive or, as Democrats claim, illegal collusions of legally separate campaign committees, that is making orphans out of the anti-Matheson ads. It is the belated realization that they are attacking Matheson for two of the many positions where he agrees with state and national GOP leaders.

One flier hops on Matheson for supporting a bill that would allow states to offer lower-cost in-state university tuition to qualifying children of illegal aliens. But the ad neglects to mention, if its authors even knew, that Utah Republicans Sen. Orrin Hatch and Rep. Chris Cannon like the bill so much they call it The Dream Act.

The other offense for which Matheson was flailed for being out of touch with the good Republican voters of Utah was his support for what the Swallow-backing ads described as “siding with big drug companies instead of Utah seniors.” That's Matheson's vote in favor of President Bush's Medicare drug card plan.

Actually, Swallow has a good argument when he slams the Medicare drug plan. Because it does not include bulk buying, hard negotiating or re-importation of drugs from Canada, the plan does favor drug manufacturers over seniors.

One might think it bad form to ask the Republican Party to pay for ads trashing its own positions. Unless, of course, all that matters is getting a fellow Republican elected. If that's the case then, clearly, getting mud on one's own congressmen, senators, even one's own president, is mere collateral damage when the chance to smear a Democrat presents itself.

In the end, it was state GOP Chairman Joe Cannon who put a stop to the ads. His claim that the fault lies with the NRCC is credible, if only because it is unlikely that Utah Republicans would be so ignorant of their own party's stands on these important issues.

This tactic deserves to backfire on Swallow, if only in the hopes that the moles at the faraway NRCC will be more careful in their choice of mud next time.