So why, when she was alerting folks to Rocky's legendary temper as early as 1999 and ticking off to anyone who would listen the number of secretaries in Anderson's law firm who were either fired or quit, as well as the number of campaign managers suffering the same fate in his congressional and mayoral campaigns, would she go to work for him - twice?

Before I answer that question, a little background is necessary.

Seed, as most Utahns know by now, was Anderson's official spokesperson until she was fired by the Salt Lake City mayor a week ago. She then publicly blasted Anderson, calling him abusive and bigoted. Anderson countered that Seed was incompetent and was just being vindictive for losing her job. The mayor issued an apology Friday.

Seed had worked for the mayor once before, as his community and neighborhood director, then chief of staff, before leaving under less-than-amicable circumstances. She rejoined the mayor as his spokesperson nearly a year and a half ago.

But in 1999, when Anderson was first seeking election to the mayor's post, Seed was the campaign manager for Jim Bradley, one of several other candidates vying for the job.

That's when Seed was vocal, to anyone who would listen, about Anderson's volatile past and his inability to retain employees, both professionally and politically.

Seed quit Bradley's campaign after he told her she wouldn't be his chief of staff if he was elected. After Anderson survived the primary and faced off against Stuart Reid in the general, Seed began campaigning for Anderson, the man she had vilified just a few weeks earlier.

When Anderson was elected, Seed got a nice job in his administration, which didn't last. The second time she was hired, then fired, she seemed to fulfill her own assessment of six years earlier, that Anderson is impossible to work for.

So why did she support him, and go to work for him, knowing what she knew? Because she is a Democrat, interested in working in the public sector, and there just aren't many opportunities available for people fitting that profile.

Before the election last year of Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon, Anderson and Congressman Jim Matheson were about the only people Democrats could go to work for in government and retain their status in the political arena as active members of the party.

With Republicans holding every statewide elective office, two of Utah's three congressional seats, both U.S. Senate and most local government posts, public-sector jobs are available mostly to Republicans.

Democrats can squeeze into the few jobs available through Salt Lake County's four Democratic council members, District Attorney Dave Yocom or Clerk Sherrie Swensen, but those are just a handful of employment opportunities.

Democratic County Councilman Joe Hatch says the advantage for elected officials like him is that he can pick from the cream of the crop of Democrats looking for public-sector work, because there is so little out there for them. Each council member can hire one administrative assistant.

But that means all the others either look to the private sector, thus forgoing a chance to develop their skills in the government arena, or they neuter their Democratic ambitions, go to work for Republicans and, in many cases, switch their political allegiance to the GOP.

Here is a sampling of what has happened to some of the eager young Democrats who appeared to be the party's future a few years ago.

John Hiskey, who ran for the Salt Lake County Commission as a Democrat, works for Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan, one of the most plugged-in Republicans in the county. Hiskey's Democratic Party activities have basically evaporated.

Rich McKeown, a Democrat who ran for Salt Lake City mayor, became former Gov. Mike Leavitt's chief of staff and switched his party affiliation to Republican.

Stuart Reid, another Democrat who ran for mayor, dropped out of the Democratic Party and went to work for Ogden Mayor Matt Godfrey, a Republican.

Democratic trench workers D'Arcy Pignanelli and Leslie Reberg have become loyal soldiers in Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s administration. Frank Pignanelli, Blaze Wharton and Rob Jolley all have become lobbyists, joining forces with Republican stalwarts and working hand in hand with mostly Republican policy makers.

That leaves few young Democrats ready to pick up the mantle and carry on the tradition of Calvin Rampton, Scott Matheson, Wayne Owens and Ted Moss.

A few lobbyists sat around a table last fall and, just for fun, tried to put together a cabinet for Scott Matheson Jr., in case the Democrat won the gubernatorial election. They couldn't come up with enough qualified Democrats, who are still active Democrats, to fill every position.