A candidate forum at Westminster College sponsored by the National Conference for Community and Justice featured seven candidates for mayor. Most of them seemed to realize that it's not a good idea to slam the incumbent.

That's a far cry from eight years ago when Anderson won the mayoralty largely on an anti-Deedee Corradini theme. As mayor, Corradini had suffered through two devastating scandals - her role in the Bonneville Pacific bankruptcy that left investors tens of millions of dollars poorer (she ended up paying a fine and avoided criminal prosecution) and the so-called "gift-gate" scandal.

Anderson's opponent in that general election was Stuart Reid, Corradini's economic development director, who earlier had been her ally on the City Council. Nevertheless, the anti-Corradini candidate stomped the pro-Corradini candidate in a landslide.

Anderson had lambasted Corradini for neglecting the basic infrastructure needs of the city. Critics apply that same condemnation to Mayor Anderson because of his frequent trips abroad to advance global environmental causes or to protest President Bush's policies in Iraq. Conservative Fox News pundit Sean Hannity called Anderson a part-time mayor. Fellow Fox News firebrand Bill O'Reilly called him a kook.

One problem for those critics: The accusations of negligence against Corradini resonated with the voters. They have not resonated with the majority of Salt Lakers when aimed at Anderson. Neither Hannity nor O'Reilly votes in Salt Lake City.

No matter how may trips Anderson takes for global causes, maintenance of city parks has improved, the streets and gutters are better and the visibility of cops on bicycles is higher, among other improvements since Anderson took over.

The two candidates most comfortable with distancing themselves from Anderson - Dave Buhler and J.P. Hughes - are traditional Republicans and need that core conservative base to have a chance. But Buhler, among the front-runners so far, simply said he would not be a crusader, like Anderson, and would focus instead on strictly local issues.

Interestingly, Buhler passed out stickers at the recent Salt Lake County Republican Convention describing himself as the "Not Endorsed by Rocky" candidate. That played to a core Republican base that viscerally dislikes the liberal mayor. But those stickers were conspicuously absent when Buhler appeared at the forum Wednesday. He even applauded Anderson for his conservation efforts in the city.

Hughes, a physician and self-described non-politician who is among the weakest contenders, was the only one willing to really blast Anderson, calling him an embarrassment.

Jenny Wilson, Nancy Saxton, Ralph Becker and John Renteria all praised Anderson's example-setting passion for such causes as energy efficiency and fossil-fuels emissions reduction. They did, however, promise a different style.

Keith Christensen, though a Republican, has Anderson's endorsement. And he was the strongest in distancing himself from the mayor's style - "Rocky's an activist, I'm a diplomat" - while still singing the mayor's praises. Christensen also pointedly noted that he has the endorsement of a long-ago Republican Salt Lake City mayor, former U.S. Sen. Jake Garn.

Anderson is arguably the capital city's most controversial mayor since J. Bracken Lee, who refused to pay the portion of his taxes that would be used to fund the Korean War. But like Lee, Anderson will leave as a popular leader of a city that likes its rebels, no matter how loudly the rest of the state might rail against them.

That is the lesson that some of the would-be mayors previously caught up in that "Rocky-bashing" frenzy are beginning to grasp.