To his critics, however, the perennial candidate appears to be on some kind of quixotic crusade that inexplicably keeps him running and running and running.

"I haven't yet accomplished what I want to accomplish," Cook said of his candidacy for Salt Lake County mayor. "I want to make government honest."

Thanks to the Atkins diet, the 6-foot-3 Cook has shed about 100 pounds from his peak four years ago. The candidate is buoyant and genial as he meets and greets constituents across the Salt Lake Valley. An ardent Beach Boys fan, he says his campaign theme should be "Good Vibrations," rather than something like the band's lament "Help Me, Rhonda."

Cook's name and face are familiar at a South Salt Lake senior center and a West Valley City grocery store where he was glad-handing voters this week.

"Hi. I'm Kalleen Archuleta. Do you remember my father?" a woman asks him outside Harmons.

"I'm voting for Merrill," she later explained, "because he's always been for the people. I've always liked him."

At the Columbus Senior Center, Farrell Jensen said Cook would get his vote, too. "Merrill represents the common person. Not the special interests."

He may be the state's most colorful politician - championed by Utah's conservative grass roots as a man who stands up for the little guy, while at the same time reproached within the hierarchy of the state Republican Party as an unreliable soldier.

For the past two decades, Cook has been running for - and often losing - one office after another: school board, Salt Lake City mayor, Salt Lake County Commission, governor, Congress and now Salt Lake County mayor. He also has championed populist causes such as terms limits and removal of sales tax from food.

Cook once launched his own Independent Party. He later won two terms in Congress carrying the GOP banner. This year he is running as a "small-i" independent, saying that while he clings to Republican values, he seeks a mayor's post that he would make nonpartisan.

Taking party politics out of county government would go a long way toward curing its ills, Cook contends, including the time-honored spoils system and insider deal-making on private sector contracts.

"I want to show this state and the taxpayers that I can draw on my business experience and my experience in Congress to run the smoothest county they've ever seen."

But that won't happen if Republican power brokers get their way. The Salt Lake County Republican Central Committee recently drafted political neophyte Ellis Ivory rather than tap Cook when Mayor Nancy Workman's baggage finally pulled her candidacy under.

Not only is Cook not a favorite of Republican higher-ups, but his supporters worry of retribution from the party hierarchy, said one GOP Central Committee member. "Republicans can't work for him without fear of getting kicked out of the party."

State party Chairman Joe Cannon dismisses such allegations, but noted Cook is not popular with most in the GOP's inner circle.

"As a Republican Party leader, I have a hard time with someone who leaves the party, comes back and then trashes it," he said. "It's not impossible, but I think it would be very hard for him to come back after this."

Those comments came on the heels of Cook's declaration that the GOP's effort to get Ivory on the Nov. 2 ballot is "the biggest fraud in Utah election history."

Cook blasted Democratic candidate Peter Corroon for "not having the guts" to stand up against the Republican maneuver. And he labeled the GOP's Cannon brothers as the insiders leading the party astray.

It was Joe Cannon's brother, 3rd District Rep. Chris Cannon, who orchestrated Cook's ouster in 2000 after two congressional terms - years marred by departing staff members calling into question Cook's sanity, as well as a lawsuit brought by a former campaign consultant. The barrage of negative media led Chris Cannon to believe Cook could not hold onto his seat, Cannon said.

"The reason I nominated Derek Smith [for Cook's seat] is because Merrill just couldn't win, given the stories printed about him. The list of crazy things is too long and too crazy," Chris Cannon said.

But Cook waves off such criticisms as cheap shots launched by disgruntled former staffers and "yellow journalism" by news media wishing to paint him as a kook.

"I fired two employees because they were stealing," he said. "I lost the lawsuit with the consultant. After a year of bad press, the jury was predisposed to think I was a crazy man."

Allegations of instability were bolstered by reports in the waning days of Cook's '98 re-election campaign that he stormed state Republican headquarters and let off a barrage of invectives.

Cook acknowledges the profanity, but explained that after he anted up thousands of dollars for a GOP ad campaign, Republican officials left his name off a phone bank push that mentioned only Sen. Bob Bennett.

"If they did those things to me, I'd use the f-word, too," said longtime Cook supporter Bart Grant.

Cook says he won't run away from his past but would rather focus the discussion on better county government. "It needs a management tune-up," Cook said. "If you take its temperature, you can see it's sick."

A graduate of Harvard Business School, a successful businessman and a self-made millionaire, Cook maintains he has the expertise to streamline county government. He has pledged to cut the mayor's office budget by half and all other departments by 10 percent.

"Any manager or executive who thinks he can manage better without making changes is wrong. I am willing to make changes. But it's not a meat axe approach, it's a scalpel."

Cook promises to overhaul procurement practices, consolidate department services and reduce ranks through attrition - and even dismissals, if necessary.

He has also chopped the fat out of his election efforts. After years of self-funding campaign largesse to the tune of $3.8 million, Cook's present outing is funded by contributions only. The entire 2004 effort will come in at about $50,000, far less than his opponents will spend.

Although the main facility of his explosives company, Cook Slurry, has been closed for several years, Cook says he is still a millionaire "on paper."

"After the '96 election, I promised my wife, Camille, that I wouldn't spend any more of our money on campaigns," he said. "I could put $200,000 into this campaign right now and win it easily. But I won't break my promise."

So he just keeps surfing for votes on his favorite populist themes, shaking hands with would-be constituents and seeking those "good, good vibrations."

csmart@sltrib.com

Salt Lake County Mayor

Merrill Cook, 58: unaffiliated

* Education: Bachelor's degree, U. of U., economics; master's in business administration, Harvard.

* Work experience: Consultant at Arthur D. Little Inc., a financial-consulting firm; founder and CEO of Cook Slurry explosives company.

* Political experience: Founder of Utah's Independent Party; campaigned for term limits and removal of sales tax from food; ran for numerous offices including governor; served two terms in the U.S. Congress from 1996 to 2000.

* Personal: Born in Philadelphia; grew up in Utah; LDS mission in England; married Camille Sanders; they have five children and three grandchildren.

* Hero: His father, professor Melvin Cook: "He was brilliant, open-minded and totally independent."

* Favorite book: A biography of Benjamin Disraeli, 19th century British prime minister, who failed in numerous campaigns for Parliament before succeeding.

* Fun facts: Has every album made by the Beach Boys. He is also an opera fan - his wife was an opera singer. And he is a "tough" chess player.