Not in Utah.

The mood was confident as Beehive State conservatives gathered at the party's organizing convention Saturday. With the exception of the 2nd Congressional District seat held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson, Utah Republicans are giddy about their prospects in the next elections.

"We can go on and on about how good we are," Congressman Chris Cannon told GOP delegates. "We are the center. We are correct. We need to be proud of that."

With in-party struggles for control at times overshadowing the daylong meeting, 1,400 Republican delegates still managed to re-elect the same party leadership, approve several resolutions promoting core conservative values like school choice and immigration reform, and mute questions of their support for Sen. Orrin Hatch's bid for a sixth six-year term in Washington.

There was no hint of doubt at the convention, despite national polls showing the president's approval rating dipping to 40 percent this week, the lowest of his presidency and lower at this point in his second term than any post-World War II president except Richard Nixon.

In off-election years, delegates choose party leaders and consider changes to the platform or general statements of the party's position on issues. Past GOP organizing conventions have bogged down with monotonous debate about procedure, driving many delegates away before the meetings were over.

This year, party leaders curtailed some of that discussion, and floor debate was rigorously controlled by Party Chairman Joe Cannon, Vice-Chairwoman Enid Greene and, for a short time, Utah House Speaker Greg Curtis.

Cannon and Greene squeaked by two challengers each with bare 51 percent majorities of the delegates' votes. Secretary Candace Daly easily won re-election.

With the scheduled keynote speaker, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, unable to fly into town, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. opened the convention. Sprinkling his speech with "ain't," Huntsman pulled out his tried-and-true laminated "to do" list and ticked through his agenda - including nurturing Utah's entrepreneurs, reforming the state's tax system and limiting himself to two terms. But he got the loudest and longest applause when he pledged to build the Legacy Highway.

After Huntsman, the procedural debate started, with arch-conservative delegates attempting to reinstate former Salt Lake County Party Executive Committee member Mike Ridgeway as a delegate. After that failed, right-wing delegates successfully shifted the order of the convention agenda, delaying speeches from the state's congressional delegation to the end and moving up debate of the resolutions.

Delegates rejected a statement urging Congress to repeal the Patriot Act. But they approved a "School Choice Resolution" stating that lawmakers should provide options that allow public education funding to follow the student - to home school, private schools or charter schools. A so-called "teacher amendment" requiring public accountability for that diverted funding failed.

Delegates also adopted two seemingly competing statements about immigration. One recognizes immigrants' role in Utah's economy and another calls for a ban on "benefits" to illegal immigrants.

"It's a defining moment for our party," Hispanic Republican Assembly Chairman Marco Diaz said. "We are a party of inclusion. We need to take the lead on reasonable and responsible solutions to immigration."

In the end, it was Hatch's convention. His re-election campaign paid for 2,000 doughnuts in the morning, and hot dogs, hamburgers and macaroni salad for lunch. Sen. Bob Bennett introduced him, scoffing at the notion that Hatch should step down. "For some folks 30 years is enough," Bennett said. "He deserves to be re-elected."

That drew a final standing ovation from the 500 delegates who stayed late to listen to Utah's Republican members of Congress.

"I've never felt better. I've never been more enthused," said the 71-year-old Hatch.