Sometimes legislators think they were elected to play God, and are recalled...
Sometimes journalists are full of crap.
Here's an interesting link regarding a previous Salt Lake Tribune poll. Read the comments.
http://www.fluoride.org.uk/opinion_polls/sl_trib_op.htm
Yes to a point. Having seen some of the ways legislators in Utah and some states behave, it does seem a lot of politicians look out for their own or the good old boys' political agendas at times. Sometimes it can be good, sometimes not at all.