It may take a two-by-four across the face to get their attention, but the voters of West Jordan can be roused.

A KSL/Deseret News Poll finds that Sen. Chris "Dark & Ugly Thing" Buttars has an image problem in his district. (Actually, he has an image problem on the planet earth, but all politics is local.)

More than two-thirds of District 10 voters polled by Dan Jones & Associates say Buttars should be replaced. Only a quarter of the district say they support him.

The problem, of course, is the venerable senator's spectacular meltdown at the recent Legislature. Buttars, a Tourette syndrome reenactor, started off by dissing a bill as "This baby is black. It's a dark ugly thing" — which went over huge with the NAACP.

Then, when citizens had the temerity to email their displeasure to the Senator, he called them "a hate lynch mob." Buttars, propped up by the Eagle Forum, refused a face-to-face meeting with the NAACP, but finally and reluctantly was forced to apologize to, in his words, "those people."

He also made a jerk out of himself in going after Salt Lake City's domestic partner registry (famous photo above) as part of the "gay agenda."

Truth is, Buttars' recent descent into idiocy may not be the root of his image problem. After all his district has returned him election after election on his homophobic-values platform to waste time with bills against gays and even the teaching of evolution.

But this year, Buttars also stirred up an ethical cesspool that splattered the entire Senate (nice image, huh?) when he wrote a letter chastising a state judge who made the mistake of ruling against one of the Senator's developer pals. Buttars enraged the Utah Bar Association, but dodged any formal disciplinary action by extremely pissed off Senate Republicans.

Highly paid pollster Dan Jones opined this about Buttars' future:

It's not irretrievable, but it's going to be a very difficult task for him. He's going to be opposed within his own party and among Democrats. It is known as a swing district.

Wow. Any West Jordan seventh grader could have given that political insight.