Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Dick Polman says Congressman Chris Cannon's defeat is an ominous sign of a passion gap spreading like dry rot through the GOP.

You — and Inquirer readers —are wondering: "Why does anyone on the East Coast care about Utah?"

Polman explains to his Philly readers:

This is just a wild guess, but I'm betting that you haven't been paying much attention to what happened the other night in Utah. Probably because you rarely spend time thinking about Utah.

But there was a noteworthy Republican primary on Tuesday in Utah, an ostensibly local affair that provides us with yet more evidence that the GOP establishment is in serious trouble this year with its grassroots voters.

Cannon's defeat was the result of a "dearth of enthusiasm for the GOP establishment," Polman says.

The '08 candidate who most needs to heed these results is the GOP establishment's titular leader, John McCain.

Of course, a KSL-Deseret News poll showed that McCain could rekindle Utah's Grand Ol' Party passion by picking beloved Mitt Romney as his running mate.