The first thing that strikes a recently arrived visitor to Arizona is the large number of traffic patrol cars on the highway. Barely a mile goes by without seeing some unfortunate pulled over to the side of the road, police lights flashing, car doors opened, sometimes a small crowd of people standing around looking worried.

When I asked a friend, a resident of Arizona, what gives, he laughed.

“It’s a new Arizona crime wave,” he said. “It’s called ‘driving while Hispanic.’”

Most of Arizona’s tough immigration law, SB 1070, was just struck down by the Supreme Court. State officials can no longer arrest or deport illegal immigrants — this, said the court, is the purview of the federal government. Arizona cannot impose harsher penalties for failing to register, for seeking employment, and a few other infractions, than Washington has designated.

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Ben McAdams is the political equivalent of a unicorn. McAdams, who is running for mayor of Salt Lake County, is both a Democrat and a Mormon. Sitting in his Salt Lake City office, staffed by enthusiastic young recruits, McAdams smiles as he contemplates his unique status. “I have met many Mormons who wonder how I can be a Democrat,” he laughs. “And just as many Democrats who wonder how I can be a Mormon.”

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah— All roads lead to the Temple in this beautiful city nestled at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains. Utah is the reddest of red states, and will undoubtedly go to Romney in November. However, while Salt Lake City is considered the Mormon capital, it is one of the few cities in Utah where Mormons are in the minority.