Yeah, that one was an eye-opener. I love all the stylized made-for-TV "hippies."

I really dread that this guy may be able to just spend his way into the office.

And all the stuff about job creation. Metro has had nothing to do with job creation. They have actively *disowned* any economic development role for a long time.

Wow. Just wow.

This is how Portland looks to the rest of the world -- stoned.

The first time I saw this commercial I laughed. But just for a minute because I realized that it really is a scary peek into the mind of a life-long bureaucrat who now attends the Church of Green.

Recipe for success: a few drama shots of light rail, ride around on a bike, have the narrator mention "rivers and forests"....high-five a few hippies, flail your arms while running through a field with a construction worker, and hug a guy in a suit...

The sad thing is, most Portland voters will EAT THIS UP.

Burkholder's TV ad is a hoot. It is just a small part of why I have to vote for Tom Hughes. Stacy wanted to have a similar ad, but Rex beat him to the punch. We need common sense at METRO that isn't totally a part of the mass transit, bike, density mantra.

Oh. My. God.

Rex the Wonder Candidate strikes (out) again.

Speaking of offensive campaign ads, the second infant in Kitzhaber's "Futures" is tagged as a "Future Restauranteur [sic]." Although the permissive Webster's 7th New Collegiate adds "restauranteur" as an also, dictionary.com has no use for that rendition and sends us back to "restaurateur": http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/restauranteur

The online reference provides an origin for "restaurateur":
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/restaurateur

Orthography is not a strong suit in contemporary OR. Any ad that seeks to convince its viewers that a gubernatorial candidate is serious about education, yet stirs doubt, would appear less than should be expected.

I don't know yet who is stupider, the candidate behind this, the people that produced the commercial, or the supporters of the candidate.

Why are they riding bikes without helmets on? Perhaps they're on invincibility-inducing hallucinogens?

Bah, the ad needs more rainbows, unicorns and care-bears.

The sad thing is that he just might win. The supply of Moron voters in Multnomah County is almost unlimited - look at the rest of the incumbents.

My thoughts exactly Jack. I thought it was taken from a Monkees video. If this is what Metro candidates think then obviously Metro is irrelevant.

I had a great dog named Rex, RIP. Even he had more common sense than this candidate, and he would have been a lot better looking in a video.

Give a chimpanzee a bottle of Jack Daniels and a camcorder and you'll get better advertising than this. What an embarrassment.

Sadly, the dude will win on name familiarity alone.

"Why are they riding bikes without helmets on? Perhaps they're on invincibility-inducing hallucinogens?"

My brother was riding his bicycle in Salem this weekend, and was hit by a car that right-turned into him across the bike lane.

He's alive today because of his helmet. It cracked in half with the impact, but absorbed the kinetic energy in doing so. The bike is a total loss, as well as basically everything he was wearing - but all he's got is some road rash and a horrifying memory of riding » car hood » windshield » A-pillar » pavement.

The insurance settlement will buy back the lost possessions, and he'll be perfectly healthy again in a week or two.

Anyone who rides a bicycle without a helmet is a Grade-AA idiot.

Forget about the metro-retro hippies in slow-mo breezing through green spaces. A real "with-it" candidate would do an ad (using a hand held camera) with the police whacking masked, rioting anarchist youth with their $$$ bikes. Now that is how we govern here in the city.

Somewhere in Portland, Dan Wieden is soiling himself.

So...I thought Rex was cavorting with the Village People. Then I thought he was supporting legalized marijuana...but I don't remember that on the ballot...

:doublefacepalm:

Metro shouldn't exist at all. But since it does, it should be restricted to garbage collection, recycling and the zoo. These planner happy types like Bikeholder spent too much of their youth playing Sim City. And the ad speaks more to Bikeholder's opinion of us, rather than the reverse. He thinks we are little simpletons, unable to think for ourselves, and probably really believes we will dance around in the meadow when he ascends to the Metro throne.

What an ass.

I'd never accuse any of the people involved with making this ad of indulging in mind-altering substances. The people who decide to contribute to Rex's campaign because of this ad, though, are obviously freebasing Preparation H.

The most disturbing aspect of this very poorly done ad is its central, explicit message that the way to create jobs and protect the environment is to build light rail. One can overlook a lot of the cornball stylings of political ads, but this central assertion really is indefensible.

When our brave and fearless leaders finish their far-sighted and difficult work of bringing Ecotopia to earth right here in Stumptown and the non-believers have been driven from the kingdom across the borders (think Columbia River or I-205), there will be no need for bike helmets because there will be no privately owned motor vehicles. And remember, no one ever gets run over by Tri-Met... when that happens it has "no explanation", it's one of the Mysteries.

What is most disturbing about this ad is not what it shows about Rex Burkholder's thinking on issues, but how he regards us, the voters. Having personally experienced his pomposity, arrogance and self-importance, I am not the least bit surprised by the ad. It's all consistent. He thinks we're idiots.

The people who decide to contribute to Rex's campaign because of this ad, though, are obviously freebasing Preparation H.

TX Triffid

were you and Bill McDonald separated at birth? :)

Seems about right on. I think that pretty much sums up how the rest of the country sees Portland.

Thank you big brother - May I have my Soylent Green now?

God, this is the worst thing I have ever seen for a campaign ad.

But...Rex must be an art lover since the final scene is a take off on the painting by Edouard Manet entitled "Le Dejeunier Sur l'herb.
So we should vote for the trains, right????

Was that ad supposed to be funny? If so, it fails on that level too.

"This is how Portland looks to the rest of the world -- stoned."
Posted by Jack Bog

"What an ass."
Posted by Dave Lister

"It's all consistent. He thinks we're idiots."
Posted by Elizabeth
========

What more could be said?

A good way to save, protect and encourage jobs would be to stop the systemic dismantling of the bus system. Thanks to Metro/TriMet/City of Portland's demands for the MAX light rail, Portland Streetcar and WES Commuter Rail system, TriMet has been loaded up with debt servicing costs, facilities maintenance costs, and related land acquisition and development costs - not to mention the costs of transit oriented development tax breaks and subsidies - resulting in more difficult commutes for thousands of bus riders who can no longer count on getting to work on their late night or weekend shifts (yes, people work when Metro Headquarters is shut down!).

Rex Burkholder was front and center, thumbing his nose at the "losers" who depend on the bus system because he is better than citizen Joe Schmoe just trying to earn a buck to feed his family.

Unfortunately, the majority of regional residents are too stupid to understand how Metro makes their lives more difficult - that's why when you count the votes tallied for Metro races versus, say, President of the United States - a lot of people don't even vote for the Metro race. It's too bad - because Burkholder wields a lot of power, and has cleverly demonstrated his ability to use it to benefit his special interests over the interests of the public at large.

>80% of trips taken in our region are by single-occupant motor vehicles. Yet do you see capacity planning? Nope, you see lots of MAX (about 1% of trips taken) and bikes (about 3% of trips taken).

Erik, all of the costs you mention -- huge as they are -- will eventually be dominated by the lavish employee health benefits and retirement.

They won't be able to service the debt, even if they grasp at every Federal construction bon-bon... that which cannot continue, will not continue.

Meanwhile, Seattle now has Bus Rapid Transit, and is developing more... that's where it's at, new 60-foot coaches and (gasp) improved road lanes.

"Hey Hey we're the Monkees and we just monkey around"
Rex will fit right in...

I'm a cyclist but the obvious use of the bicycle even in the meadows scene is nauseating.

Yeah, gee thanks Jim and Godfrey for those images. Its the Village People doing a cover of the Monkies in a summery meadow.

The hills are alive with the sound of.. hey, hey we're the monkies!

Hi, my name is Rex, hope you like my commercial because it shows what a hopeless boob I am. However, since you bought into boobs like the governor and Mayor preditor, I figure you'll buy into this pathetic commercial too. Oh, by the way, please vote for me, I hear the job market is pretty tight and I'm not so sure I'd fare too well in it.

I used to view the problem with the Church of Green as endemic. It's not. There are between 3,500, and 5,000 people in Portland that are here precisely for purposes of participating in the Church of Green. They're not from here and really aren't part of the community in general.

What they are is a bunch of nobodies from southern California that have 'big fish in a little pond' syndrome. Here they're civic-bleating can't be drowned in a sea of brown and they play with it like a new toy. What they are not is a electoral base. Playing like they are will only serve-up defeat to those whom can't seem to step back a little and see this.

On a side note, the bike-people are getting out of control again. If we don't smash that stupid PBMP, and soon, we'll end up buying the whole thing.

I always thought Burkholder was a GRADE A PUTZ; now I know it for sure.
Just remember folks, this is the same jerk that got into office more than a decade ago as a "bike activist". Time to retire this clown for good.

Having personally experienced his pomposity, arrogance and self-importance, I am not the least bit surprised by the ad. It's all consistent.

Wow Elizabeth, you took the words right out of my mouth.