I had to laugh. While morbidly viewing the trainwreck that is the comments section on Bill McDonald's piece over at BlueOregon [Carla Axtman's comment in particular made me howl!], I noticed that Kari is finally admitting he has been wrong all along in his insistence that you cannot write in a candidate in this mayoral race. He goes on to posit a fairly long list of names that have been offered up as write-in candidates - including "Bojack" - but makes no mention of Jack's campaign for Ms. Griffin-Velade. Wow, what a snub. ;)

Dammit. Griffin-Valade. Good thing I can't vote in that election, huh?

I'm leaning towards Scott Fernandez!

It brings back memories of 2000. Through the miracle of banquet waiting, I got to be in rooms with the major parties' presidential candidates. An off-duty bartender and I actually chatted with George W. for a while - just the 3 of us. Of course, we were there to make the guests feel welcome so we mainly talked about meeting George's parents when they came through Portland - that sort of thing.

It was enough though. Between the speech, my chat, and overhearing W talking with his aides, I came away with a strong feeling that America would never go for this act in a thousand years.

However, I had also been subjected to several speeches by Al Gore by then. He would tell jokes at the beginning, about how dull he was, and they were great. Then he would get serious, and you could hear molecules of paint straining to break free from the walls so they could get out of the room. Al Gore was a dud.

Ralph Nader was different. I don't even think he's a politician, so of course the powers that be crucified him in the press. Ralph Naders don't come along very often. There's a moment between sentences where he looks down and you can see a look of incredible sadness in his eyes at what's happened to this country. Ralph had integrity. Someday, look up all the people he saved with those car safety improvements. Remember the book, "Unsafe At Any Speed"?

Election Day came and my #1 wish was that George W not be elected. But I also couldn't find it in my heart to vote for Al Gore. My plan was to make sure it looked like Bush had lost so I could vote my conscience. It feels so good to vote your conscience.

The networks called Florida for Gore so I was free to do what I wanted. Walking down to the elections office on 11th, I congratulated myself for figuring it all out. I said to myself, "I knew they would never go for that compassionate conservatism BS. Good job, America." I voted for Ralph Nader, and I felt good.

Then the next 8 years happened, and it turned out Ralph Nader had been instrumental in George W getting in. That hurt.

If this person LaVonne...(I can't tell if that's a capitol "V" or not. It's not as tall as the other "V" but it's much taller than the "o" after it. Better put this ballot in the disputed pile. Remember the dimpled chads?)

Anyway, if there is a poll that shows this person of integrity has a chance, that's one thing. But if she somehow draws enough votes to get Jefferson Smith elected, it will be a disaster. Maybe not on the level of 8 years of Bush/Cheney, but a disaster nonetheless.

Jefferson Smith also reminds me of the Ralph Nader book: "Unsafe At Any Speed."

http://scottfernandezformayor.com/

Scott Fernandez is a serious write-in candidate.
Take a look at his new website and
ads in papers around the city.

"Then the next 8 years happened, and it turned out Ralph Nader had been instrumental in George W getting in. That hurt."

Yes, it is a credible argument that Nader swung the Electoral College from Gore to Bush, but only if you are talking about Florida, not Oregon. (In Oregon, no matter what Florida does earlier in the election day, your vote doesn't matter. Oregon is a lock for Obama this year. If that proves to be wrong, then Obama will have lost in a landslide of epic proportions.)

If all the Florida Nader votes would have gone to Gore, then Gore would have won Florida, and the EC and the Prez. But then all those Florida Greenies would not be Greenies, but sell outs to the Man (Gore in that case).

What about Tennessee? Wasn't Gore from Tennesee? Was Gore such a loser he could not even get his own home state? So maybe that was why he lost the POTUS, because he lost his home state?

Nader for Gore, Perot for HW Bush, Anderson for Carter (or Reagan... never mind), and lots of other third party candidates can claim to have cost the election for one of the candidates.

Gore lost in 2000 because he could not carry his home state and he put a Republican on the ticket.

Don't blame Ralph for yet another Democratic screw up.

I think Jack is doing a good thing here putting this candidate in play for the future. I see her name in comments so I know it's helping to get her known. Oh, and if there's any polling that shows it could happen this time around, let me know. I'm there.

But the main goal this time around for me is to avoid Jefferson Smith getting any power over us. If it's a jump-ball for you between Smith and Hales, then it doesn't matter what happens.

I don't like Jefferson Smith. Did you read he showed up at that woman's house at 8 in the morning? Yikes.

Bill: But if she somehow draws enough votes to get Jefferson Smith elected, it will be a disaster.
JK: That's my hope - elect Jefferson, he screws up big time, recall him and put in someone sane like LaVonne.

Thanks
JK

What Bill said--two clothespins on the nose and fill in the circle for Hales

Big differences between here and 2000.

1. Smith is no longer a threat. He's done.

2. There isn't much difference between Smith and Hales, except for two distinct types of psychological problems.

A vote for Hales is a vote for Homer Williams and Dike Dame. Please don't put your name on that.

Bill McDonald's 12:02 pm comment highlights the very good reason for voting for Ms. Griffin-Valade. She's not going to win the 2012 mayoral race, and we basically have to accept that no matter what happens, it's going to be another wasted and bleak four years for Portland. However, if enough of us vote for Ms. Griffin-Valade, then hopefully it will encourage her to run in 2016 (assuming Hales or Smith hasn't run the city into the ground by then).

Jack,
I believe Smith is done but with the level of delusion in his many followers, I can't take that chance. He has a machine of thousands - and many of them still think he's a rock star victimized by a terrible witch hunt.

Mathematically, if enough people believe he's done, and make a principled decision here by voting for neither of the main candidates, it could save him. I don't think many of his followers are going to take the write-in route, even if they sense it's over.

Jim, the idea of recall almost makes sense, but I have one very serious question. I can't remember how the recall issue on Sam Adams went, so please humor me, but who succeeds the mayor in the case of a recall election? Worse, what happens if the person who gets in, either in a succession of powers or a last-minute election, is even worse than ole Jefferson? I'm all for the idea of recall or impeachment in the case of actual crimes and misdemeanors committed by the officeholder, but my issue goes way beyond getting sick and tired of the screams about impeachment or recall solely because the person's candidate didn't win. At what point does it make more sense to encourage legitimate candidates than it does to continually recall the idiots?

And by the way, I just wanted to add for the benefit of the more conservative readers out there. Get a good Rockefeller Republican to run for mayor. All of you are absolutely right about how blue Portland appears to be. The emphasis is on "appears". The hipsters will continue to vote for the funkiest dingbat to wave his idiot stick at the podium, but remember that half of them are going to go home when Mom and Dad's money runs out. With the other half, they're going to be open to the idea of a grown-up taking over and cleaning up Sam's and Vera's messes after a while. Besides, with the possible exception of Lars Larson, I'll paraphrase Bill Hicks and say "you do not have lockstep conservatism in Oregon like we have lockstep conservatism in Texas." I'm about as left-wing as we get outside of Austin, and I still couldn't run as anything other than a Republican if I ran for office in Portland. It's all about perspective.

BOHICA

I believe Smith is done but with the level of delusion in his many followers, I can't take that chance.

Then you're voting for the ruination of Portland. I can't respect that. In a year or two, Hales and Homer will have ruined what's left of Portland. You'll be sorry you voted for him. I won't be, because I'm not going to.

Bill is right on, but I want to add one more thing that may help Smith. Smith has a (D) behind his name. This election will have a huge turnout thanks to Obama. Most Democrates will see that Smith is Dem and assume he is the right choice. Smith will just be riding Obama's coattail. So he still may have a chance, which is extremely scary to think about. Smith will ruin this city big time, at least we can try again and repaire some of the damage Hales will do. He will be the same as Vera, and Sam. It's easy to complain about business and fight some crazy developer, but putting a sociopath in charge I fear this will be irreversible.

Come on, voting for Hales because by some chance people might vote for Nutsy is like walking past someone bleeding out on the sidewalk and not calling 911 because you assume the person in front/behind you did/will.

If everyone thinks/acts that way the person dies on the sidewalk. But in this case it is the city we are letting die right in front of us by not having the courage to vote for change.

I like Fernandez, and I believe that he's the best choice. He's still pushing, and light-years ahead of the two dirtbags handed to us by the media.

And while I like the auditor, as well - she's not pushing. As sensible as Jack's arguments here may be, she's making no effort to run with them, and so she's a definite loser for this year. Maybe she actually likes being the auditor, and has no interest in shooting for mayor. Can't blame her. Sam's a hard act to follow.

JIm K, TTR -

Last I looked, if a Portland mayor is recalled, or dies, or quits to become Secretary of Transportation in the Carter Administration, the "president" of the City Council becomes acting Mayor until the next regularly scheduled November election.

The Council "Presidency" rotates. When the Sam petitions were out for signature, Amanda Fritz was the Council "President" and would have succeeded to the office of Mayor.

With a hypothetical Nutsy recall,after January 1, 2013, whoever is the the Council President succeeds to the mayoralty and there is a new election in November 2014, with a primary in May, 2014.

Right at the same time folks get to vote on fluoride.

Portland politics is so much fun. You can't make this stuff up.

Jack,
I understand your feelings about voting for Hales, but political expediency sometimes plays a role. I could make a much stronger case about not voting for President Obama - some really nasty war crime type stuff - but I suspect many people will vote for Obama because they believe Romney would be worse and Romney's Supreme Court picks will live on for years.

This mayoral election could also have an impact long term.
A vote against a Mayor Jefferson Smith, is a vote against a Governor Jefferson Smith. Who knows? Maybe even a Senator Jefferson Smith. This is also a vote against a machine - not just one man.

I know you hate the trains, but derailing Jefferson Smith's political career is much more important. It's something that could change the history of Oregon for the better.

If Portland lies in ruins in a couple of years it will be because of a financial collapse of the whole country. There will no streetcars then anyway.

Smith is dead politically. He certainly will not get up off this mat over the next month. And his future career is equally toast (or not) whether he loses this one by 7% or 12%.

Hales shouldn't get a mandate. But if you're okay with being part of the problem, you're entitled to throw your vote away that way.

How's this for an idea? We ask for a meeting with Hales and implore him to do the right thing by Portland. If that divorce lawyer could win you over, this has a chance. Not a good chance, but a chance.

I don't feel like I'm part of the problem here because I got coverage out there for Scott Fernandez, Max Brumm and Cameron Whitten. I did what I could to get us some better candidates. But when crunch time came I voted for Eileen Brady.
I wish a lot more people had.

Don't get me wrong: I'm part of a lot of problems - just not this one.

Smith has a (D) behind his name.

Um, no, he doesn't, and neither does Hales. See ballot illustration above.

I appreciate what Bill McDonald wrote about Nader, as that's exactly what I did in 2000 (after first making reasonably sure Oregon was safely in the Gore column). To this day I'm not convinced that Nader cost Gore the election. He may have actually helped Gore boost his vote totals by forcing him to take more explicitly populist/progressive positions than he was comfortable taking. But Nader's subsequent run in '04 was a pointless, egotistical exercise at best, as even the Green Party recognized. Once Bush-Cheney were in office, there was only one way to vote and it wasn't for him.

Interestingly, Nader just pushed Kate Brown toward the wheels of the bus.