Second shoe drops
My colleague, John Kroger, announces this morning that he's running for the Democratic nomination for Oregon attorney general. He'll take on my former partner, Greg Macpherson, in the primary. The winner will doubtlessly face an as-yet-unnamed Republican challenger in a bid to succeed the incumbent, another former partner of mine, Hardy Myers.
No, I still can't get my parking tickets fixed.
Reports say that Kroger will have Fireman Randy and Opie Sten in his corner, while we already know that Macpherson's in with Merkley and the Democratic Party establishment. It looks like it's the Bus kids against the Old Boy Network once again. We know who wins that one in Portland these days, but in a statewide race, things will be more complicated and a whole lot more interesting.
Don't ask me which way I'm leaning. At least, not yet. Given my track record with candidate endorsements, I'm expecting calls from both sides begging me to back the other guy.
| Posted at 4:01 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (11)
Note also that Kroger has a website at
http://www.johnkroger.com/
detailing his announcement plans over the next couple days.
There's one at 9am this morning at the World Trade Center. Then, he's performing a mild barnstorming tour through Eugene, Medford, Klamath Falls, and Bend today and tomorrow. Very savvy.
Posted by jud | September 20, 2007 7:58 AM
Both excellent candidates, IMHO. It will be unusual in this day and age to actually have a hard choice between two good candidates, instead of a "hold your nose" lesser of two evils choice.
Posted by Urban Planning Overlord | September 20, 2007 8:21 AM
Other than teaching at L&C since '04-05, does Kroger have any ties to this state? If not, that gives me a somewhat unsettled "carpetbag" feel.
Posted by Bronson | September 20, 2007 8:52 AM
Bronson,
Your test is not passable. Perhaps you'd feel better if he moved here 10 years earlier, but he was busy. I suppose the only way to dispel the "carpetbagger" feel you have is to note that, given his pedigree, he could have moved anywhere he wanted in this country, and he chose the great state of Oregon. I'm guessing it wasn't just for the prestige of teaching at Lewis and Clark, and I doubt he had his eye on the AG position when he came.
Also, Bronson, I believe your dates are wrong; Kroger won the teaching award from the 2004 graduating class, so he had to have been here before that. He started at L&C in 2002.
Posted by Jud | September 20, 2007 9:44 AM
Kroger is an impressive man. I'm totally behind him.
Posted by Dan DiCicco | September 20, 2007 11:25 AM
MacPherson gets bonus points from me for enduring the OIA-stacked crowd and Mr. Karlock at his town hall meeting on SB505 in February.
Posted by jimbo | September 20, 2007 12:55 PM
He must have been waiting for bar results before announcing: http://www.osbar.org/admissions/examresults_july2007.htm
Luckily he passed!
Posted by JLM | September 20, 2007 1:22 PM
No luck involved. Kroger could have written a better exam than he passed.
Posted by Jack Bog | September 20, 2007 1:31 PM
I agree (clarification: above comment was somewhat in jest). Some other former students and I were wondering if he even had to study...
Posted by JLM | September 20, 2007 1:49 PM
I, for one, would pay good money to see what he wrote on the crim law/crim pro essay from Day 1.
Posted by Jud | September 20, 2007 2:48 PM
I likely will vote for Kroger; my thinking is that he might be independent enough to ivestigate some high level legal racketeering, even if he found it started in an "untouchable" firm and extended right into the AG's office. While I doubt McPherson would/could be. He also has the experience that would permit him to understand more easily than most how racketeers operate.
Posted by Cynthia | September 20, 2007 9:23 PM