The inner circle just keeps getting tighter. Tom Walsh has been under the urban renewal construction radar since Sten left town.

Sorry ...I cannot vote for Special K.. no matter what. No more retreads. I'll go for a legislative gridlock just to stop the financial hemorrhage.

If your jeans are too tight, it's obvious when someone has his hand in your pocket.

McCaig was also Deputy Secretary of State under Barbara Roberts way way way back, IIRC.Ultimate connected inside player. Sort of the Dick Cheney of Oregon Democratic Party politics/

I'm with Skip. There is no way I could vote for Kitzhaber as governor again. He and his coterie are a major part of the problem.

Putting Kitzhaber back in Mahonia Hall would be like putting Shrub back in the White House. No thanks, it didn't work the first time.

Before Pat Roberts' OCA, the Oregon Republican party was a remarkable thing. All the wonderful environmental laws came about under republican governors (bottle bill, beach access, etc.) It also had a history of pacifism (only repub vote against first gulf war, one of two votes against gulf of tonkin...) The last 40 years or so of the Oregon Democratic party have been a nightmare of corruption. Lets keep an open mind.
PS. never voted for any Bush, voted for Kitzhaber twice, but never again.

I'm writing in Allen Alley....

OK, you're not going to vote for Kitzhaber. You'd prefer Dudley as governor?

Yes, I'd prefer Dudley to continued rule by the SEIU and the rest of the public employee unions.

Yes, I'm with Nonny...enough already.

"Dudley Do No Positions" will just be enthralled with helping the rich folks in Oregon. Fiscally, we screwed either way. However, I personally have reasons to fear the social political agenda of any Repug.

3.5M People and these two are the best we can come up with. Democracy sure is great.

I'm just cringing at who (if anyone) is going to run against Sam.

Lucs, the "fear" of most Oregon voters to only vote Democrat has landed us in the sorry shape we're in.

Adams, Kulongoski, the Goldschmidt mafia, they're all products of carefully calibrated fear that ANY republican candidate will only deliver social injustice and buckets of cash to the rich.

As a very left of center voter, I'm tired of it. This is a time for Oregon voters (Multnomah and Lane primarily) to vote with their brains. Kitzhaber will be the death-blow to employment growth and prosperity in this state.

Lucs...Demo Senate and House, Repub Governor.

Gridlock baby...that's what I'm talking about. It's the answer for now.

3.5M People and these two are the best we can come up with.

This is because anyone who we would actually want, is too smart to get involved in the race to begin with.

Months of being bashed in the media from every angle, by every source, spending millions of dollars, just to get a 4-year thankless job where everything will be your fault, and anything that goes right will have people lining up to take credit away from you.

Who the hell would want to do that, if they could do anything else?

Jack, you did a wonderful job of distilling the gubernatorial race down to its essence. It's infuriating that neither candidate represents the interests of us "average" citizens.

Kitz gives Independents (and many smart Ds) the $#itz. Legislature makes appropriations, not the exec branch, btw. Governors' budgets are just strating points to simultaneous races that run variously backwards & forwards. And the G-schmidtzers always appoint Rs to key executive agency positions, to boot. Aren't you sick of that, too? No fear. I'm with Skip T., Nonny Mouse, & the changing tide of oregon politics.

Have a Dud!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWgi6W-uMeI&p=A0F4B5B45F6E6691

Campaigning and governing are two different things. Sometimes we're blessed with someone who can do both, but not often. Usually we're stuck with those candidates that have the stomach, ego, thick skin, and rich donors to run, not necessarily the ones that would be the most effective at running a city or state.

Patricia McCaig! Yow! You can't get more old-school crony than that. Dr. No just toasted himself.

That has to make even some of the BlueOregon brats gag.

Dudley scares the crap out of me with the carpet baggers he'd bring in.

Yeah Kitz has been there and done that - but he'll at least tell the OEA what they don't want to hear. I think that's a big thing.

Dudley should know that governating is a lot harder than free throws. Which he wasn't totally spot on with.

Dudley can't reform education - and the union issues - Kitz has a chance.

I'd rather go with something rather than the nothing I've heard from Dudley. We don't have four years to waste on no jobs, no education for our kids, no future for Oregon.

About McCaig - I won't fault with who she married. From what I understand - she helped out with Gov. Roberts on dealing with the Sizemore stuff.

I don't like taxes. And I don't like waste. But I'd rather not do a Bush hatchet job on Oregon's budget and provoke more and more borrowing just to pay for simple basic services.

That's realistically what a Dudley plan would end up with. He'd cut taxes and cut budgets and then folks like Fireman Randy or TriMet would come to us to pay for basic services whilst the politicos get more toys.

Bojack's debt meter might roll over.

Kitzhaber got a public health insurance plan off the ground, which, in the greater scheme of things, verges on the miraculous. He spent his two terms at the mercy of republicans all fired up with the rhetoric of the greatest blowhard (other than Ralph Nader,of course), in recent memory, Newt Gingrich.

I admit to complete and total ignorance, aside from those impressions I mentioned above. Can someone give a more reasoned evisceration of the guy, instead of just complaining about his slimy campaign manager?

Whatever happened to his innovative health plan? Whatever it did, it didn't last long.

I think Dudley is pretty clearly the lesser evil. Dr. No already had is chance, and squandered it. I'm not voting for the union-backed candidate here. I'll hold my nose and vote Republican.

Jack: "Whatever happened to his innovative health plan? Whatever it did, it didn't last long."

It saved my life, Jack. Very, very seriously. And it was expensive. I calculate that in the last 14 years I've paid that back in taxes to Oregon about ten-fold over.

Isn't saying that only those who can afford health care deserve it like saying that those who can't deserve to die or be maimed? Some poor people do pay off their student loans and repay the investment public health makes in them. Does it all average out to make the system worth it? I don't know. Unfortunately, the state of American journalism is so poor that you can expect to see any such analysis.

And all that being said, I must say that I am deeply disappointed by the network Kitz is surrounding himself with. I wish there was a strong 3rd party candidate to vote for, but there isn't, and Dudley being a pro-choice Republican is as close as we have got. Despite all the reason I have to want to vote for Kitz, I think I need to vote for Dudley in this race. And that is very sad indeed.

What did it do? Well it gave health care to folks that never, ever, would have gotten it under the current HMO-not-my-problem health care system.

I think Obama's health care is a small, small step - like the OHP - but it is indeed better than nothing.

Do we leave those with the least to suffer the most simply because of circumstance or do we lend a hand sometimes? Medicare? Social Security?

Hey Wickets...keep reading from the script.

No kidding. Straight outta the Demo "central committee."

As Pete Townshend once said, "Get on my knees and pray we don't get fooled again."

Let's think critically here.

Actually I'm not on script. Doubt they'd even think to get me one.

And Jack - fooled again?

Really, not a puppet. Fire bond - bull. TriMet bond - replacing Trimet GF with bond funds so the GF can fund light rail = super bull.

Dudley = I haven't heard anything other than "trust me I'm different and awesome!" which leads me to Bush.

Kitz = "yeah I've been here before. And I'm willing to ask hard questions and try."

So at least trying beats the "I'm awesome!" camp.

The swirly-eyed kool-aid drunk Multco Dems won't let me close to their supersecret club and I don't get one of their pins either. I'm just trying to be realistic.

Something is better than nothing.

Wickets,
"Dudley can't reform education - and the union issues - Kitz has a chance."

You are either nuts, don't know anything or are a BlueOregon brat bringing the Kitz crap here.

Kitzhaber was senate President when the biggest education reform flop began. Vera Katz was Speaker and Roberts Gov.
Kitz defened CIMCAM during his two terms and the mess remains today without the certificates.
The idea that Kitz would stand up to the OEA and reform education is polar opposite to everything he has been, is and will be.
Kits, just like Kulongoski and himself before, will preserve every single dysfunction and problem Oregon has.
Every board, every commission, every agency and every program.
That why everyone who wants the status quo preserved wants him.

If you think his way to winning is having people like you spreading nonsense
you're nuts.

Not really Ben.

I just look at it as what I've seen before. I've seen folks like Dudley in my life and they don't change.

Dudley, I think, is most like Sam Adams.

I've seen folks like Kitzhaber too. Kitzhaber, while I am utterly naive (and have yet to see a sunrise I haven't liked and still think that duckies, unicorns, rainbows, and elves are real) will actually try and do something. He's cornered himself.

But then - the "sky is green - when you see through my eyes. The sky is green - that's just the way I see things."

Take me to your awesome leader!! Can't wait!

I cannot vote for a guy who doesn't have the stones to take a position on anything. And whose staff answer's to simple questions about policy positions are "we are working on that" and you never hear back. No positions is the perfection of teflon politics.

I am not overjoyed with Kitzhaber but with no positions Dudley is a big DUD.

Oh get a grip, both of you.

There's no issue where Kitzhaber is not aligned with Mayor Creepy and all of the rest of the PDC, Metro, Trimet status quo.
That's what Kitzhaber is.
The preservation of everything gone wrong in Oregon. Keeping the same people entrenched and doing the same things.

Any choice other than the status quo is preferrable.

Dreaming up how Dudley could be worse is laughable.

Wowee! I love the comments on this thread! By the way, cross
Ms. McCaig and she'll rip out your throat.

Kitzhaber's Oregon Health Plan was an experiment to see if Medicaid could be done better, cheaper and cover more people. No fault for trying, but when the results come in, let's hope that the plan's author takes responsibility for the results.

Look for a comprehensive report in early September on the OHP goals versus results.

Wickets and Lucs, if Kitz wants to totally own the Oregon Health Plan, he should worry about the report.

My wife has been in health care for over 35 years and has many stories about OHP from the last several years. It has brought a culture of individuals (even from out-of-state) that work the system to a tee, demanding procedures, devices, medical treatments far beyond what the Plan allows. They demand that they deserve it. Many have never paid taxes in their life and intentionally never want to in the future. Many are capable of working but use their health problems as their excuse not to.

Sure, there are some that deserve it, need it; and before OHP there were ways for those of need acquired health care.

I hope the OPH report is honest and unbiased.

lw - not sure why you are addressing me in the OHP thing. However, I have a friend who is a rabbi in NJ who thinks the OHP does not provide enough care so there are a myriad of positions on that. Frankly, we should be cutting back the $$ spent at end of life health care but what a firestorm of discussion that would bring from the "right to lifer" social meddlers.

Ben - You can get a grip. I don't need some wet behind the ears kid telling me d*ck about politics. From where I sit Dudley could be a hell of a lot worse. First, he could get in bed with the religious right. That causes me some very personal problems. Second, he's likely to give tax cuts to corporations and rich fat cats. That also does me no good. Third, he's likely to dish pork every bit as much as Adams. NEXT!

LucsAdvo and Ben,
I have related to both of your comments throughout the past weeks. Anyway, as I see it, one thing that you do have in common and that I like is that you both care about what is happening and enough to comment on the blog. Maybe you care about different things, but you are caring.

I think many are frustrated by this election. We need to be upset with the parties and the lack of leadership in both of them, the R's and D's who gave us these candidates.

Now more than ever, we need inspiring and exceptional leaders, instead we have been reduced down to having to argue amongst ourselves as to who would be the worst!

We aren't the only ones, today on a national blog:
http://elections.firedoglake.com/2010/08/13/what-if-they-had-an-election-and-nobody-came-undecideds-disdain-may-lead-to-voter-no-shows/#comments
archiebird August 13th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
38 - Really, what they need to do for the 2012 election is, in the Presidential Candidate section put a third alternative that reads “none of the above”. So if nobody likes the Democratic or Republican candidate, then none of the above is chosen and the election cycle begins again with two new candidates!! I know, I’m dreaming!

OHP has saved lives, specifically, lives of abused/neglected children who would otherwise never have been taken in to a clinic where their situation could be detected. And I'm not talking in the abstract here, this opinion is based on personal experience.

Kitzhaber's campaign called me today. I saw them on the caller ID and answered the phone with "Hi, where does Kitzhaber stand on charter schools?" (We never did get an answer to that question earlier in Kulongoski's tenure. Now of course as lame duck, he's all for charter schools).

Guess what. The person calling from Kitzhaber's campaign, with no further ado, hung up the phone. I think this may have been a message from the universe.

Gaye - It sounds like both campaigns are being gutless.

I think the larger question is what does it take to bring talented individuals who possess leadership and visionary skills back into politics? I admit it would suck to be a pol in a time of major crisis coupled with an electorate that is either majorly cynical or majorly apathetic. I've actually tried to talk the wife of one of my friends who hated Katz and hates Adams and who has public policy experience into running for mayor. She flatly not interested.

Clinamen - Thanks. One big difference between Ben and I is a very different set of core values and likely a very different set of life experiences. I never used to think too much about fiscal responsibility.

My first time really being POed at the CoP and kiddie council was when Hales shoved the Gabriel Park improvements (aka that rec center I have never set foot inside of) down the throats of an area of the city that liked their park the way it was.

That was then followed by the CoP trying to figure how to do reverse condemnation on the Alpenrose Dairy by screwing with their property tax classification. That failed because neither the property owner nor the neighborhood wanted that land developed into multifamily housing.

And I took a brief respite from living in this part of the city to move to Deforested Heights. The CoP inspectors allowed builders to get away with all kinds of violations to get the houses on the tax rolls. And if you tried to challenge it, you were blown off. And Miller Road was repeatedly repaved (due to construction traffic destruction) by the city while other streets all over SW were ignored.

For a whole lot of reasons, I decided living there (ridiculous HOA, big expensive house with huge mortgage payments, snooty neighbors, the risk of an Oakland Hills style fire with all those mandated cedar shingle (only other allowed option is very expensive tile), etc.) was not worth it. So I moved back over here.

LucsAdvo,

Grip this.

Re-Elect Kulongoski, Vote For Kitzhaber

You appear to be in a state of creative reasoning seeking to imagine reasons how Dudley can be sufficiently worrisome to justify voting to preserve the dysfunctional status quo.

Fail..

Your reasoning is fatally flawed and it's exactly how we got Kulongoski.

He was a re-election of Kitzhaber perpetrated by the same rationale you're using.

Would you re-elect Kulongoski right now?

If so then it is you who is languishing as a wet behind the ears kid giving others foolish advice.

Your cooked up worries about Dudley are boiler plate democrat ploys.

Shallow crap without any basis at all.

How does a Governor Dudley get "in bed with the religious right"? And under what imaginary scenario does that imaginary bedding produce something worse for Oregon and cause you "very personal problems".

There isn't even any indication Dudley is even all that religious. Let alone a zealot or in danger of being in bed with any.

So you made that up.

Second, the governor does not give tax cuts. He signs bills.

So you made that up too.

Third, he's not even remotely close to embracing or aligning with the corrupted buffoonery of the left wing Adams agenda.

You made that up as well.

You want to preserve all things screwed up in Oregon?

Re-Elect Kulongoski Vote For Kitzhaber

Ben:

"Second, the governor does not give tax cuts. He signs bills. "

Um, err, rrright as far as it goes. A governor can strong arm bills (s)he wishes sponsored. And he certainly can veto those he doesn't.

Some would simply see the whole process as governor controlled.

I agree with Clinamen in that it is both parties. Here it's a retread. California, it's movie stars. One Repub, the other, Demo.

I vote for neither.

Very interesting LucsAdvo,

My first time being POed at them was also when we had the Katz/Hales Regime and Sam was right there with them on the shabby treatment towards the citizens.

Walking into "their" chambers and the way they treated others while up on their perches was like walking into a den of abuse. I think I mentioned before on this blog that at one hearing a citizen walked up to me surprised that anyone even shows up anymore, and saying just stubborn ones still come.

This of course is still continuing, so has gone on for years. One make pretend public process and abuse after another and throughout our city. Some areas of course getting worse treatment. It doesn't stop, and the hypocrisy is what has gotten to me, such as in "speak sustainable" but instead movement towards destroying such as the West Hayden Island, Bull Run Water System.

We have talked before about where one might go to get away from this. I think we both know that no matter where one lands, for those of us who are aware, there will be issues. Heaven help us if they are as deeply entrenched as they are here. The insider club here has had gravy for years at our expense. Recent threads here, have comments about the gravy train may be stopping or certainly slowed down, lets hope. The tracks they have used for years have been worn down. No traction left, no respect left, no trust at all left.

I too knew of good people to run for these positions. After a round or two of being marginalized in the press or simply ignored, they want no part of this. Others want no part of stepping into this "den" - a den that is so foul that I feel sorry for many who have to work within it. Just do wish that we had some whistle blowers to blow this whole ugly scene apart. Our "chambers" need cleansing.

clinamen - What would be great would be for the modern day renegades a la Margaret Strachan and Bud Clark to come in and run successful grass roots campaigns (I worked on both of their first campaigns). However, since elections are bought by the PDX Ponzi Gang, I don't see it working.

Ben - Let me know when Dudley takes any stands on what you are claiming about his positions.

BTW, he comes from a long line of wealthly American aristocrats including the founders of Harvard University so I don't see him rocking the boat when it comes to making the rich pay their fair share.

Since I am gay, the religious right meddling in politics automatically is problematic for me. And it's not good for elderly people who want to die with dignity. And it's not good for women who'd like the right to choose. Must I go on? I could. I realize you only think about how their b.s. doesn't impact you personally.

A lot of the party leaders are not religious but they espouse all that crap to get votes from wingnuts.

I worked on Bud's as well. I lived down the street from him and was a frequenter of the Goose. I remember well walking in the back door and there he sat with a bunch of people around him. I wiggled his finger at me and then asked me what I thought about his running. I was first flabbergasted, then delighted, but not as delighted as I was at his victory dance, err, party!

Ivancie was no more!

A little side note. A certain person, exasperated at Ivancie's nonsense as commissioner asked me what it would take to get him off the council. I said "Elect him mayor. That will do it" and it did!

Correction: He wiggled his finger at me!

(The first way is funnier!)

Lawrence.... ugh.... waking up to Ivancie's name on a Sunday morning.... I need some really strong coffee with a shot to get that out of head. At least Frankie's biggest desired boondoogle, the Mt. Hood Freeway, never saw the light of day.

LOL!

LucsAdvo,

Maybe there is another tavern owner who has what it takes to run a business and then the city. A customer base like that certainly would be helpful. Since you worked on that first campaign, is that part of what helped Bud Clark?

Of course having Mayor I in there was a great motivator for many. There may be a similar motivation for this next Mayoral election. We really do need an "outsider" in my opinion. I have read your concerns and I know there are others who do not want an R type. I would like an independent citizen with integrity and for the public interest to step up. Someone who is not in this for a political career, but realizes someone capable needs to steer the ship away from the mountain of the insider's agenda. Someone not addicted to pet projects and who would focus on the basics.

As I recall, there was a statement by Margaret Strachan
to the press something like that they had the money and I had the people.
Who also ran for that seat?

The first thing that helped Bud was an overwhelming disdain of Ivancie by Portland's progressives. The second thing that helped him was out of the crowded field running against Ivancie, he was the only really viable candidate and it clicked for a lot of folks. I was recruited to work on the campaign by a number of people, including a co-worker at PP&L and Margaret Strachan herself.

Margaret initially ran against Steven Kaufory and Earl Blumenauer. She forced a run-off with one of them. The other guy's supporters overwhelming turned to Margaret in the run-off.

The biggest joke of the campaign was how much Margaret was utterly ignored until the night she forced the run-off. I still vividly recall standing on her front yard with a large group and Margaret leading us into a rousing rendition of ONE from a Chorus Line just for Pete Schulberg and KGW TV.

As for no money, OMG. We hand spray painted hand made, campaign lawn signs in an empty commerical building after we got off work in the evening. Her friends and family drove us young uns with no cars around to neighborhoods so we could saturate them with really basic pamphlets. Anything to get her name out there.

I still don't think any of this could ever be recreated but I'd sincerely love to be proven wrong.

One more thing clinamen, back in those days the neighborhood associations were run by people who largely were not enamored with the city, especially not any of the neighorhoods in NWDA (both Strachan and Clark were involved with NWDA at one time or another - as was I to a tiny amount (more by association than anything else)). My recent experience is that the city has somehow stacked the neighborhood associations with a bunch of Stepfords who simply must have the recipe for whatever kiddie council is serving.