Time to start the next countdown clock.

I think the choice is easy: I'd take lying over violence any day. Especially since Jefferson Smith is slinging so much BS himself.

You'll never get rid of Smith as a Portland politician -- he's unemployable. But if Hales loses, he'll probably get out of politics for good. That's the only reason I could think of to vote for Jeffer-Sam.

You know what's ironic? With Smith's driving record, he probably couldn't even get a job driving a bus.

I think what Bill is saying is that a serial liar is better than a sociopath who is also a serial liar. This isn't a statement of fact, it's a statement of opinion about a public figure.

LaVonne Griffin-Valade!

I don't really use the term serial liar for either of them. And I base my opinion on Jefferson being violent on accounts in the Tribune and Willamette Week. I never actually saw him being violent myself.

I'd describe Jefferson Smith as a younger, progressive version of Newt Gingrich - a bloviating, initially smart-sounding clown.

I said years ago (about Portland electing and not recalling Scam Adams) that Portland always gets what they want and what they deserve. Basically, that they have to sleep in the bed they made, and that they actually seem to enjoy it.

I really could not imagine that they would do it again, much less do it worse than before. Obviously, I lack an imagination.

Look at it this way.
Do yo vote for the serial bank robber Hales to take over the bank or the new intern you know can't be trusted.

Hales will continue the slow and steady march toward bankruptcy/banning of cars, while Smith is a wildcard in the sense he may provide some great comedy when he goes postal on some citizen in an open council session. So, in that sense, the choice is being bled or bludgeoned to death - either way, dead is as dead does at the end of the day

All true.

But, in the meantime, the "we agree to disagree" announcement augurs really bad for the last push to the finish. It means, a) the polls are so close that the ballots lost to premature recycling could be decisive, b) both sides are fundraising like coked up maniacs, c) we will be subjected to an unprecedented onslaught of really horrible dueling attack ads and slime-drenched mailings, d) both will claim they couldn't help it because the other guy wouldn't agree on limits and went negative first.

I actually like this, because it is a scenario in which La Vonne has a plausible shot. The Sam Peckinpah ending for the boys could sicken enough of the electorate to make people take a real look at her. We know she gets the fiscal discipline problem. Where does she stand on West Hayden Island?

I doubt that she'd comment on matters outside her jurisdiction.

"...the two candidates sat down with a professional mediator."

Ugh. How very Portland.

If you look at the Facebook page of this guy:
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20120726/UPDATE/120726015/Oregon-State-Treasury-spokesman-gets-traffic-tickets-death-pedestrian

You'll see he is a Jefferson Smith fan. That's an endorsement he'd rather not have. Then again, maybe he'll take what he can get.