This little morsel of information is raising a few eyebrows here in the Beaver State. Reported in both
The Oregonian and
The Register-Guard (
registration required for the latter).
From the R-G:
Former Gov. John Kitzhaber said in an interview Friday that he's serious enough about launching a political comeback to have called his successor, Gov. Ted Kulongoski, to inform him that he may challenge him for the governorship.
More facts and idle speculation on the jump.
A quick summary (links for the whole stories above)
For you non-Oregonians, Kitzhaber is the Big Dawg of Oregon Democratic politics: a popular two-term governor from 1995-2003 who didn't seek a third therm in order to be with his family, and an emergency room physician whose political
raison d'etre has been health care. Kitzhaber's legacy has been the Oregon Health Plan, which had, until the recent recession, provided an important safety net for thousands of Oregonians without private insurance.
Kitzhaber has apparently placed a courtesy call to Governor Ted Kulongoski. Both described the call as cordial, and both made clear that Kitzhaber is supportive of Kulongoski's tenure in Salem. Kitzhaber has said he'll make a decision in January on whether to enter the Democratic Primary.
Prior to Kitzhaber's "toe-in-the-water" announcement, Democratic state Senator Vicki Walker from Eugene stated that she would wait until Kitzhaber makes a decision before deciding to throw her hat in the ring. Governor Kulongoski is out-polling both walker and Lane County Commissioner Pete Sorenson (both of whom are little know outside of the Eugene-Springfield metro area). Kitzhaber, on the other hand, seems to be running neck-in-neck in a theoretical match-up with Kulongoski.
Breakin' it down
Kulongoski is not overly popular with Oregon Democrats. He eked out a victory against the once-and-likely-future-wing-nut Republican candidate Kevin Mannix in 2002. Unions representing public employees and teachers (both powerful political players in state politics here) seem to feel a little bit used, when after working for his election in 2002 Kulongoski turned around and made pension "reform" a top political priority. He's also tight with the corporatist wing of the party and is a pupil of former governor and lobbyist Neil Goldschmidt (who has also been tarred by a sex scandal). A Kitzhaber candidacy has the potential to re-invigorate the Democratic base in 2006.
An alternate scenario: Republican Gordon Smith is up for re-election in 2008. Kitzhaber turned down an opportunity to run against him in 2002. Could he be positioning himself for a run at Smith? Smith has carefully portrayed himself as a bi-partisan pragmatist, but his record shows consistent deference to Bush administration (who's popularity is plummeting here, as elsewhere). He'd be vulnerable to a run by a popular statewide Democrat like Kitzhaber.
At any rate, things have gotten a little more interesting in what appeared to be a race that was generating little excitement.
OR-02
Does anyone know if a challenger to Republican Greg Walden has been found east of the Cascades?
And lastly, a rant
I'd like to publically say eff the BCS and eff Notre Dame for (more-than-likely) pushing the Oregon Ducks out of the Fiesta Bowl. We have a better record. Our only loss (granted it was an ass-whoopin') came to the #1 team in the country for the past, like, 300 years (USC). Yeah, ND almost beat USC, but they lost to 5-6 Michigan State. And barely handled a bunch of other teams with losing records. Eff the deal that allows a marginal 9-2 record a seat at the table ahead of a 10-1 record in a tough conference. Eff a system that puts "tradition" ahead of the hard work of a team that won ten games, even after losing their starting QB. Eff the East Coast bias that pooh-poohs the PAC-10. Eff Rudy. Eff the Gipper. Eff Lou Holtz. Eff Notre Dame.
Go Ducks!