Oregonian political blogger Jeff Mapes has an interesting analysis of how John Kitzhaber was able to eke out a razor-thin victory over Chris Dudley for the governorship. Some of the main points:
The Ground Game: Democrats made the most of their 10% registration edge in the state by mounting an intensive canvassing and phone banking campaign to make sure Democrats actually voted.
Waffling on Abortion: Dudley tried to stake out a middle ground on abortion, saying he was pro-choice but would support restrictions such as requiring parental notification for abortions performed on minors. “Democratic operatives tried to drive anti-abortion voters away from Dudley and to [Constitution Party candidate Greg] Kord,” Mapes writes. “One example: NARAL Pro-Choice Oregon sent out mailings proclaiming that Kord was the only ‘firmly anti-abortion’ candidate in the race.”
Sneaky, but effective.
That You-Tube Video: Democrats got hold of, and widely distributed, a clip in which Dudley appeared to be agreeing with restaurant owners who say the minimum wage should be reduced for wait staff who get tips. Dudley quickly assured everybody that he didn’t want to cut the minimum wage, but the damage was done.
“Restaurant owners may be bigger campaign contributors, but there are more than 140,000 food and lodging workers in Oregon,” Mapes notes. “And a lot of them vote.”
The Experience Factor: Mapes cites a poll taken shortly before the election in which voters rated Dudley higher than Kitzhaber in several important areas including private-sector job creation, cutting the budget and education, but gave Kitzhaber a wide edge – 47% to 36% – when asked who was “best qualified to be governor.”
Dudley might have closed that gap by agreeing to more debates, but it would have been risky for a political novice to take on somebody who has the facts and figures at his fingertips like Kitzhaber does. Sometimes being a policy wonk is an advantage.
Meanwhile, the video of Kitzhaber’s acceptance speech, given yesterday morning in Portland, has been posted on YouTube and other sites. It’s an eloquent and inspiring call for Oregonians to unite to solve the serious problems facing the state.
“While the winds that have been buffeting the national political scene were certainly felt here in Oregon, we did not succumb to them,” Kitzhaber says. “In this election, Oregonians said we will not be defined by what we are against but rather by what we are for. …
“I believe that somewhere in America, a state needs to be able to demonstrate that we can weather this kind of challenge without losing our sense of community, without losing our commitment to one another, and emerge stronger and more united than when we began. And if you can’t do that in Oregon, you can’t do that anywhere in the United States.”
Take a look at it. No matter who you voted for, I think it will make you feel better about how the election turned out.
This article appears in Nov 4-10, 2010.
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He did it by winning Portland. ‘Twas a good strategy. Do I think I wasted my vote for Wes Wagner? Nope. I wouldn’t have given up a vote for the lesser of two Ivy League Evils.
Boxer and Brown did it also, damn I’m proud to be a citizen of a state where most of it’s citizens keep voting in the same morons and expecting a different result.
Love the comment by Ben Sala, How true it is. Except that I guess I am not so proud, feel extremely degraded by being associated with the same idiots. Need to find a state more intelligent, and that obviously isn’t California either.
“the lesser of two Ivy League Evils”
Dartmouth (Kitzhaber’s college) is kinda the stepchild of the Ivy League.
im glad i voted for the right man, I hate when republicans go, “look at the map, the state obvisley voted for dudley, why portland dictates how oregon votes”, first off, if you adjust the counties to population, you get a far dastract look at the election, 2end, Kizhaber won votes in other counties, thrid, It only seems like portland dictates the election, because they ae slow a counting, than when it was that close before 30% of portlands vote was still needed to be counted.
Lesser of two evils author? This is the guy that plunged us into the place we were before the Barney Frank/ Bill Clinton housing fiasco. We didnt even need their help to have near the highest unemployment in the country. I would rather face the unknown than to have back this guy. You find it EASY to listen to your savior obummer when its easy to. Recall what he said during this erection “you dont go backwards when you want to move forward”. Issue is we have YET to move forward. Recall the mass exodus in the 80’s and 90’s of business that was courted with low or free taxes to entice companies to move or stay there which ONLY created more gov’t income in the form of sales, income, and personal property tax than the corporate tax could have EVER created alone. hmmmmm maybe less government interference with OUR money is not the answer. What all you bleedin hearts need to keep in mind is the gov’t money is OUR money not theirs. I should decide where it is dispersed to NOT the union leader we have in office right now. Kitslobber is NOT the lesser of anything except governors