News and Culture » Politics

Steve Shields, We Hardly Knew Ye

Hank Stern — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:22:39 +0000

Well, that didn’t take long. Little more than a month after announcing his candidacy in the 2010 Democratic primary for governor, former Hewlett-Packard exec Steve Shields said today he’s pulling the plug.

In his withdrawal letter to supporters, Shields said he hadn’t raised enough money to be a viable candidate and that his campaign was always a long shot (against former Gov. John Kitzhaber and former Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury).

“A key campaign skill is raising money,” Shields wrote. “Unfortunately, this fact favors the career politician or the insider. Most of the rest of us do not gain this type of experience in our non-political endeavors. To be so totally dependent on raising money for success in running for any office puts a huge premium and advantage on those who do it well. I think successful fundraising says something about a candidate, but it certainly does not say everything about a candidate. To sort our leaders by how good they are at fundraising is a narrow filter indeed.

“It would be easy to say the system is flawed and leave it there, but after my experience, I’m unwilling to say it’s that simple,” he wrote. “Campaigning, in addition to raising money, is the most challenging thing I have ever attempted in my life. Previous campaign experience would have better prepared us for how to master the many important aspects of the campaign challenge. Should I ever run for office again, I will be much better prepared for these challenges.”

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Peter DeFazio Takes A Big Shot At The Obama Administration

Hank Stern — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:41:10 +0000

U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) is making a good bit of news this morning on Capitol Hill with his call yesterday on MSNBC’s Ed Show for the firing of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. And if you watch this video, you’ll see DeFazio ain’t too keen either on top economic adviser Larry Summers.

Click here to view the embedded video.

PETA Vs. Al Gore!! Coming To Portland!!!

James Pitkin — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:32:48 +0000

Veep, or veg?

Just ahead of Al Gore’s stop this week in Portland, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has challenged the former vice president to back his green talk by giving up meat.

At Gore’s book discussion Wednesday night at Keller Auditorium, PETA warns that the former vice president will be faced down by a “nearly naked ‘Mother Earth‘ ” and PETA supporters holding signs that say “Meat’s Not Green.”

“More and more, we are hearing about the damage that meat production does to our water supply, the forests and the global climate,” PETA says in a news release. “In light of these reports, we are asking Mr. Gore simply to try going vegetarian for 30 days. If he were to stick with it for a year, he could save more than 100 animals’ lives — and maybe even his own.”

Gore is coming to town to campaign for 2010 Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Bill Bradbury and pimp his new book Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis.

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Oregon Sec’y of State To Fine DeFazio Opponent

Nigel Jaquiss — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:53:05 +0000

In the recent annals of Oregon political foul-ups, there have been few stories as amusing (although ultimately inconsequential) as the saga of Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken.

Leiken, a Republican, has set out to challenge U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, (photographed above) a Lane County Democrat who is expected to seek re-election though he continues to muse about running for governor. Meantime, Leiken got sideways when he claimed he paid his mother $2,000 to conduct a poll.

According to the results of an investigation [PDF] released today by the Oregon Secretary of State’s Elections Division, Leiken and his mom cannot produce any evidence of the poll’s existence. State elections officials determined that Leiken “converted campaign funds for personal use,” according to a statement.

The Secretary Of State now proposes fining Leiken $2,250.

Blue Oregon has all the back story.

UPDATED: City Council to Consider PGE Park Re-Zoning Next Week

Beth Slovic — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:42:58 +0000

Portland City Council tomorrow morning will consider whether to change the zoning code to allow limited office space at PGE Park.

The proposed change is part of an effort to bring a sports medicine clinic, sponsored by Providence Health & Services, to the stadium to support Merritt Paulson’s new Major League Soccer team when it begins play in 2011. Here’s the ordinance [PDF].

Updated on Thursday around noon: Mayor Sam Adams this morning pulled the proposed ordinance, saying later he needed another week to deal with a number of outstanding issues surrounding the PGE Park remodel. One possible translation: forcing a public discussion on the zoning code this week might have raised questions about PGE Park that the mayor doesn’t want to address publicly right now.

The city’s pre-development agreement with Paulson expired in October, and a plan to sign a final agreement has been delayed until December or January. Meantime, Paulson’s deal with Beaverton to put his Triple-A baseball team in the Portland suburb collapsed, and no new deal has emerged besides a very tentative one in Vancouver.

John Kitzhaber’s Newest Big Donors

Hank Stern — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:14:49 +0000

Former Gov. John Kitzhaber picked up two large donations this week from prominent Oregonians in his bid to win the 2010 Democratic gubernatorial primary.

As we reported last week, Kitzhaber has been collecting some big-bucks contributions of the $10,000-per-donor variety.

This week, Kitzhaber recorded a $15,000 contribution from winemaker Eric Lemelson and another $5,000 from the political action committee of Oregon Attorney General John Kroger.

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Al Gore, John Kitzhaber and Not-So-Ancient History

Hank Stern — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:47:03 +0000

Yesterday, I wrote how former Vice President Al Gore will do a fund-raiser in Oregon for Bill Bradbury, who’s running in the Democratic gubernatorial primary next year along with ex-Gov. John Kitzhaber and former Hewlett-Packard exec Steve Shields.

The Bradbury-Gore connection makes sense because Bradbury has been one of the folks who’s traveled around to highlight Gore’s warnings about global warming. But I had planned a follow-up Murmur for next week’s paper on the back story of how Gore fought Kitzhaber’s Oregon Health Plan when Gore was in the Senate. Former U.S. Rep. Les AuCoin (D-Ore.) beat us to the punch on Blue Oregon this morning by providing that history, which included a back-and-forth between Kitzhaber and Gore that had Kitzhaber endorsing heavy underdog Bill Bradley over Gore in the 2000 presidential primaries.

And if you have any doubts that Democratic insiders had forgotten any of this tale, put them away. I had asked Josh Kardon —chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.)— for his recollection this morning on Gore and the Oregon Health Plan. This is the response Kardon emailed me:

“Vice-President Gore was the single biggest impediment to securing the necessary federal waiver for the Oregon Health Plan,” Kardon wrote. “I know this because then-Congressman Wyden was tasked with getting administration approval given his background, seniority, and committee assignment, and I was the lead staff in the eventually-successful effort.”

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Al Gore To Campaign in Oregon For Bill Bradbury

Hank Stern — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:58:22 +0000

Bill Bradbury, who’s running in the 2010 Democratic primary for governor, has gotten a party heavyweight in his corner for a fund-raiser.

Bradbury’s campaign announced this afternoon that former Vice President Al Gore will appear in Portland on Nov. 19 with Bradbury at what the campaign is billing as “A conversation with Climate Change Pioneers.” Gore also will have been in town the night before to discuss his new book at the Keller Auditorium on Nov. 18.

The Nov. 19 fund-raiser for Bradbury will be at the Left Bank Project (240 N Broadway) with a charge of $25 for adults, $15 for seniors, youth, and students. Those charges jump to $40 on the day of the event. Heavy hitters wanting reserved seating must pay $500,with front-row reserved seats going for $1,000.

More info is here http://bradbury2010.com/aheadofthecurve.

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Trail Mix From The Oregon Governor’s Race

Hank Stern — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:07:44 +0000

While we wait for tonight’s election results from Referendum 71 and the Vancouver mayor’s race in Washington, we surfed around to see what’s new in the Oregon governor’s race for next year.

Ex-Gov. John Kitzhaber, running in the 2010 Democratic primary for his old job, picked up a $1,000 donation last week from Earth Day organizer founder and noted environmentalist Denis Hayes. Kitzhaber also got another $1,000 from Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard (as first reported by Eugene’s Register-Guard.)

Other big-bucks donations in the last month to Kitzhaber included $10,000 apiece from Oregon Medical Association’s PAC, the United Food & Commercial Workers and the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde.

CORRECTION: The original post incorrectly reported the date of Lim’s $1,000 contribution from Philip Morris. The contribution came in October 2008. On the Republican side, former state legislator John Lim picked up $1,000 last week from tobacco’s Philip Morris in his GOP gubernatorial primary bid

Meantime, ex-Trail Blazer Chris Dudley has gone as far as creating a web site and campaign committee for a possible run in the Republican primary (as first noted by The Oregonian’s Jeff Mapes)

Now back to waiting on the Washington election results.

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Some Late Oregon Money in The Vancouver Mayor’s Race

Hank Stern — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:02:44 +0000

Since a report in last week’s Oregonian looking at contributions into tomorrow’s mayoral race in Vancouver, there have been a couple other notably large donations in the last week from Oregon — all to incumbent Royce Pollard in his effort to hold off challenger Tim Leavitt.

Pollard collected $5,000 on Oct. 26 from Gramor Corp. CEO Barry Cain in Tualatin; and picked up $1,250 apiece on Oct. 29 from real estate investor George Diamond and his wife Paula Diamond.