Westlund: a prescription for ending paralysis

Russell Sadler

April 23, 2006

Oregon’s May and November elections may prove to be a watershed. There is a real chance we may begin to work our way out of the gridlock that has paralyzed this state for more than a decade.

The possibility of a new cast of characters in Salem begins with the race for governor and the multi-candidate contests for the Republican and Democratic party nominations in May.

None of the Republican candidates in the primary have the traditional apprenticeship experience expected of governors -- service in the Legislature’s leadership and/or a statewide office.

Kevin Mannix does not have the temperament to be governor. When they handed out the “gets along with others” gene, Mannix was in the line for chocolate. When he introduced his mandatory minimum sentence bill in the 1993 Legislature, his colleagues told him they sympathized, but they could not see a way to pay for it without new taxes and legislative Republicans would refuse to approve them.

In a fit of adolescent petulance, Mannix stormed out of the Legislature and helped put Measure 11 on the ballot. Voters approved it without knowing where the money would come from to pay for it. One of the prisons built with borrowed money still stands empty because the Legislature can’t find the money to open and operate it. Mannix lacks the politically maturity to be an effective governor.

Ron Saxton does not have the traditional experience to be governor. He is the managing partner of a large Portland law firm and has served with distinction on the Portland School Board. But that is not the same as experience in a statewide public office.

Saxton wants to be the “education governor.” He is in the wrong party. The Republican legislative leadership has deliberately underfunded education as part of a national Republican strategy of denying money to the teachers unions.

If the Oregon House remains in Republican hands Saxton’s education policies will get the same rough treatment that frustrated governors John Kitzhaber and Ted Kulongoski.

Jason Atkinson is a bright, conservative candidate, but he lacks experience. His next step is Senate President or Minority Leader if the Republican “true believers” can tolerate an increasingly pragmatic Republican in that office.

Over on the Democratic side, former legislator and Lane County Commissioner Peter Sorenson suffers the same lack of traditional experience as Atkinson and Saxton. Sorenson says the things that Democrats want Kulongoski to say but it is unlikely Sorenson can administer the office effectively if he gets elected.

Former State Treasurer Jim Hill was consistently re-elected to the Legislature and statewide office with little or no comment that he was a rare African-American officeholder. But Hill’s distinguished record in office is tainted by the image that he is the public employee unions’ revenge for the compromise Kulongoski negotiated for restructuring the Public Employee Retirement System. Hill cannot get elected on that issue alone and he’s not mentioning much in the way of alternatives to Kulongoski’s stewardship.

What happened to Ted Kulongoski? That’s simple to explain. What other choice does he have? When Kulongoski was first elected, Republicans controlled both houses of the Legislature. He watched Gov. Kitzhaber’s frustrating struggle with that reality for eight years. When the Democrats retook the Oregon Senate, Kulongoski still faced a hostile House Republican leadership deliberately abusing the political process anytime it couldn’t get its way.

In the face of this hostility, Kulongoski decided to take a low profile, avoid ripping scabs off old wounds and simply do what he could do with a bankrupt state government operating on borrowed money and tapped out credit.

What Kulongoski’s Democratic base wants him to do is make heroic but futile political gestures. They do not seem to realize there is no money “to do something” as long as Oregon Republicans persist in their fantasy of fake “surpluses.”

The bright spot in this otherwise gloomy prescription for paralysis, is the enthusiasm for the Independent candidacy of former Republican Ben Westlund of Bend. Once a part of the Republican Senate leadership, Westlund tired of the autocratic ways of his party and jumped ship.

Westlund is a non-ideological problem solver in the manner of Mark Hatfield and Tom McCall -- though probably more conservative than either. He is attracting surprising support from frustrated Republicans and Democrats. More importantly, Westlund is attracting the interest of the state’s non-affiliated voters who hold the key to electing the next governor. This may be the basis for a coalition for supporting new policies that can begin to get Oregon’s fiscal house in order.

The Republican and Democratic parties fear Westlund. Last session they passed a law protecting their privileged position and easy access to the ballot. Any Oregonian who votes in the Republican or Democratic primary in May cannot sign Westlund’s nominating petition as an Independent, even if they change registration after the primary. That’s the nasty business of disenfranchising voters.

The question is how many voters will be offended by the partisans’ highhandedness and choose to avoid the Democratic and Republican primaries in May so they can nominate and support Westlund. The answer will give us a much better idea of Westlund’s chances of challenging the conventional wisdom that independents can’t win in November.