With the ink barely dry on Tuesday's primary
election results, Democratic winner Gov. Ted Kulongoski came out swinging,
calling Republican nominee Ron Saxton an "extremist" on immigration issues
and questioning his ability to hold a consistent position.
"Ron ran in 2002 and he said things, and he ran in 2006 and he said other
things, and I imagine he's going to say things that are different" in the
general election, Kulongoski said.
Saxton, who withstood a barrage of negative campaign ads in the primary,
seemed taken aback by Kulongoski's spoken broadsides.
"We just came out of a primary that had too much name-calling," Saxton said.
"I think it's really terrible and sad that the governor has to start out the
general election on that tone."
The back-and-forth came on a day of frenzied post-election activity for the
winners, including immediate efforts to show they mean business as they
stake out their territory in the upcoming campaign. All signs point to a
no-holds-barred contest over not just political stands, but personalities
and style.
Answering critics
Gary Conkling, a Portland lobbyist who publishes an online newsletter about
state politics, said Kulongoski is answering critics who've said he's been
"lackluster."
"The governor's strategy has been all along to keep his powder dry as much
as he could, then come out fairly aggressively," Conkling said. And
Kulongoski is making sure he's the first to color Saxton as a hard-line
conservative. Saxton should get used to it, Conkling said.
"It's going to be a full-body-contact campaign," he said. "You hope it's
honorable and principled."
The executive director of the state Democratic Party, Neel Pender, piled on,
saying at a news conference that Saxton sided with "racists and xenophobes"
by calling for deportation of illegal immigrants.
Saxton had little to say about Pender's comments. "Obviously, I don't think
that's true or accurate." He said he would rather use his time making the
case why he should be governor.
"I'm not going to spend the next six months responding to what they have to
say," Saxton said.
The Westlund choice
Adding to the sense of urgency about the campaign, independent candidate Ben
Westlund, a state senator from Bend, released a recording of a new radio
campaign ad he plans to begin running Friday in the Portland area.
"What did you think of the election results?" a female voice asks. "I'm not
impressed by either the Republican or Democratic nominee for governor," a
male voice answers. "Me neither," says the female, who goes on to tout
Westlund's non-affiliated candidacy.
The ad serves two purposes -- taking a dig at Kulongoski and Saxton, and
reminding voters of an alternate choice. It also makes a plea for signatures
from voters. To get on the November ballot, Westlund still needs to collect
more than 18,000 signatures from independents or registered party voters who
didn't vote in the primary.
Speaking by phone from Bend, Westlund said the two major party nominees were
helping him make his case with their comments Wednesday.
"They just don't get it," he said. "It appears their campaign is continuing
the failed politics of partisanship."
Kulongoski, who bested a field of three Democrats with 54 percent of the
vote Tuesday, had some choice words for Westlund as well. Like Saxton's, the
governor said, Westlund's position on issues has been "evolving" as he gears
up for a run at the governorship.
"I've known him for the last 10, 15 years," Kulongoski said. "He's been a
Republican; he votes as a Republican. I don't think there's any difference
between his issues and Ron Saxton's."
Kulongoski called Saxton's views on immigration the most extreme of any of
the Republican candidates. During one debate, Saxton said he did not support
allowing children of illegal immigrants to attend public schools. Kulongoski
also said that Saxton's talk about bringing sweeping reforms to state
government doesn't match his actions when he was chairman of the Portland
School Board.
"I'm not sure he was an instrument of change," Kulongoski said. The district
ran largely the same as it did before Saxton came along, he said.
Saxton's strategy
Saxton, who overcame two major Republican opponents with 42 percent of the
primary vote, said the governor's criticisms fall flat because of the way
he's mismanaged the state for the past four years.
"It's his record he's going on," Saxton said. "He needs to tell people how
he's delivered. The fact that he's using his time lashing out at me, well,
you draw your own conclusions."
Saxton said he will draw deep distinctions between his vision for state
government and Kulongoski's record. His main message: State government isn't
working. Whether it's schools, public safety or business development, "the
needs of citizens aren't being met," he said.
Saxton will get a boost today when three of his opponents, Republican
candidates Kevin Mannix, Jason Atkinson and W. Ames Curtright, are scheduled
to appear with him at a news conference to announce their support. The
gathering is aimed at unifying the party behind its nominee, said Vance Day,
state Republican chairman.
Day said the meeting is largely symbolic. The primary, despite some critical
ads, did not fracture the party, he said. Although some Republican Internet
sites have drawn comments from party members vowing they can't support
Saxton, Day said they are the exception.
"I have not had one person say that to me directly," he said.
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