Posted on 03/26/2009 4:25:25 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
Oregon Reps. Peter DeFazio and Greg Walden are at a crossroads in their congressional careers as they ponder jumping into a wide-open race for governor in 2010.
Democrat DeFazio and Republican Walden are each tempted by the likely prospect of becoming his party's nominee -- as veteran Portland lawyer and lobbyist Walt Evans puts it, each would "start on third base." But each also has compelling reasons to stay in Congress.
(Excerpt) Read more at oregonlive.com ...
This is an interesting development. Walden is perhaps the most conservative candidate who could win the governorship at this time, and if he runs, Republicans have a shot to elect a more conservative person than Walden to represent the district in Congress.
Walden has been a great friend to the Forest Industry.
Pray for America and Our Troops
“Walden is perhaps the most conservative candidate who could win the governorship at this time, and if he runs, Republicans have a shot to elect a more conservative person than Walden to represent the district in Congress.”
The 2010 gubernatorial race in OR could be a turning point for the state’s delegation over the next decade. OR has a good chance to gain a 6th Congressman after the 2010 Census, and a Gov. Walden could make sure that the Democrats don’t try to pack all Republicans into a single eastern district. Republicans could easily draw a map with 4 GOP districts and 2 RAT districts (one in Portland; the other taking in Eugene, Corvallis and the liberal Portland suburbs in Washington County, connected by Dem-leaning counties on the coast and on the WA border), but of course we won’t have full control.
And if DeFazio runs for Governor, his very marginal House seat (it gave President Bush 49% in each of 2000 and 2004 IIRC) could be a prime takeover target in 2010 and, if we win it, it may convince the Democrat redistricters to draw two GOP districts.
It’s astonishing how out-of-whack the OR House delegation has been for years. Neither DeFazio’s 4th or Wu’s 1st has elected a Republican since 1972. At the time, it was literally unthinkable the 1st would go rodent, since the district had consistently gone Republican since 1881, but Watergate and the incumbent’s retirement pushed it over.
Short of winning back the legislature along with Walden winning the Governorship, we’re not going to have any say in the line-drawing (gallingly, the GOP was prevented from implementing favorable lines even when they had a majority, with Kitzhaber and the leg Dems getting what they wanted, and our losing control in short order), although it may be hard if OR gets a 6th seat for the GOP to be shut out of getting a 2nd seat almost by default. The Dems have been overrepresented in the delegation for far too long.
Wu’s seat could be ours without that slice of Portland.
The whole state Senate is up I think (18-11) rat. House is 36-24 rat.
We need at least some drawing power. 1 R 5 D would be absurd if they could manage it.
And only WA has gone longer without a Republican Governor.
If OR gains the sixth seat, the safe route for the RATs would be to cede it to the GOP in order to shore up the DeFazio CD and the old Hooley CD (which are evenly split between the parties). But they may try to draw 5 RAT seats and a single GOP seat, and so long as the RATs continue to win 50-50 districts in OR they may succeed.
Well, they did elect one in 2004.
And here's some food for thought: Whomever in Oregon's Congressional delegation decides to run for Governor must give up their Congress seat, because under state law they can't run for two offices at the same time. Regardless of what Peter Defazio (whom I believe to be a once and future Soviet agent) does in Congress, whenever he opens his mouth his utterances are always calculated to be exactly what the pitchfork carrying horde wants to hear. Until the day a dead 13 year old girl or a live 13 year old boy is found in bed with him, he will be reelected to that seat if he wants to run. There is no district in Oregon that is less competitive (and it's not because of party, rather personality). He knows that, and has resisted two prior attempts to draw him into the primary for Governor, and at last one time for the US Senate.
But if you want to change the face of the Oregon Congressional delegation by way of running one or more of them for governor, he's the guy who most needs to be sucked in to it. It's almost certain he'd be an early favorite in the rat primary, but less so the general as he doesn't poll so hot statewide. But if he did win, he'd be less harmful in Oregon's weak state executive role than he has been in Congress, and either way he's outa there - which is a Very Good Thing.
When the quadrennial draft Defazio movements come to life I always send him notes of encouragement.
I agree!
Be Ever Vigilant!
Good for you. And there are reports that the grind of flying from Oregon to D.C. and back constantly is getting on his nerves.
This district threw out one Congerssman after another for decades. I can’t figure out what DeFazio has done to avoid that fate.
He and Soviet agent Defazio both came to Eugene from their native Connecticut on the same flight, this would have been in the early ‘70s post ‘Nam era. “Ferret” had just finished a hitch with the Army and was traveling in GI gear, and Defazio was a college student transferring to the University of Oregon in furtherance of his идеологическая обработка. The two conversed about various things, and my understanding is Defazio made clear his hatred of the US military and all for which it stood.
So yeah, Defazio might have flying issues if he continues to display open hatred of his seatmates.
During and after college, Defazio became the protege’ of his predecessor in Congress Jim Weaver, another populist type, friend and neighbor of fellow Советский агент деморализации Ken Kesey. Defazio’s first elected office was a seat on the Lane County board of Commissioners.
By and by, Jim Weaver was caught up hard in the old House Bank check kiting racket and decided to retire from Congress in disgrace to preserve the seat for the Демократы, hand picking Defazio as successor.
So there you have it, and 20-some years down the line he's still there carrying out the mission of Бре́жнев.
Great observation and conclusions!
Wake Up America!
Yes.
I would have raised an army to take the capital from the illegally occupying democrats if I were him. But I’m crazy.
Too bad your friend was banned. People with such intimate knowledge are valuable.
Problem was, I believe, his association with various anarchist related indymedia groups, some which base in CentCal and advocate violence against JimRob himself, plus his known personal association with the rock throwing window smashing anti-WTO riot types (perhaps one of the quickest ways to get banned here is to NOT denounce such when given the opportunity, and though he denies participation, he doesn't go so far as to condemn the tactic), and his repeated violation of the site's private property (a thing that he does not universally recognize) by retreading himself with new screen names when banned.
JR am I about right there?
Anyhow there's lots more, and as a partner in a legitimate endeavor, even one that may someday call for monkeywrenching, a thing with which he has some experience, he'd be a huge liability.
Ya know, it could be tough when and if the Claire Wolfe moment comes to pass, but I take the glass half full view WRT the allies who would likely emerge. ‘Cause that oath is to preserve a specific set of laws, not men.
I have had several conversations with Ferret in the past, he used to hang out at the Saturday Mkt, doing semi security.
Didn’t he run for city council at one time?
Funny stuff!!
I wonder if he still has his ferrets?
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