Just because its progressive doesn't make it progress.

Anyone out of Erik Sten's office should be proof of that.

Jack:

If you and others are holding their nose and voting none of the above on the governor's race, I urge you to vote for Richard Morley. A former auditor and eminently reasonable guy, I think you'll find him to be largely aligned with you, certainly in that he's not a Goldschmidtty.

Richard is a great guy. He's got my vote.

Richard Morley would also be the one who, at the tail end of his part of the talent competition at Candidates Gone Wild, where he was portraying the poor taxpayer rattling off all the taxes he had to pay, ended with something along the lines of, "100 years ago we didn't have any of these taxes and there was prosperity, and the women were at home raising the family... WHAT HAPPENED?!"

Yeah, good vote there.

I wrote in my own name.

I almost voted for Morley, but I learned that he supported a sales tax and was opposed to repealing the ban on self-serve gas. Not very libertarian-sounding to me.

I voted for Lew Frederick even before I voted against Jeff Cogen.

I'm still not 100% sure who I'm going to vote for when it comes to the Multnomah County Commissioner seat. I've met Lew, and I like him. He seems like he'd do what he felt in his heart and in his head is best for the citizens of Multnomah County. The thing that really bothers me is I've sent an email to both campaigns asking about some hot issues in which the county definately has a say. I never received a reply from Lew and/or his campaign. The evening I sent the emails I received a reply from Jeff himself. On one issue I spoke about he told me his position but also admitted that he doesn't know as much about it as he'd like to and that he wished to discuss the topic further, which we have. This is extremely important to me and it was because of this I volunteered on Mrs. Fritz's campaign. I understand how busy life gets on the campaign trail but all I was asking for was one sentence explaining his position, even if it was from a campaign staffer. Unfortunately Mr. Cogen has quite a few things going for him that I feel are negative, such as his close relationship with Mr. Saltzman and his out of state fundraising. I guess I have more thinking to do.

BTW Amanda if you read this thanks for the letter! I hope you received my email after the campaign :D

But since when did Libertarians become "revenue neutral"? The whole point of the Libertarian Party platform is to *reduce* taxes, not just shuffle them around like the old shell game.

If you must cast a protest vote, I agree with Don. Morley is by far the best third party candidate and you wont be lending any credibility to the Constipation Party.

Hinckley,

Morley would only favor a sales tax with the elimination of income tax. Makes sense to me.

Don't forget the most painfully obvious and under-reported conflict of interest in this entire election:

Here: No on 45

I almost voted for Morley, but I learned that he supported a sales tax...

Well, watching Morley on Nick Fish this morning...he supports the sales tax but that's with abolishing both the income and business taxes. Saying it should be "revenue neutral"...how high a sales tax would that be?

He's in favor of Measure 48, capping government expenditures, limiting government...but to what end? Fund education first, he says, then OSP...but cut what? Ronald Reagan is his favorite president? Ugh...

I worked with Richard in the City Auditor's Office and there's no question he's a nice and thoughtful guy...but it's a throw-away vote, and, sorry, the libertarians are kinda goofy on their economics, and faith in the market.

Saxton's a lying gasbag...as disappointing as Kulongoski may be, the fact he's not Saxton works for me.

I think I am going to vote for anyone who isn't the incumbent. Anything has to be better than the current group of dolts who put this state where it is now.

With so many people sending in empty ballots, voting for themselves, or throwing away votes on no-chance third party candidates, can ANYONE give me compelling reason to waste 15 minute of my life and 39 cents to vote at all.

PS: Please don't tell me it's a precious right enjoyed by Oregonions, yet so many in the world don't have that right. Sodomy and the right to bear arms are other such precious rights, but I don't exercise them. Does that make me a bad person?

Frank Dufay: Saxton's a lying gasbag...as disappointing as Kulongoski may be, the fact he's not Saxton works for me.
JK: And Kulongoski won’t build any stinkin roads to keep stinking jobs here. He will suck up to the bike lobby while Oregon remains one of the high un-employment states.

But he might convert our food production to genetically engineered clean fuel production.

And he might even increase the urban renewal area limit (like Portland wants) so Homer can build more Homer’s Hollows around Portland.

The perfect fool for Oregon.

Thanks
JK

I saw a Mary Starrett yard sign for the first time yesterday.

Kulongoski gets my vote for the same reason Kerry did: I don't like him but he's not Saxton/Bush. I'm not proud of succumbing to the lesser of two evils but that's just how it is.

Just because its progressive doesn't make it progress.

If pro is the opposite of con, what's the opposite of progress?

his out of state fundraising

I'd argue that there's a HUGE difference between out-of-state interests that are sending money to politicians in Oregon trying to influence our politics because they have something to gain -- and someone running for local office that has a bunch of friends around the country that want to help a pal be successful.

I haven't investigated Jeff's C&E's, but I find it hard to believe there's a bunch of outside-Oregon special interests trying to buy influence on the Multnomah County Commission. Rather, I'm not at all surprised that Jeff has a whole lot of good friends from around the USA.

Heck, I've got Republican friends from California that I'd donate to if they ran for office... not because I'd have any influence, but because we're old pals from college.

Not everyone who donates to a campaign is a self-interested sleazeball. Sometimes, it's just friends.

Don if Morley's for a sales tax who's the Libertarian in the race?
The sad part of the Libertarian Party is that they have forgotten to be advocates for any libertarian issues,or even explain to people how things would improve by adopting some of the ideas.
Mr. Nickle

With so many people sending in empty ballots, voting for themselves, or throwing away votes on no-chance third party candidates, can ANYONE give me compelling reason to waste 15 minute of my life and 39 cents to vote at all.

Are you telling me there is not one issue on the ballot you care about? Not your taxes, or mandatory waiting periods for abortion, or term limits, or whatever, that you care about one way or the other? Take one minute of your life, vote on the issues you care about, and drop off your ballot at a library or drop box. You don't have to mark every question, and you don't have to waste 15 minutes or 37 cents. Otherwise, the people who are making uninformed choices will win.

It may seem like a cliche, but people have died to give each one of us the right to vote. The suffragettes, civil rights activists, and soldiers. Taking one minute to do so is small thanks for their sacrifice.

Well said, Amanda. My 87 year old dad appreciates your comments after serving 5 years in the army crossing the pacific in WWII.

Anyone who thinks Kulongoski and Saxton are the same kind of guy must have been duped into thinking there was no difference between Bush and Gore.

Ted had a lackluster first term. So did Tom McCall. All that stuff of legend came during McCall's second term.

I see in the Oregonian where Saxton wants to do more to lure out-of-state corporations to Oregon. Of course, that just means more tax giveaways.

I am so glad to see your endorsement for Lew Frederick. I've been seeing tons of ads for Cogen--things showing up in my mailbox and commercials on the radio and tv. The money that Cogen is pouring into the race paints him as a very polished candidate and Lew's campaign is so grass-roots in comparison that it seems like he is being overlooked more for a lack of funds than anything else. I have lived in inner Northeast for practically my entire life and I have seen Lew's active community involvement every step of the way. No, he is not a glossy, experienced politician, but Lew is the real face of N/NE Portland; I can't imagine a more appropriate candidate for this position. I have never paid much attention to the race for County Commissioner before, but this time I am actually looking at a candidate that I know--and I know that Lew will be incredible.

Please vote for Lew Frederick!

Heck, I've got Republican friends from California that I'd donate to if they ran for office

Just say "no" Kari. A republican friend here, a republican friend there...pretty soon you're working for Paul Romain for a living.

Friends don't let friends vote republican.

what's the opposite of progress?

Ted Kulongoski.

mandatory waiting periods for abortion

What measure is that? There is no measure mandating a waiting period in my voters pamphlet...all it says is that notification has to be sent, not that they have to wait for receipt of said notification.

The opposite of Progress?

Money spent without accountablity. Oh yeah, that would make it a progressive.

So i guess the modern usage of "ive" would transcend the latin.

Jon, the abortion parental notification measure is mandatory waiting for 15 - 17 year olds. They have to wait until the certified letter is delivered. And according to the Constitution Party's web site, there is no requirement in Measure 43 to ensure that the parent actually receives the letter and signs for it, only that the letter is delivered. So if I'm that 16 year-old teen, I'm waiting twice.... once for the letter to be sent, and once skipping school to be home when it is delivered so I can remove it before my parent sees it. Any parent of teenagers can see that one.

Ok, I read M43 again, and it says "the provider must first give written notice to a parent of the minor, by certified mail, at least 48 hours prior to providing the abortion."

So yes, I see there is a 48 hour wait. (Most likely there would be a wait anyway, from scheduling to the actual procedure. Any doctor I have ever been to has at least a week backup before they can see you.) But it still says nothing about receipt of letter or delivery.

I guess the whole thing that bothers me is that from 15 my kids can have private visits with their doctors. Even though I am the one paying for it. My view, I dont care what the procedure is, if I am responsible for them, and I am paying for it, its my business too. And its my child, for Pete's sake!

As for removing the letter before the parents get home, wouldnt happen at my house. We have locking mailboxes on our block, and my wife and I carry the only keys.

On Richard Morley:

I hear a lot about how no one would(should) vote Libertarian because they're too "out there". Now, Richard Morley comes along campaigning for the reasonable center and he gets admonished for not being Libertarian.

I understand that. Some who would like to see more Libertarian views pressed want their 3% candidate to really shout out those views. Richard's taking a different tack - striving for some political relevance. If he said, "Down with the state! Privatize the roads!", what would be written about him? Nothing is the answer. He'd be a sideshow.

But he's proposing to do the things he knows we ought to do - fund education and the OSP first. Replace the income tax with a sales tax (which is Libertarian because if you HAVE to have a tax, sales taxes are the most voluntary, which squares with Libertarian theory most closely). Stop corporate giveaways (which both Ron and Ted are campaigning hard to claim they'll do the MOST of).

Richard is not a sideshow. He's a candidate who's thoughtful, honest, independent, and smart. You may disagree with his philosophy on smoe things, but he won't lie about it to get your vote. It's too bad the race is so tight between the Big-Box candidates (thanks, Mary Starrett for that), otherwise, Richard's ideas might be more widely heard.

Remember what Mae West said: "When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I've never tried before."

I'm going for Saxton just because he can't be any worse and might be better than who we have now.