Top offices fail to entice Republicans to enter fray (Oregon) | Oregonian

[Ediacara]

Top offices fail to entice Republicans to enter fray

The lack of a "farm team" to challenge the Democrats' dominance of statewide posts poses problems for the party

01/31/04
HARRY ESTEVE

Two years ago, Oregon Republicans were vowing Election Day revenge against Democratic Secretary of State Bill Bradbury, claiming he brazenly gerrymandered the legislative districts to favor his party.

Today, with a bit more than a month to go before the deadline for primary candidates to file, no Republican has stepped forward to take on Bradbury.

Nor has any Republican filed for state treasurer or attorney general, the other two Democrat-controlled statewide offices up for election this year.

More at the Oregonian

[rock]

1. And they (Repukes) are so attracted to orifices

I don't understand it.

[depakid]

2. It's actually pretty simple

if you understand that the Oregonian is a longtime apologist for the far right, and basically repeats anything that they say with little objective analysis.

First of all, the districts here are NOT "brazenly gerrymandered." There was in fact a fight over redistricting, but it was over a reasonably fair map vs. a typically skewed Republican map and as usual, the Republicans refused to work with or compromise one inch with the former Governor Kitzhaber, so by law, the matter ended up before the Secretary of State. Now they are whining about it-

Second, if Democrats had the Chutzpa or audacity to gerrymander the maps like Republican would if they had their druthers, we wouldn't have the anomalous situation where far right Republicans control the legislature, but can't get elected to statewise offices (and haven't been able to for many years, despite owning almost every media outlet in the state and getting massive infusions of out of state money for their campaigns).

Finally, if you read between the lines of the various excuses and all the hemming and hawing, what you'll see is that most of these nutcases (and the people quoted are indeed nutcases) realize from their staff and consultants that they don't have even a glimmer of a chance in 2004. Bush is no longer popular here, even in the hinterlands he's not much to rally around, and since most of the "farm team" has such an abysmal record of cooperating to get anything done (other than trashing state and local services) it doesn't make much sense for any of them to waste the time and money to seek higher office.