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Monday, May 17, 2010

5-17-2010 (Monday)

Hey there and welcome to Monday. Thanks for stopping in and visiting my little corner of the internet. There is some coffee in the pot and feel free to pull up a chair. We talk about what ever comes to mind around here. On some days that might mean a robust debate about politics on others it may mean a friendly disagreement about what might be the top 10 films of all time.

I like it that way and I hope you do as well. I really like having the flexibility to talk about whatever I have found interesting and what I would like to bring to peoples attention. That being said I do not have really anything right now that has got me fired up.

The primary elections for Oregon are finishing up this week and we will see who the two major parties are going to put up for Gov. I think that for the Republicans it is going to be Chris Dudley and for the Democrats it is going to be John Kitzhaber.

With that being said. I am well aware that Kitzhaber is a returning Gov and a favorite to win the election. But, I wonder if the unrest and dissatisfaction that voters are feeling are going to translate to a Dudley win. I think that most Oregon voters have good memories of when Kitzhaber was in office last time and think that he will be able to lead Oregon back to those good times.

Dudley on the other hand is in a good position as an outsider with ties to Oregon due to his basketball time that people like as well. He may very well be able to ride the Tea Party wave to victory.

So, for sake of argument lets say that for the first time in 30+ years Oregon gets a Republican Gov. Well that change anything in the state? I think it may a little bit. But unless the election of a Republican Gov cause there also to be sweeping change in Oregon's Legislature I do not think thinks will be all that different in the state. I am going to wait and see on this one.

I think I would like to see Dudley win. I would like that because I would like things to be shaken up a little bit in Oregon. I do not have super high hopes that were he to win Dudley would do that. I think at best he will be a centrist and will do things like all the other politicians do them. It isn't that I want there to be a huge amount of political drama in Oregon but I like it when Oregon pushes the Federal Government on things. I love when we as a state exert our right to govern ourselves.

I like Federalism and I like when Oregon tells the Federal Government to mind their own business. That doesn't matter to me if it is a Republican or Democratic Fed. I think states should be free to do whatever crazy thing it's residents want to. If people do not like it then they are free to move to a different state or work to change things within the state.

So...enough rambling what are your thought precious readers on states rights?

3 comments:

JoelAT said...

I like John Lim, but he has no hope. And we all know I am a radical rightest extremist anyway.

Unknown said...

I think a lot of people like Lim or would like him if they could actually hear his message. But he just does not register will in the cult of personality wars.

Steve said...

As someone who is not in his targeted demographic, it would be easier to consider Lim with a bit less boilerplate in his platform. Emphasis on culture wars and buzzy non-issues like tort reform will make it difficult for him to reach beyond traditional R strongholds. He may well be a man of good conscience, but the polarizing and divisive nature of primary politics does a good job of masking that.

I'd love to see a social moderate Republican candidate with real environmental credentials ala Tom McCall or Bob Packwood, but the homogenization of the parties has probably put an end to those days. Sad, since Oregon has a history of precisely those kinds of candidates succeeding.