Longshot

Oregon's mail-in ballots are starting to arrive in mailboxes around the state. Mine came today. While I'm still pondering some major decisions (e.g. for whom should I vote in the presidential lottery), I've definitely settled on a candidate for Oregon's Attorney General and for Oregon Secretary of State. In the former race, it's a no brainer. John Kroger is the man of the hour. He's public employee friendly and definitely has no exposure to the PERS legislation in the 2003 legislature. His opponent, the smooth and over-confident Greg Macpherson, wears the millstone of the PERS reform in 2003, having authored or sponsored much of the legislation that came back to haunt PERS members and retirees. I want Macpherson out of politics for awhile, and I want this to be a lesson in political payback. Kroger is a strong candidate on his own merits, which makes the decision to oppose Macpherson quite easy. Send pretty boy Greg back to Stoel Rives. In the Secretary of State race there are a number of strong candidates, but the standout, in my opinion, is Vicki Walker. She opposed the PERS reforms in 2003 and has had the courage to take on a number of establishment figures since then. I'm not as optimistic about Vicki's chances of winning in the primary, but if she can make it to the November ballot, she stands a decent chance. Kroger can win outright this month; the Republicans were unable to field a candidate for Attorney General, so whoever wins in the primary will be the next Oregon AG.