[April 16th, 2008]

Trail Mix

•Thanks to your votes, the lineup is set for Candidates Gone Wild on April 28 at the Roseland. Those making the cut are mayoral candidates Sho Dozono and Sam Adams, plus City Council contenders Chris Smith, Jim Middaugh, Charles Lewis, Amanda Fritz, Nick Fish, Mike Fahey, John Branam and Jeff Bissonnette. For more, go to candidatesgonewild.com.

•Color that one rainbow: In Oregon’s special February legislative session, each state senator got to introduce only one bill. Sen. Kate Brown (D-Portland), running in the Democratic primary for secretary of state, introduced a measure requiring out-of-state political contributions be in a different color in the elections campaign finance database. The idea: Citizens could more easily see who’s in the pocket of remote special interests. The biggest beneficiary so far of out-of-state contributions in Brown’s Democratic primary with Sens. Rick Metsger (Welches) and Vicki Walker (Eugene)? None other than Brown, who has raked in three $15,000 checks from the Washington, D.C.-based Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund.

When Candidates Blog

After hearing Sen. Barack Obama speak in Portland last month, City Council candidate John Obranam—er, Branam—who identifies himself as “a bi-racial black man,” mused on his blog (john4pdx.org) about the parallels between himself and the Democratic front-runner:

I do not think it is a coincidence that I have a chance to join city council in the same year that Barack Obama has a chance to be president of the United States. At all levels Americans are looking for leaders who are committed to harnessing the abilities, energy and vision of all citizens as we face the daunting challenges ahead.