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The polishing of Bob Packwood's tarnished image started last Saturday at the Dorchester Conference, an annual gathering of moderate Oregon Republicans that Packwood first organized 34 years ago. Greeted by a standing ovation, Packwood offered a G-rated stroll down memory lane. "Some of you may be aware I kept a diary," Packwood deadpanned, referring to the journal that became public in 1995 and revealed his thoughts on everything from sex in his Senate office to the "bounce" in his hair. Packwood recounted some of the tamer stories from his diary--about Cary Grant, 7-foot lizards escaping from wrestling promoters, secret Senate missile debates and arm-twisting by President Richard Nixon. Seemingly without a shred of irony, Packwood concluded, "What you have in this world when you die will pass to somebody else. What you are in this world you will have forever."
Now that the filing deadline has passed (just hours after we went to press Tuesday), the contest to replace Portland City Commissioner Gretchen Kafoury begins in earnest. (Kafoury is retiring after a long career of political activism, including protests 25 years ago against the then all-male City Club--see photo of her in an Army helmet, being interviewed by Ed Whalen.) Nobody should be surprised to learn that the feisty 650-member Portland firefighters union is throwing its weight--and a $5,000 contribution--behind former County Commissioner Tanya Collier, who's running against ex-Commissioner Dan Saltzman and neighborhood activist Martie Sucec. Collier's husband isGreg Hartman, whose law firm has long represented the firefighters union. "Tanya got the endorsement on her own merits. It doesn't matter who she's married to," says new union president Tom Chamberlain, who took the reins from state Sen. Randy Leonard earlier this year.
Stop her before she runs again. Former Portland nurse and kooky compulsive candidate Anna Nevenich has surfaced in the California special election to succeed late U.S. Rep. Sonny Bono. Nevenich, you might recall, ran in three different congressional races in Oregon in 1996: the special election to replace Bob Packwood; the special election to replace Ron Wyden, who won Packwood's seat; and the Senate election to succeed Mark Hatfield. Having never garnered more than 5.5 percent of the votes in any election, Nevenich moved to Palm Springs and is squaring off against Bono's widow, Mary, the Republican favorite, and actor Ralph Waite (best known as "Pa Walton"), the Democrat favorite in the April 7 special election. Nevenich's campaign manager, Sandra Coleman, swears that Anna's got a chance because Waite hasn't been campaigning much. He's locked into a contract performing Death of a Salesman in New York. |
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