QUOTE O'
THE WEEK
"To the average voters, it's as if they're written in
Greek, having been poorly translated from Urdu."
--Political commentator Bill Lunch,
describing the 26 statewide measures
that
will appear on the November ballot.
GET
LIT
READING BETWEEN THE LINES OF CAMPAIGNLITERATURE
FOR TRACES OF WHITEWASH.
Last week we took the Yes on 94 side to task for false
claims about mandatory-minimum sentencing laws.
This week, a look at the No side shows that hyperbole
breaches both sides of the debate over whether to repeal
Measure 11.
Specifically, opponents of the repeal are invoking the
shootings at Thurston High, where, in May 1998, Kip Kinkel
killed two students and shot 23 others. In a voter's pamphlet
argument against Measure 94, Michael Nickolauson, father
of a slain Thurston High student, states that if Measure
94 passes, Kinkel would be "resentenced under Oregon's
old, more lenient sentencing laws! That means my son's
murderer would be released at age 21...if he were sentenced
as a juvenile! Even if the prosecutor could convince the
judge to sentence him as an adult, Kinkel could serve
as little as ten years."
Nickolauson's statement is misleading.
Even in the unlikely event that Kinkel were sentenced
as a juvenile, he would not necessarily get out of jail
at age 21. "A youth offender can remain in our physical
custody until age 25," says Karen Andall of the Oregon
Youth Authority.
Also, Nickolauson implies that Kinkel, now serving a
111-year sentence, will get out of prison much earlier
if Measure 94 passes. Given the gravity of Kinkel's crimes,
the odds of a major change in his sentence are "slim,"
says Andall. "I don't think that the impact of Measure
94 on this youth would be significant at all."
THE
GREAT DEFLATE
Last week's City Club debate between the three top candidates
for state treasurer showed that only one of them can explain
why he's running--and he's the one guaranteed to lose.
The treasurer's post may be the second-highest state
office on this year's ballot, but it's also one of the
least glamorous. The treasurer is basically the state's
banker, investing money for state taxpayers and retired
public employees and managing debt.
Libertarian candidate Mitch Shults, an Intel executive,
gave a polished performance, advancing ideas such as selling
public lands to help finance K-12 education. Shults clearly
understands the job he's seeking and knows he doesn't
have a chance of winning it. "My job in this race is to
make sure there's an open debate," Shults told the City
Club faithful.
Shults also, however, could play the role of spoiler.
At City Club, he reiterated support for tax-slasher Don
McIntire's Measure 8 (which imposes state spending limits)
and Bill Sizemore's Measure 91 (which makes federal taxes
deductible). In fact, McIntire and Sizemore's top lieutenant,
Becky Miller, has endorsed Shults, which may help him
pull votes away from Republican Jon Kvistad.
Based on his performance last week, Kvistad's opponent
could use the help. Randall Edwards, a two-term state
representative from Southeast Portland, continues to talk
almost exclusively about schools. Polls have shown that
education is the top issue on voters' minds, but Edwards'
focus on it smacks of overkill. "As treasurer, I have
a plan to make schools better," he told the crowd.
At one point, Kvistad, a three-term Metro counselor from
Tigard, offered guidance. "We're running for treasurer,"
he told Edwards, "not state superintendent of public instruction."
While Edwards interspersed his musings on school funding
with proposals to streamline Treasury operations, Kvistad
jabbed away with a rapier-like wit. Smiling all the while,
Kvistad impugned Edwards' legislative record, his integrity
and his self-absorption. "Randall, you used the term 'I'
52 times today--I counted them," Kvistad said. Lobbing
one-liners, however, was about all he did. In fact, Kvistad's
comments were so thin on policy and proposals that his
performance prompted a visit to his Web site (www.kvistad.com)--which
revealed that while his page explaining how to make a
tax-deductible contribution is up and running, his "Issues"
page is still under construction.
--Nigel Jaquiss
OFF
YER ARSE
THREE WAYS TO SEEK LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR
ALL
*TUNE IN: The fur will fly when Elizabeth Furse and Jim
Habberstad take to the radio to discuss Measure 97, the
proposal to restrict leg-hold traps. 6 pm Wednesday,
Oct. 4, KBOO-FM (90.7 FM).
*TURN ON: Gov. John takes on Citizen Bill in a televised
debate over the Sizemore tax measures. 8 pm Tuesday,
Oct. 10, KOIN-TV.
*SHOW UP: All the candidates for Secretary of State
are invited to debate and take questions from the common
folk in a forum at Portland State University co-sponsored
by the Oregon Student Association, X-PAC and OSPIRG. 7
pm Monday, Oct. 9, Smith Memorial Center, room 238.
TRAIL
MIX
*GOP strategist John DiLorenzo has started a new
political action committee, the Oregon Business Leadership
Council PAC. The right-leaning businesses and other groups
give $10,000 a pop (he's got 7 donors so far), and the
money flows wherever GOP legislative leadership points.
*We tried to warn her about Eugene. Katie McGinty,
the former head of President Clinton's Council on Environmental
Quality, was in Oregon last week pushing Al Gore's environmental
agenda. Her Portland visit was all lovey-dovey, but then
last Thursday she headed to the University of Oregon to
spread Gore's Green Gospel. Clearly not buying it, a University
of Oregon protester shoved a 20-pound chinook in
her face.
*Taking his cue from last century's big boss-man (Richard
J. Daley, not Bruce Springsteen), GOP state treasurer
candidate Jon Kvistad is seeking to win support
by promising people jobs. Last weekend, in Lake Oswego,
Kvistad offered Libertarian challenger Mitch Shults,
and Intel exec, a job in the treasurer's office should
Kvistad prevail (the required pay cut nixed the deal).
Earlier in the campaign Kvistad said that if elected he'd
like to keep deputy treasurer Gary Bruebaker employed.
That offer is more serious: It just so happens that Bruebaker
lost to Randall Edwards in the primary for state treasurer
and has not yet endorsed his fellow Democrat.
