Joel Haugen

Tattoo he'd get: A biplane on his left shoulder.

Joel Haugen, a former public schoolteacher originally from Minnesota, surprises us. He’s a Republican, of course. But he says he’d vote for Sen. Barack Obama in the general election, should Obama win the Democratic nomination. Haugen also staunchly opposes the Iraq war, going so far as to say he also opposed the invasion.

Haugen’s opponent is William Chappell, a 32-year-old from McMinnville who works as a histologist (that’s sorta like a pathology assistant). Chappell counts himself a die-hard Ron Paul supporter, and he also opposes the war.

But Haugen struck us as a far more thoughtful alternative than Chappell. Both credit Rep. David Wu, the Democratic incumbent they’d like to unseat, for holding a similar position opposing the war. Yet Haugen says, “I don’t see any evidence that he would be an agent of change within the Democratic Party.” (He must have watched our endorsement interview at wweek.com with Wu.)

By that same measure, Haugen appears willing to make some waves in his own party. For one thing, he says this country’s recent subprime lending fiasco is evidence we need additional federal rules to regulate that market. Did we mention he’s a Republican?

Video of WW endorsement interview(thanks to Portland Community Media)