As a guy who lives in a garbage can, I have to say I admired Diane Linn's crib.

lister's performance was outstanding, though someone should tell the band that in the blues harmonicas are played "cross-harp" style (based on the breathing in chord, rather than breathing out), so a B harmonica is used for an F-sharp blues. sounded good anyway.

oh, amanda fritz is a zebra freak!?!

My personal ratings by race (for the record I live in Washington County and can't vote for these people, nor have I given any $ or time to any of them):

Overall the event was awesome and I'm looking forward to the general election one!

County Chair-

Linn-B-She was fine, that's about it. Nice talent and it actually was a "talent" unlike some of the others (e.g. Burdick's).

Wheeler-A-I thought he was the star of the night, stayed on message, talent was funny and on point, and answered the questions thrown at him well. Video with the tent was a bit weak but still good.

Portland Council (Sten's Seat):

Sten-C-Agree with what was said above, he got the biggest applause but I'm not entirely sure why. Both he and Ginny seemed interested only in snipping at each other at times.

Burdick-D-Worse than Sten, talent was a complete failure, was very evasive on a number of questions and was very wooden. Too bad because I had really respected her.

Lister-B-You may not like him but he was honest. Give him credit for that. I'm a huge jazz/blues fan so I loved the talent. No chance of winning but good job nonetheless.

City Council (Salztman):

Fritz-C+-Honestly I'm really not sure what to think of her. She seemed all over the map at times. Decent job though.

Saltzman-B-Started strong, ended weak. Video was the best of the night, it all fell apart in the last question (which donor do you disagree with most one), which although unfair was not answered very well. Talent was very weak, if you are going to do something like that, practice it, know exactly how it works. Also, he wasn't facing the audience during this.

All in all, if I had to guess how the election would turn out today I would guess this (Disclaimer: I am not nor do I pretend to be a pollster):

County Chair: Wheller-55%. Linn-44. Others-1%.

Portland City Council (Sten): Sten-45%. Burdick-30%. Lister-15%. Boyles-5%. Others-5%.

Portland City Council (Saltzman): Saltzman-55%. Fritz-40%. Others-5%.

I thought all the candidates showed a lot of courage tonight -- they can do stump speeches all day, but talent shows are tough! As a member of the band up on stage (The Retrofits) we had a great time and we figured out it was F# quick enough with Dave Lister's harmonica (who totally ripped it up by the way!).

Yeah, umm, the Sten I saw didn't "kill" - he couldn't name a single accomplishment. I can't imagine why...

Impressed: No one. (OK, Adrian from the Daily Show style interviews.)

Surprised: Linn. Specifically Linn singing and not getting booed off stage. That was pretty brave.

Made me laugh: Fritz. From those heels to the "Zentra" - the reoccurring thought I had was "what the hell..." but it was entertaining.

Made me want to cry: Burdick. Awkward is right. I thought the "grill" was bad... until the talent portion.

I just want to say that last night was a real thrill for me. Nerve wracking, terrifying and exhilarating all at once. I am especially grateful to the band for quickly figuring out which key harp I had and jumping in. That's what made it work.

i have to write in a vote for adrian chen's strip beanbag for #1 spot in the talent show, but after that second and third place go to dave lister, who was clearly scared (did you notice how he didn't face the crowd the whole time), was treated with dubious kindness by the band (who, just as an aside, reminds me WAAAAY too much of new found glory, only for thirtysomethings), and whose talent actually revealed something of himself, unlike erik sten's scripted 'goofiness' and diane linn's shameless and terrifying indigo girls-style pandering (i guess she was trying to warm up earlier with that off-key "hit me with your best shot," and we all know there's a hefty chunk of the crowd that will like her just for sucking at karaoke, but come on). amanda fritz was fine, ginny burdick was painfully awkward, and is it just me, are all y'all geriatric, or do we need to TURN DOWN THOSE MIKES, ALREADY (especially jefferson's; he was louder than when i saw sonic youth at the roseland, for 'crissakes'!)??

Good and content-lite times had by all.

Some obnoxious drunk crowd folks, especially when Ginny tried to explain actual policy re: the disability fund, which she got shouted down for, even while Erik was cheered for not mentioning an accomplishment (though zinging Jack).

Overall, Ted was incredibly sharp in the Q&A, even though he dodged the Ford Focus question he did so in a way that seemed right. His crib show was weak, as was his talent, besides his one line about Diane's poll numbers. Diane looked desperate, but showed guts. Ginny was completely out of her element, even though she had some good script she couldn't deliver it (about Derrick Foxworth and Voodoo donuts). Lister did a nice harmonica. Dan, well, nice crib, and Amanda, great lizard. Sten was unnecessarily mean making Ginny disappear ... couldn't it have been PGE or Emily Boyles?

Lister, you said you voted for someone named George Bush three times, right? Did you not vote for him or his father once? (1988, 1992, 2000, 2004, presuming you were skipping primary ballots).

Not sure the evening helped me decide who to vote for, just who to invite to Karaoke and who not to.

Byron Beck and that woman were so boring! Please don't ever let them mc again. Not funny at all. Kudos to Diane Linn for singing - it wasn't all that bad and was so very brave. And she had the best line of the night w/her answer to "what's the price of a marraige licence in Multnomah County?" She said "priceless." It was great.

jake,

your band was awesome, especially all those little mtv style 10 second interludes. how'd you pull all that altogether??? the comment about the harp wasn't meant as a knock on the band, you guys pulled it off with no warning, and sounded great together. i only commented because i heard dave lister say "it's in B", and then after the performance i heard someone say "actually, it's in F#".

cross-harp. harp in B, song in F#. you guys were both right. keep rockin.

peace

The comments here on this subject are thoughtful and lite, reflecting the show. But I think it also reflected the audience last night and Portland in general. Good people with honest disagreements who care about this City we love. I've travelled around this City during the campaign and saw and met many good people, I may be biased, but I think "Portland is the most decent city in America."

The show was about our future, no, not that future, but whether our young people participate in this great City and Vote...Vote...and Vote again at every election. We need young folks to vote and participate, last night was fun and exciting which at its best is what politics should be. We are more ONE than seperate in this City and thats a treasure we must always hold close and dear.

Thanks Willy Week and the Bus Project for helping our future by making the present fun and entertaining.

Er, why exactly is it the best Bureau in the City? And what did he do to make it so.

Actually, sorry -- as mentioned before this is not the post for policy discussions.

He looked extremely comfortable up there. And I support him. And his outfit was hot. And his looking through the red tube and making fun of his teeth was good -- he played to the upstairs, which only Wheeler also did (in talking about falling off the balcony drunk).

Couldn't Wheeler have said something like "Nothing like a little Jack in the morning" instead of "Whiskey"? But his nice tour of the "upstairs" and the "Not to brag, but this is where the action happens." Wow.

And Ginny (right?)'s handcuffs on her bed? WOW.

Post the crib shows, post 'em, post 'em.

I hear all the MTV Cribs videos and Daily Show-style interviews from CGW will be posted at CandidatesGoneWild.com either later this week or early next week...

Didn't know that I'd be playing a part in the action when I bought my ticket, but enjoyed it! A couple comments:

Electronic voting: Loved the microcosm of democracy in the form of our instant-feedback jury during Jefferson Smith's hi-larious segment. Political Feud?? All that was missing was the "survey SAYS!"

Building Votes: It's nice that there's a easy/packaged way to get involved, whether you're a Dave Lister devotee or a Sten stalwart.

Can someone tell me exactly what the Bus Project does?

I'm not trying to be rude or sarcastic here but what do they actually do?

It seems like an extremely expensive project if all it does is knock on doors every now and then and tries to make voting fun.

I'd like to hear people's thoughts on this. Please bring a strong case so that folks like me don't make stupid/weak comments like this again.

Jeff,

Thanks for the answer and comments as that is what I was looking for.

Random

Tag line: Bus drives votes, drives leaders, and drives ideas. Essentially: incubates projects and people.

Actually, EXTREMELY cost effective, because it's driven by volunteers. (In the last six-month, 634% return on investment based on the Independent Sector valuation of human hours.)

Bus Citizen, the nonpartisan engagement/voter registratin arm...is working to register 15,000 voters this year and increase turnout by 10% in the most youth-dense precincts in Oregon. (To put that in perspective, the national League of Young Voters is registering 18,000 voters with a budget about 6 times the size.)

For more low-down on other stuff done by Bus-incubated projects, call the office and or check the website. (# is 503-233-3018. Website is www.busproject.org)

Otherwise, let's move the discussion back to CGW.

Unfortunately I don't get to vote for any of the candidates- but I was totally grossed out by the ants in Diane Linn's sink, totally freaked out by the Zebra, and impressed with the candidate prep work in the Burdick house. Good job manager for putting the guns on the bureau, handcuffs on the bed, and bikes in the garage. (Though I know Ginny does ride, but probably not all of them.) The jug of white zin was for real though right?

CGW gets better every year and I thought the jury pool voting was fabulous. Yay CGW committee.

So I had to leave the event early last night and apparently missed out on something to do with a Zebra? If you have any free time to write what happened then I would love the blow by blow of what this whole "Zebra" thing is all about. Serves me right for leaving early and all but lemme know if you can.

I had a freagin great time. Like a doofus, I went there without any thought to learning about the candidates--I went for the fun and to support friends involved. But the best part ended up being that I really did learn about who I am going to vote for. Another cool part was they asked people to volunteer and register to vote. I like bus project things because they make it fun, but also engage you to do get off your back side.

go team.

The Bus Rocks! Thanks for an informative good time!

Ginny's answer to where to get a Fir Burger at 2am was great: Schumacher's (get it? er, Schumacher furs? Timely, witty...)

Hell, I've been to the Doug Fir plenty of times and didn't know it was called a Fir Burger. Excuse us for living.

And Torrid, thanks for the info, but you didn't tell me what Erik did to make the Bureau so great. So if you INSIST on making this about policy, please enlighten me. I'm honestly curious (sorry, moderators).

Torridjoe is a city employee working in Sten's bureau.

Why would elected officials and candidates agree to humiliate themselves?

Are the Bus Project & WW performing a "service" by sponsoring this event?

How about CE0's gone wild? Would they do it? No. Doctors gone wild? Probably not. While a sense of humor is critical for survival and can certainly be useful for political candidates, this event, perhaps in the guise of humanizing the candidates, probably does nothing more than feed the contempt that many have for public service.

My vote goes for the candidates choosing not to participate in this annual exercise in public humiliation.

Levon - While Candidates Gone Wild isn't exactly my thing and I'm guessing most of the candidates don't relish the opportunity to humiliate themselves, CGW has a great purpose and that's to get a younger population of voters active and actually voting. It's no secret that young people don't vote (much). Whether it's apathy, lack of understanding, laziness or ??, they don't and that's something that CGW and the Bus Project aim to change and that's admirable.

Candidates don't do CGW so they can be humanized or humiliated, they don't even do it because it's necessarily fun. They do it because they know it's just one way they can reach out and encourage young people to vote, which is something we ALL should be doing in one form or another.

Well it was an interesting show. I think it is extremely sad that Willamette Week and others feel the need to embarass and humiliate these people like they did. I commend all of them for having the guts to get up there. Especially Diane Linn who both had the best talent by far and the number one memorible comment about the price of a marriage license "Priceless". The song she picked was so meaningful and she performed it well. I think she surprised everyone with her hidden talent. I think the house tours were extremely rood, but none the less funny. Linn's house was the most realistic, and Wheeler's "tent under the bridge" was just plain offensive.

The Bus Project does a phenomenal job of stimulating interest among those under 30 and their efforts are laudable.

In fact, the bulk of their efforts, from what I can tell, don't regularly include asking elected officials and candidates to play the entertainment game.

Scott, are you arguing that absent CGW, the Bus Project wouldn't be effectively increasing political participation among young Oregonians?

Jefferson Smith asks for constructive suggestions: Okay, first, eliminate Candidates Gone Wild; the name alone slithers along the bottom of the barrel and carries an awful stench. Second, why not organize candidate debates with a focus on issues chosen by younger Oregonians? Get high school students involved and try different formats. Imagine a group of 75 or so 30 and under voters/students with the opportunity to grill the candidates for a few hours? Another format might have short debates on several issues.

Apathy among young voters doesn't indicate an absence of intelligence with the need to dumb down politics to a pathetic lack-of-talent-show.

The Bus Project has already shown it can engage people and get them involved. Promise a fun after-debate party and make it social...sure. But hey, there's nothing wrong with having a little dignity and pride..even in the age of irony.

My vote is to change the title to "Private sector lackeys gone wild" and let them make buffons of themselves.

Okay folks:

I found Wheeler's MTV Cirb section to be downright insulting AND the perfect example of his arrogance, coupled with how out of touch he is with common people. Is anyone going to point out the fact that homeless folks pitch tents under bridges and actually sleep there?!

But we can't blame Wealthy Wheeler for that, right? Portland wake up! He may have read a million books and give a millions of dollars to save the trees. But he's out of touch and unqualified.

And, a Ford Focus? What about the 5 other cars, including an Audi and a Lexus, in his garage. If he was honest about who he is, I might be able to respect him. But he hired the best, most expensive consulting ang managing team to fool us and that's exactly what's happening.

WAKE UP PORTLAND!

PS Regarding the environment, Diane Linn has the endorsements of the Oregon League of Conservation Voters, Oregon Natural Resources Council and Sierra Club, which equals a clean sweep. Wheelers enviornmental endorsements? Zero!

What do you call his claim of being the best candidate for the environment? Priceless!

I cannot imagine what you think is insulting about Ted Wheeler pitching a tent in a park for his MTV Cribs segment. Maybe the segment did not make sense on face…but, YES, we have homeless people in Portland, so if you are now thinking about the problem of homelessness, GOOD, do something about it. . Obviously you know that Ted Wheeler was privileged growing up, did you know he volunteers at a homeless shelter??? He spends the night at the Goose Hollow Homeless Shelter. HE IS IN THE TRENCHES helping the homeless one on one, face to face, not sitting in an ivory tower. When was the last time you spent any time in a homeless shelter or spent the night in one??? I personally have not.

There are a lot of people that have grown up privileged, many of whom go on to do nothing with there lives, maybe squandering an inheritance and ending up in rehab, which you may think would be cool. Ted was smart enough and ambitious enough to get into Stanford, Columbia and then Harvard. I give him major props for that…some of you sound bitter about it; I think it is pretty damn cool.

Regarding the Ford Focus thing. What are you saying, that Ted Wheeler is trying to appeal to Multnomah County voters because he drives a Ford Focus??? Yeah right…who relates to someone driving a brand new Ford Focus? I think it is the sign of someone who may be frugal…the guy does drive an old pick up truck for fun…personally I think that’s hot and helps get my vote.

Regarding Diane Linn’s house. I was so completely creeped out by it…one of you thinks it is more realistic??? Realistic for who?, maybe realistic for someone on a 10 day bender or someone in serious need of some of the county’s mental health services…who’s vote is she going after? I think her house speaks volumes about how she runs the county…who has a Christmas tree just thrown on their back patio in April??? If you do, wake up,…the curb is only 20 feet away…FYI, we have something called yard debris pickup, it happens every other week.

The funniest part of the night was the video interview with Diane Linn…I am still laughing…my personal favorite was “strip easy-bake oven” and I thought the guy doing the interviewing was hilarious…that was some funny stuff. The whole night was fun, educational and helped shed a different light on the candidates…great job WW, Jeffrerson, Byron B. and Co, and the BusProject…

Depending on what you count it as, the Bike. Walk. Vote. endorsement might be Wheeler's environmental group endorsement. As would be the Mike Houck, Robert Liberty and Rex Burkholder endorsements. And a host of others.

I don't see any prominent environmentalists in Diane's individual supporters, which isn't to say there aren't any.

<h2>In short, environmentalists are split. Ted's passion for the outdoors is unassailable.</h2>