Oregonian's Caldwell: <i>I'm the decider</i>
Loaded Orygun offers the closest look you're likely to get online to Oregonian Opinion Editor Bob Caldwell's column today on the Saxton endorsement. In the original piece, the Oregonian concludes that while Saxton's "numbers don't add up", he'll "restore honor and integrity to the White House" "restore the trust of voters."
Anyway, from Caldwell's column in the print version today:
The board was split. Five favored Gov. Ted Kulongoski. One leaned toward him slightly, but also thought Saxton would be a plausible choice. Four favored Saxton. In the end, I decided Saxton was the right choice.
Carla's take:
Speaking of the Oregonian, the paper version contains an informative if not whiny explanation of the paper's endorsement of Ron Saxton. I've searched for an online version of Caldwell's piece to no avail. If anyone has located it, please leave a link in comments and I'll add it as an update. Suffice it to say, Caldwell lays claim to being the ultimate decision maker when it comes to who gets the paper's endorsement. Its nice to have a face to go with the rank stupidity. Thanks, Bob.
Read the entire Span the State here.
[Update: Another hat tip to loaded orygun for locating the elusive Caldwell editorial. You might think they'd keep the headline free of typos on this one. But you'd be wrong.]
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Oct. 22, 2006
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connect with blueoregon
Oct 23, '06
Yeah, nothing restores voter confidence like phony numbers and special interest, Swift boat politics.
11:08 a.m.
Oct 23, '06
My brother Burl is a big Caldwell fan, and unleashed these two letters last week. It seems unlikely Bob will print either of them, regardless of how the board might vote, so I'd like to print them here with credit to my bro. Nice post, Carla, you are consistently right on. And thanks for your digging on the contemptable child support history of Dom Biggi, who is trying to win our HD 27 seat. Luckily, despite the O's pathetic and weak endorsement of Biggi, we know that Tobias Read if FAR more prepared and qualified to be our Rep. It's a no brainer. So it's just an extra bonus so to speak that Biggi is court-admonished deadbeat dad running a hypocrytical campaign on a pro-kid platform. The O should reverse that endorsement ASAP! But again, if Caldwell is in charge, perhaps they already voted to do so by a clear majority and he stepped in and "decided". And now, more luuuuv for Caldwell!
Oregonian letter editor Bob Caldwell, faced with a 5-4 editorial-board vote favoring Ted Kulongoski, endorsed Ron Saxton instead. Too bad we didn't have a Bob Caldwell as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 2000 -- the 5-4 vote for George W. Bush would have put Al Gore in the White House.
and
"The board was split", says Oregonian letter editor Bob Caldwell. No it wasn't -- the vote was five for Kulongoski, four for Saxton, and one leaning toward Kulongoski. "It was a very close call", says Bob Caldwell. No, it wasn't -- it was 60% to 40%, a political election landslide. "In the end, I decided Saxton was the right choice", says Bob Caldwell. No, Mr. Caldwell, it wasn't. I vote to rename the newspaper "The BobCaldwellian", because it certainly does not reflect the views of Oregonians anymore. All in favor? Doesn't matter -- Bob wins.
Burl Ross
11:17 a.m.
Oct 23, '06
FWIW, I think he said it was five votes for Ted (of which one was only learning) and four for Saxton. Which still makes it 5-4.
Oct 23, '06
So, the Big O's editorial board vote was 5-4 AGAINST Saxton and 167-year-old Bobby Caldwell gets out his abacus and...
goes with Saxton?!?
I blame the liberal media. And people who are way too old and confused to hold an opinion that counts in this town.
But, local teachers are hitting Bobby where it hurts -- his huge wallet. Dozens of PPS teachers have cancelled their home AND school subscriptions to The Oregonian and the paper ain't talking about it, for sure.
I love capitalism, you?
1:02 p.m.
Oct 23, '06
FWIW, I think he said it was five votes for Ted (of which one was only learning) and four for Saxton. Which still makes it 5-4.
Depends on what "leaning" means. If if means a soft Kulongoski vote and window-dressing for Caldwell, it's still 6-4. Given how this whole thing was handled, I'm not inclined to take his (Caldwell's) version at face value.
Oct 23, '06
I think that Caldwell was taking a public hit for Sandy Rowe and Fred Stickel. I bet he won't be there much longer.
1:26 p.m.
Oct 23, '06
Hey the Oregonian ain't a democracy. They'll do what the owners want them to. If they don't, they'll be fired.
That said, Sid's remark points to one of only two ways that the owners might change their minds about Stickell.
The second would be a significant loss of advertising revenues........
Oct 23, '06
Posted by: myranda | 1:20:40 PM ... Caldwell was taking a public hit for Sandy Rowe and Fred Stickel. I bet he won't be there much longer.
The Lee Enterprises-owned newspaper in Springfield, 103 years old, died this week. More dead soon, in the Valley, and the dale, and the prairie, and the burg. Smart young urban creatives, and suburban hi-techies, don't let friends read newspapers no mo'.
This looks to me like the paper's own Rubicon has been Crossed -- the point after collusional monopolistic autocratic marketing, (when The Oregonian 'bought' (wink,wink) the Oregon Jounal -- was it '73?,'82?), institutes partisan monoculture in the readership forest, when the imprimatur of that slitview-opinion dictator becomes the Kiss of Political Death. Candidates then hope the artificially grown, spindly autocracy supports their opponent.
LIARS Larson's Black Kiss of endorsement already killed Saxton's public life.
Now, as you say myranda, The O's endorsement lips have touched LIARS germs on Saxton. Expect Saxton's incineration by burning newspaper, and hereafter every political movement to run for life away from Reinhard Caldwell and Stickel, the BLACKissers of Political DEATH.
Remember, a vote for The Oregonian's candidates is a vote for more -- like the last six years they provided -- Republican Man/Boy pederasty as your lawmakers.
Better talk with, best debate with, your neighbors to know how, and why, the majority of people are going to vote. Ignoregoonian.
<h1></h1>Oct 24, '06
The Oregonian is a right-leaning rag. Their headline writers have skewed articles to the right for years. I used to love the headlines on articles about Kitzhaber's mixed budget solutions that read "Kitzhaber proposes tax increase."
2:08 a.m.
Oct 24, '06
FWIW, I think he said it was five votes for Ted (of which one was only learning) and four for Saxton. Which still makes it 5-4.
Not if Caldwell was the 10th vote, which is how I interpreted the numbers. The non-Caldwell board members were 5-4 Kulongoski with one of those a weak K vote. Caldwell went Saxton and put him over the top.
Not that I think their endorsements are worth much in high profile races anyway. Not many people look to their endorsements for advice in a race like this.
The editorial board's output is the weakest part of the paper by a country mile.
Oct 24, '06
It's foolish to argue with the media. Take note. Kulongoski is in trouble and we all need to get into the campaign or we'll be a red state before you can say Fourth Reich. Frankly, we need to talk Ted up in the public places loud enough for others to over hear, and we need to refute any BS we here immediately. Get a spine, because the Right really has their back into it and it's why they're winning.
Oct 24, '06
Fourth Reich????? Ron Saxton = Red State = totalitarian fascism, voila, just like that???
Unless right-wing blogs are equating Kulongoski with Stalinism, that just might be the best argument for Saxton I've heard to date.
Certainly gets the "good grief" vote.
12:49 p.m.
Oct 24, '06
I think that Caldwell was taking a public hit for Sandy Rowe and Fred Stickel. I bet he won't be there much longer.
Yeah, probably two of the four who voted for Saxton were Sandy Rowe and Fred Stickel. Then they "left it up to Bob" to decide who to endorse. It was Bob's choice to either endorse Saxton or lose his job.
Oct 25, '06
Yes, it's pretty much just like that.
10:56 p.m.
Oct 25, '06
Gregor, that's absurd. So absurd that I'm thinking you're a GOP plant - stirring up trouble.
<h2>So, ka-ching! Another troll fund donation!</h2>