Ron Saxton, a write-in for Attorney General?

Oregon's Republican bloggers have begun to organize a write-in campaign on behalf of Ron Saxton -- for the Attorney General race.

Not a single Republican filed for the post, so a minimalist write-in campaign would likely succeed. The only question: Will Ron Saxton accept the nomination of his party?

The idea started at Write Idea:

Normally when no candidate from one party files to run for an office, a candidate of the other party organizes a write-in campaign to win the nomination for both parties. This year however, in the Oregon Attorney General’s race there is a tough primary between two Democrats, Greg Macpherson a far-left Legislator, and Professor John Kroger who has taken HUGE donations from unions, making it difficult to run a write-in campaign as well. ...

All this leaves an opening for a Republican candidate. ... After the 2006 election Saxton said he was unlikely to seek public office again. However, if he is nominated by write-in votes, he would likely accept the nomination. Saxton has the qualifications, high name-recognition, and fairly moderate positions on the issues that it will take to win the general election.

Republicans should consider writing-in Ron Saxton (that's R-o-n S-a-x-t-o-n) for Attorney General as they vote in the next few weeks (don't forget to fill in the bubble as well).

And was picked up by NW Republican, where right-wing initiative racketeer Bill Sizemore weighed in:

My initial reaction is that we should do this. We can write in Saxton's name and let him decide after the primary whether he wants to make the run.

Ron, give it some serious thought, because it would not be hard for you to get the nomination with write-in votes. Chances are, you only have to beat out Mickey Mouse.

Update: Jeff Mapes reports that Saxton's former spokesperson says he's not interested:

Saxton, the 2006 Republican gubernatorial nominee, is "flattered, but not interested," writes Angela Wilhelms, who served as Saxton's spokeswoman during the '06 campaign. Saxton, who lost two well-funded races for governor, has talked about wanting to move out of the public eye. He's left his legal practice and now works for Jeld-Wen, the big window and door manufacturer.

Discuss.