Westlund: I'll see your five debates, and raise you five more.
Over at Politicker OR, they're reporting that GOP Treasurer candidate Allen Alley has challenged the Democratic nominee, Senator Ben Westlund, to a series of five debates. Westlund responded by challenging Alley to ten debates.
"The State Treasurer has a big job," Alley said in a statement. "So, it's incumbent upon the candidates to educate the public about the office and their respective experience that qualifies them to carry out its duties," said Alley. "I ask my opponent to agree to a series of five debates around the state so the public can make an informed choice in this election." ..."As a business owner and as a rural legislator, I have traveled extensively to all parts of this state... I know how big it truly is and I believe that five joint appearances are far too few to really reach "the entire State of Oregon" as you indicated. In the spirit of your proposal, I propose that we conduct, at a minimum, ten joint appearances, at least two in each congressional district and at least two in each month, beginning in June," Westlund said in a letter to Alley.
Westlund went a step further - suggesting that the two of them ride in the same car around the state.
"I would further like to suggest that we emulate the example of two of Oregon's great statesmen, Bob Straub and Tom McCall who, when running as opponents for Governor traveled to their appearances together in the same car."Westlund even offered to drive. Only time will tell if Alley calls shotgun.
Read the rest. Discuss.
|
May 23, 2008
Posted in in the news. |
More Recent Posts | |
Albert Kaufman |
|
Guest Column |
|
Kari Chisholm |
|
Kari Chisholm |
Final pre-census estimate: Oregon's getting a sixth congressional seat |
Albert Kaufman |
Polluted by Money - How corporate cash corrupted one of the greenest states in America |
Guest Column |
|
Albert Kaufman |
Our Democrat Representatives in Action - What's on your wish list? |
Kari Chisholm |
|
Guest Column |
|
Kari Chisholm |
|
connect with blueoregon
May 23, '08
Ben Westlund is awesome.
I don't think I've ever been to a debate for candidates running for Oregon Secretary of the Treasury, but I'll go see Ben.
May 23, '08
"And I further propose we share clothing. I have several very nice ties, and I do believe Mr. Alley's slacks would fit me nicely."
2:10 p.m.
May 23, '08
That has to be the coolest debate counter-offer I have ever heard in my life. Kudos to you, Senator Westlund.
May 23, '08
Which of the two candidates sold Bull semen?
Kinda hard not to figure out who the good old boy is.
By the way, I know Ben ... "I have several very nice ties,..." Ben doesn't wear ties outside of Salem, and in Salem even he wouldn't declare they were very nice.
May 23, '08
LOL - Westlund is going to kick Alley's butt.
I just went to Ben's awesome website and gave him some money to buy gas for the roadshow.
2:32 p.m.
May 23, '08
I would like to state for the record that I have a deep and abiding, yet chaste love for Ben Westlund.
YOU GO BEN!
May 23, '08
Another classy response by Mr. Westlund
May 23, '08
I would expect nothing less. Ben hasn't backed down from much before and he won't start now. Seriously if you had seen some of the e-mails he got over supporting civil unions you would have understood how impressive it is that he stood his ground.
May 23, '08
Why not roll up in the ferrari Alley was driving while pixelworks was hemorrhaging jobs? Or the Corvette?
I wonder if Alley is planning a debate in China.
May 23, '08
Hahaha! I can't beleive Allen Alley decided to jump right into the Treasurer's race against Ben Westlund. He's never even been in a campaign before -- what the heck was he thinking???
This is going to be good... I'm going to that debate and I'm bringing popcorn.
May 23, '08
"Allen Alley, who is running against Ben Westlund for State Treasurer, just raised over $100K at his kick-off event. If the traditional early test of a viable candidate is his ability to raise money, Allen seems to have passed the test."
"Allen still has the eyes of a child when it comes to government service and the opportunity to create change. He is genuine and honest and completely refreshing. And clearly not a career politician! Frustrated by a process that moves slowly, we spoke about the small victories that come from having such a position. To simply introduce conservative principals in to the vernacular of the Governor’s office … are victories. These successes came by establishing trust. That an R label doesn’t simple mean a roadblock to their political achievement. Rather Allen was an individual with a different vision but the same goal of a better Oregon"
http://www.oregoncatalyst.com/index.php?/archives/1250-Allen-Alley-for-State-Treasurer!.html#extended
May 23, '08
YES! Nice job Ben. Not only will it help to elevate the profile of a largely unknown statewide seat, but the suggestion of traveling together is perfectly in line with my own politics.
And why not? If elections are truly going to be about ideas not personalities, then more opportunities like this should be explored.
However, the fuel should be biodiesel and the snacks should be bought from locally owned stores.
James Mattiace Currently in the Kingdom of Morocco
May 23, '08
I find that politicians who operate like Ben Westlund extremely refreshing. My guess is that Alley wouldn't understand the value of actually speaking with his opponent for a few hours on the way to a few debates.
This is gonna be a great election cycle unless you're an elephant!
May 23, '08
Allen still has the eyes of a child when it comes to government service
Yes... Let's put a child in charge of an $70-billion state fund. What a flippin' brilliant idea.
Perhaps it was that child-like innocence that allowed him to run Pixelworks into the ground over the last four years but still paid himself a million-dollar bonus.
9:05 p.m.
May 23, '08
Ben came over from the dark side and knows the quality of the opposition all too well. He will tell them what's what and they will think it's hell!
9:43 p.m.
May 23, '08
It'd be an eminently fair thing for people to refrain from whacking Alley just because his business took a bad turn. Anyone who has every had to meet a payroll understands that businesses can go through tough times. Allen Alley is a smart man and he is a credible candidate for this office.
We are blessed with two candidates who can hash out real policy reforms on revenue and taxes, and appear ready to engage in a serious Lincoln-Douglass style debate on things that have been overlooked for far too long in this state. I much prefer Westlund's approach to muggings in the form of glossy mailers and 30-second soundbytes.
Oregon deserves at least 1 race in which we have a real debate between now and November.
9:54 p.m.
May 23, '08
Sal, businesses going bad is one thing, million dollar self-payments while it's happening quite another. Is that charge true?
10:09 p.m.
May 23, '08
It will be a serious blow if it proves out -- though the fact that it's coming from an anonymous commenter on a partisan blog should definitely raise a red flag.
I'm more interested in seeing what one of the Governor's main policy advisor's and Senator Westlund can come up with to take to the people of Oregon over the next 6 months.
I'd encourage people let the policy be the main course and the partisanship be the side dish in the Treasurer's race. These guys have an opportunity to move the policy forward during this cycle. Hopefully people will have the wisdom to get out of the way and let them do it.
May 24, '08
Sal, thank you for keeping us all honest. Of course not all of Mr. Alley's million-plus salary was a bonus... just a good portion of it.
Here is Forbes' breakdown of his salary.
I'd like to know where I can get a job that pays you over a million bucks a year even when you're losing jobs and value hand over fist.
You're absolutely right though, in that we have a chance to see a race focus on issues rather than partisanship. It's exciting. But for Alley to continue to abstractly flaunt his "business experience" as some kind of positive mark is pretty disingenuous.
May 24, '08
Sal, thank you for keeping us all honest. Of course not all of Mr. Alley's million-plus salary was a bonus... just a good portion of it.
Here is Forbes' breakdown of his salary.
I'd like to know where I can get a job that pays you over a million bucks a year even when you're losing jobs and value hand over fist.
You're absolutely right though, in that we have a chance to see a race focus on issues rather than partisanship. It's exciting. But for Alley to continue to abstractly flaunt his "business experience" as some kind of positive mark is pretty disingenuous.
May 24, '08
"I'd encourage people let the policy be the main course and the partisanship be the side dish in the Treasurer's race. These guys have an opportunity to move the policy forward during this cycle."
There are lots of people in this state who don't fit into stereotypes of "the voters" or "the taxpayers" which were used by legislators and others ad naseum. To hear an actually intelligent debate would be wonderful.
But my bias is towards Ben. I admired his W & M work and his candor, and also admired his independent run for Gov. True leaders are always a pleasure to listen to.
May 24, '08
"Westlund went a step further - suggesting that the two of them ride in the same car around the state."
I would have loved to see Obama and Clinton do this.
Westlund is either gutsy, or very confident, or both. Good for him, either way. Hopefully Alley will accept.
9:54 a.m.
May 24, '08
JHL - Allen Alley's business experience is real. How many people can build a company of that size? How many people did he employ in the 9 years in which he was the CEO?
People hit Sho Dozono on similar fronts in the PDX race, and I don't like it. If you are going to go mug entrepreneurs because they've had some fits and false starts, you are not going to have many of them seek public office, and Oregon will be poorer for it.
Perseverance in the face of adversity, and a willingness to take risks are two hallmarks of the American entrepreneur, and they are things that we should reward and celebrate, even as we pursue a populist economic agenda.
May 24, '08
During the 2004 election, Westlund endorsed Ballot Measure 36, which outlawed same-sex marriage in Oregon.[7] He subsequently sponsored a bill in the legislature to allow civil unions. That effort was defeated in part thanks to opposition by Speaker of the House Karen Minnis, wife of the officer who arrested Westlund in 1982.[8]
Westlund supports abortion rights and access to the morning-after pill. During his time in the legislature, however, he has supported some restrictions on abortion. In 2003 he backed House Bill 2547[9] and in 2005 he backed H.B. 2532.[10] Both would have created a 24-hour waiting period for women wishing to receive an abortion and required doctors to read a statement to patients about abortion. In 2005, he also supported H.B. 2605,[11] a parental notification bill, and H.B. 2020,[12] which would have expanded Oregon's criminal homicide law, redefining "human beings" to include fetuses and embryos at any stage of development.
wikipedia.org/
May 24, '08
tr, if you truly are an Oregonian, you would realize that Westlund represented Central Oregon, not Lane or Mult. Co.
May 24, '08
TR is obviously a Republican hack who has no thoughts of his own but is adept at cutting and pasting copy to make his case for him.
What Wikipedia doesn't say is that after finding out that the Measure 36 arguments were based on faulty data, Westlund contacted the professor whose data was being misused to apologize and publicly rescinded his support.
6:45 p.m.
May 24, '08
$100 Grand should just about pay Allen's half of the gas for a round-the-state debate tour, if they do it soon.
May 27, '08
When I went to the State Treasury website the job description says something to the effect that the job is basically the "CFO" of the State. Now, looking at both candidates and their backgrounds, which one of those two is really qualified to be the CFO of the State ?
May 27, '08
Gabe, it would seem to me to be the guy with the Ways and Means experience.
May 27, '08
Do the Ways and Means committee members work closely with PERS and its investment advisors ?
11:29 a.m.
May 27, '08
Now, looking at both candidates and their backgrounds, which one of those two is really qualified to be the CFO of the State ?
Well, it sure as hell ain't this guy.
12:39 p.m.
May 30, '08
Ben, as always I admire your spirit, and strongly support your candidacy. But I also see some value in Alley's candidacy, and hope we will get to hear more about both of your visions for the office and for the state.
Please keep in mind, the majority of the voting public (i.e., all Republicans, all Independents, and all Democrats who failed to vote in the primary) has missed an opportunity to weigh in on the other two statewide races in this cycle. (There will only be one viable candidate on the November ballot for both Attorney General and Secretary of State.)
Much as I would love to see ten debates, I also strongly believe that five is way better than zero. The poker analogy makes me a little nervous -- I doubt your intent is to make him "fold," but if he does, that would be a little tragedy for democracy and for Oregon.