Quick Hits: The GOP canary is dead.

Kari Chisholm

• Wow. A political consultant working for Arizona Republicans is warning his candidates that there's a disaster in the making. In John McCain's home state, no less! Rest assured, there's probably a similar memo floating around Oregon's Republican circles:

  If the election were held today, Republicans would likely lose control of the Arizona State House and would be very close to losing control of the Arizona State Senate.

  The situation is dire and getting worse by the day.

  There is an old saying about a canary and a coal mine. The miners used canaries in the coal mine to warn them if toxic gases were infiltrating the mine. When the canary stopped making noise and died, that was their warning signal to get out quickly.

  Well, the canary in the Arizona Republican coal mine is dead...

  The doomsday scenario for Republicans is no longer a distant possibility. The danger of minority status is real and imminent. Republicans are running into the stiffest wind it has encountered since 1974. Our State Party is broke and spending money foolishly. The Democrats are well-funded, organized and hungry. It is every man and woman for himself or herself. Good luck. You will need it.

• Here's the latest spot from Greg Matthews in HD 50 (Gresham), who is running against Republican John Lim.

• And one from Brent Barton in HD 51 (Clackamas), running against right-wing lunatic Linda Flores.

• Don't let the screen door hit you in the ass on the way out, Dave. From the WW:

  Longtime Oregonian columnist David Reinhard may be leaving the paper. Reinhard, 56, submitted his paperwork Monday to take advantage of The Oregonian’s buyout offer of two years’ pay and bennies. But before lefty readers rejoice that the columnist who calls himself “right on the Left Coast” has opined his last, there’s a caveat. Like other O staffers meeting the Oct. 6 buyout deadline, Reinhard has seven days to rescind his decision. “I’m keeping my options open,” says Reinhard, who’s got a Ph.D. in history and, according to his Web biography, “dreams of living in Central Oregon when he’s not on the job at The Oregonian.”

• The Independent Party has endorsed Kate Brown for Secretary of State, in large part due to her support of campaign finance reform. More at WW.

• The legal battle between the recording industry and the University of Oregon has taken another turn, according to prominent tech blog Ars Technica. LiveRideOregon puts it into perspective:

  What this means is that if a student makes a mistake and downloads an album, costing the RIAA something to the tune of $5 in actual damages, they can be liable for hundreds of thousands to be awarded to the recording industry. To that end, they are particularly targeting students. They can take a student’s entire amount of financial aid, which defaults that student and forces him or her to begin repaying, nearly ensuring a college dropout and financial ruin. Students are about to get SCREWED by the unlimited legal resources of the recording industry, and no one is reporting on it.

By Kari Chisholm Oct. 11, 2008