John Foote is by far the sharpest pick out there. Marquis is a self-serving egomaniac.

Even though I hate all Repubs equally, I think Karen Immergut has done a decent job, notwithstanding her prior connections to the anti-Clinton machine in DC. The president-elect could leave her in office for a while as far as I am concerned. As a Multnomah County assistant DA and as US Attorney she has gone after white collar criminals aggressively, which in my opinion are a much greater threat to society than your average mid level drug dealer. Anyway, Marquis would be a big mistake in my opinion. He is exactly the type who would organize federal raids of medical marijuana grow operations for the front page headlines. Dugan or Simon would be creative and positive picks from my perspective.

PS - I heard a rumor that there are one or two competent women attorneys in Oregon. The short list has seven men and NO women? That does not sound like CHANGE and somewhat offends this old and grumpy white guy.

Whomever it is, I hope they have experience on the federal level and while it would be preferable to have a local person, I wouldn't be surprised if its somebody from outside the region. Considering the amount of news the US Attorney's Office made during Bush's tenure regarding terror busts, Immergut seems to have escaped much of the controversy and from what I know, she's fairly well thought of throughout the state.

The downside with the DAs is that they tend to be career public servants and not wealthy enough to make big donations, and thus less likely to get a patronage appointment. That leaves Simons.

For competence in organizing a body of prosecutors, the DAs are the obvious choices. The question from a strategy point-of-view is who can best help the Democrats in future elections.

Dugan, said he was supporting Marquis, but he seemed to leave the door open to consideration according to Politicker. Dugan has run for Congress before and lost. So, he may not be much future help.

Marquis, has the highest profile but his death penalty cheerleading could hurt him.

Foote, seems a good candidate to make Clackamas County even blue-er. In looking up his internet bio his downside is that he looks like the typical, white, balding lawyer.

Haroldson, is a Latino who has gotten positive media exposure in Portland due to the Brook Willberger case. Although he is from already blue Corvallis, according to his internet bio he spent time as a lawyer in Linn County which is generally pretty red.

Sounds like lazy "reporting." All it takes to be US Attorney is to be an elected DA and support the winning Senate candidate?

The likely candidate is someone no-one mentioned, Dwight Holtton, Gov. Tim Kaine's brother-in-law and a federal prosecutor. No DA has ever been named US Attorney. And Marquis may have his faults but he pissed off the Bush administration by denouncing their marijuana policy a couple years back. Wyden and Merkley will edcide who they want. And the new Attorney General.

Holton is really young. Everybody on this site probably has better political connections than I do, but that seems unlikely to me.

Josh Marquis would be the wrong choice. He avoids accountability for himself and his staff, as was shown in a conflict last year with the Clatsop County Board. His refusal to cooperate with their request for performance measures led them to strip him of his county pay supplement. Marquis then pushed for a public vote on the supplemental pay (and lost). During the campaign he lied when he said it was a grassroots effort; later emails proved he orchestrated the entire thing.

So we know he's arrogant and difficult to work with, and that he lies in order to benefit himself. In addition, he earlier charged one of the county commissioners who pissed him off with dog licensing violations (which were dropped) and had his wife run against the same commissioner. So he's vindictive as well.

An arrogant, difficult, vindictive liar. Wouldn't be my first choice for US Attorney, his Merkley support notwithstanding.

Marquis just to piss you all off

I am certain there are other candidates than those listed here who will be considered, but of the ones listed, I really like the idea of either Dugan or Simon. Simon would be a choice that would really piss off the Republicans because he knows how to utilize the letter of the law to great advantage, and wouldn't be shy about supporting Democratic issues. The Republicans would probably scream that he's too partisan, but then again, US Attorney appointments don't need Senate approval any more, right?

Marquis has come across to me as a Lieberman Democrat.He thinks he knows better than the rest of us what's really good for this country.

From the top of my head, I'd say US Attorneys typically come from the AUSA or private sector ranks. And even though the title says District of Oregon the candidate likely will hail from the District of Portland.

Michael Mosman was an AUSA, and John McKay (Seattle) was a firm lawyer. Similar for Clinton's appointees I believe.

Marquis a Lieberman Democrat? He was Ted's primary law enforecement supporter in 2002 and 2006. He helped spearhead the Measure 57 campaign and has been involved in his local Demo party for years. You may disagree with his support for the death penalty, but so does the President-elect and most Oregonians. You may not like him but his Blue credentials are pretty unassailable. But that's NOT the basis for appointing a United States Attorney. Let's give Wyden more credit than just blowng with the wind.

What about Deputy Oregon Attorney General Pete Shepherd? As someone with over 20 years experience in public service including criminal prosecution, consumer protection and both the Oregon and federal legal system, I can't think of a more qualified candidate.

Marquis? Yikes. Forget it.

Pete Shepherd would be interesting pick. Smart, ethical, competent and well-experienced in managing legal work through his job as #2 at Oregon DOJ. He should be a top contender.

My vote (if I had one) is for Pete Shepherd. He is a steady, brilliant and fair person. Unlike some of the others discussed, he is trustworthy, honorable and credible.

If you want someone with political background, experience as a judge and in Oregon DOJ, and skill at handling complex criminal and civil cases, Judge Gardner from Washington Co.

Gardner was an elected representative, a special assistant to Hardy Meyers in the Oregon AG office where he headed the tobacco litigation through federal court, and has been a judge for many years. (both before and after the AG gig.)

He's smart and tough.

Greg,

Seriously?

"Even though I hate all Repubs equally..."

This kind of divisive and childish rhetoric is exactly why more and more people are leaving the GOP and Democratic parties.

I have very good friends who are both liberal and conservative. We can argue, debate and disagree but we still love and respect one another. Just because you have a (D) or an (R) by your name doesn't automatically make you superior to everyone else.

Marquis would be the best choice by FAR. I can't believe how some are challenging his "blue" credentials (as if this were the "litmus test" type of President-elect). Those who oppose Marquis almost always do so because they are one-issue ideologues (pro-death penalty) and they don't like his public stance in favor of the death penalty. How shallow-- Marquis is a prosecutor, for Christ sake-- and the death penalty is a sentence that the people of Oregon have enabled him to seek when the circumstances warrant. President elect Obama, as well as Senator Wyden, are pro-death penalty as well (not to mention the majority of citizens in Oregon). Let's not make this one issue (which is not common, BTW, in FEDERAL prosecutions) the defining one. Marquis is smart, hardworking, and honest. He would serve our state honorably.

President elect Obama has been a role model for selecting candidates based on qualifications and performance. Most of this thread is representative of the low and odious quality of discourse today. I fully support a discussion based on facts, but this discussion seems to be all innuendo and hearsay, posted anonymously. For those interested in facts, Josh Marquis fully cooperated with the Clatsop County Board of Commissioners in their quest for "performance measures". Josh was hounded by the board because he has been an effective District Attorney and in the course of doing his job, has pursued cases that had hit home in a small community. The ringleader of the commissioners was subsequently recalled, another barely survived re-election last month, and the fate of the other two members of our unholy rightwing cabal is still not settled. The death penalty is not an item in the platform of the Democratic party, so why is it mentioned? Josh's positions on items actually mentioned in the Democratic Party platform would warm the heart of any progressive democrat. I live in Clatsop County and have known Josh Marquis since I moved here. I have been enormously impressed by Josh's integrity and professionalism in the execution of his job. He is overwhelmingly re-elected each time he runs. He would be missed in Clatsop if he received this appointment, but he would be an excellent appointment to the position of U.S. Attorney. Larry Taylor, Chair of the Clatsop County Democrats