Kari, no one in the world cares about this. You just seem overtly partisan and petty for posting this about a simple mistake some web designer made. Please don't be a jerk.

No one cares? Bruun or Brunn ought to care. If he can't even spell his own name right, how can he represent the 5th district?

Good catch KC!

Whatever may be said of his website (and I can understand why Kari pays particular attention to such things), Scott Bruun was a great sport last night at the Bus Project's Wheelies, where his fifth-grade daughter was the star of the show. Scott may be politically conservative, but he has always been a class act.

Meanwhile, Kari, if you dig hard enough, maybe you'll discover that Sid Leiken's mom designed Scott Bruun's website. Think of the mileage you could get out of that!

I think the fact that the website actually exists precludes that possibility.

now excuse me as I walk away from this water-cooler conversation as it is too silly to spend more time on.

Actually, the honking huge elephant in the room that he hopes you won't notice is the honking huge elephant.

The GOP is in such a bad odor that, just as Gordon Smith's signs never whispered a word about it, this guy is claiming to be an "independent voice." Seems like the Independent Party might want to contact the SOS.

"I think the fact that the website actually exists precludes that possibility."

Hahaha! Comment of the Week.

In all seriousness though, this is not a blog post, this is a campaign's primary mode of communication to many, many people. Rule #1 is that no matter how great a campaign is, voters have to be able to find their candidate's name on the ballot or it's all for naught.

So even though it's a misstep right out of the gate, I really don't think it's going to have any ultimate effect. However, if the Democrats want to ensure victory, they could find a registered Independent who is willing to change his name to "Scott Brunn" and run for the same seat.

And I want to echo the fact that Rep. Bruun has indeed always been a class act in the Legislature. Great guy; I've known him to be courteous to staffers (D and R).

Both were right, I'd say. No one cares, and that's why it's all the crap you can eat, everyday, from your reps. I suppose the Bellotti Bold font scandal was similarly unimportant? You want to ignore this as partisan, then wonder why legislators can "never get it right". It's also a horrid creeping malaise, this taking no responsibility of IT. Anymore, it seems that IT is like love. You never have to say you're sorry.

The double "u" is Dutch, simply a long "u". Definitely has Dutch bone structure in his face. And yet another example of how the grandchildren of the Netherlands that don't get what they've got head to the American West, and promptly act as un-Dutch as they can!

Carla: "the internet[S]"?

Didn't people raise hell when Geo B said that?

Kari, I have a question. I've now heard you say at least once or twice a day on various threads that "this is a blog for political junkies"......... typically in defense of something or other.

Folks are taking the usual pokes at you,but this seems to have become a leit motif with you.

What's with that? That's a catchphrase that kind of makes me gag!

Damn Kari, you better have some really good proofreaders on staff for the sites you design b/c you have now lowered the bar of political discourse to spell checking a candidates website.

Ack!

BTW, the typo's fixed now.

To get back to the hidden elephant rather than the typo -- the guy running away from his party affiliation -- it makes me crazy that we permit politicians to order us to register by party but allow themselves to put out signs and web pages and whatnot with no party identification.

Is there anyone with any integrity in Salem who could drop a bill to require that all communication and electioneering/ marketing materials from a candidate clearly identify the candidate's party affiliation, at the very least next to the "Paid for by . . ." statement? It could read "Paid for by Joe Blow's a Great Guy Committee. (Joe Blow, GOP)."

Actually, Kari, you've often been known to scold posters for straying off-topic into.... CHIT CHAT and gossipy sniping...

And the point was that you've become rather defensive of late. What's that about? I"m not sure I've heard you repeat "political junkie" as often as you have this past four days.

"Carla: 'the internet[S]'? Didn't people raise hell when Geo B said that?"

Using the phrase "the internets" has now become an ironic way of subtly lampooning those who fail to grasp online lingo or function. The clue as to whether it's being used in jest or simply incorrectly is all in the context. Carla, a very internet-savvy individual, is using the term correctly.

"Is there anyone with any integrity in Salem who could drop a bill to require... [etc]"

Actuall, there is no "paid for by" statement. Oregon's constitutional free speech clause is broad enough that campaign materials need not contain a "paid for by" statement. An Oregon bill requiring party identification would be unconstitutional.

Federal races, such as for Congress, do have additional FEC rules, but state-level races do not. To force Bruun to reveal his party ID in his materials would have to be taken up in Washington, DC.

(And the identifiers in TV ads that state-level candidates abide by are a product of federal FCC rules. They're less stringent than FEC rules, so state candidates don't have to look into the camera and say "I approved this ad.")

Actually, Kari, you've often been known to scold posters for straying off-topic into.... CHIT CHAT and gossipy sniping...

So I guess this post and others like it should be considered open threads for chit chat and gossipy sniping. Sounds good to me.

I am a political junkie. blueoregon.com is one of many places I visit to get my fix.

Threads like this one seldom pique my interest... except when someone like George Anonymuncule Seldes makes an apparently unrelated observation about the pachyderm's annointed candidate to run against our Kurt Schrader.

Kari thanks for calling Bruun and his website to our attention. By the way, I have heard a rumor that Sid Leiken's mom is volunteering to do some polling for Scott during this cycle...

Come on, Kari. Expecting a candidate to get his name spelled correctly is silly. Government is not about getting details right - it's about the big ideas. Close enough for government work, eh?

Actuall[y], there is no "paid for by" statement. Oregon's constitutional free speech clause is broad enough that campaign materials need not contain a "paid for by" statement. An Oregon bill requiring party identification would be unconstitutional.

Are you claiming that this has been litigated in Oregon or are you making an assertion about how a challenge to such a law (requiring candidates for partisan offices in Oregon to identify their partisan affiliation) would come out?

If the former, cite please. If the latter, what's the basis for that assertion? The free speech protections of the Oregon Constitution are broad but not limitless, and public elections for public office are much different than nude dancing. E.g., despite the fact that money has been held to be speech and that there is a right to anonymous speech, laws requiring election campaign contribution disclosures have been upheld.

Frankly, I don't think most people care about a typo in the fall of an odd numbered year.

(Or for that matter, I doubt many people right now care about Kitzhaber's girlfriend.)

Today's guest on Fresh Air on NPR is Max Cleland. This is the program summary.

"Max Cleland served in Vietnam — where he lost both legs and his right arm — before being elected to the U.S. Senate. His new memoir is Heart of a Patriot: How I Found the Courage to Survive Vietnam, Walter Reed and Karl Rove."

There was a time when Karl Rove's dream was re-alignment of FDR proportions when a whole generation became his kind of Republican. How did that work out for him? Could it be that while Rove et al won the 2002 election, the nastiness level ended any hope of long term political success just as the 1990 Denny Smith commercials did for Denny? (Don't get too smug, Democrats---1992 primary nastiness in the US Senate primary race had the same effect in some quarters. )

I'd rather see some concentration on intelligent debate instead. Which of the various candidates for major office can state their reasons for agreeing/disagreeing with Peter DeFazio's concerns over what might happen if cap and trade were passed ---possibility of the market ending up looking like Enron?

Instead of just surface debates, here are 2 questions about education: 1) Education Secretary A. Duncan often refers to the good works of reformer Al Shanker. Who was Shanker, when did he come to Oregon to testify in a legislative Education comm., what did he stand for?

2) What should be the goal of secondary education: preventing dropouts and encouraging HS graduation? Training students for life in the 21st century? Academically rigorous secondary programs to accomplish the above such as http://www.ed.gov/pubs/ToolsforSchools/avid.html or the program to prevent dropouts starting in middle school which is on the America's Promise website?

Or is politics nothing more than activists and consultants playing GOTCHA because actual discussion of issues is not what political junkies want to talk about around the water cooler?

If the latter, is it any wonder so many people register outside of major parties and tune out politics until closer to elections?

Yah, the tragedy and viciousness of the Rovian way of doing business acted out so nastily upon Cleland.. jeez it makes me hate politics and the people who are engaging in it more than ever.

Do we up here check ourselves? Not a bit. Not enough. We go on and on with our sharp teeth and we do not care who we hurt. Be truthful.

[Off-topic rant removed. -editor.]

[Off-topic response to off-topic rant removed. -editor.]

[Off-topic response to off-topic rant removed. -editor.]

Love the "Raising Arizona" reference TJ! LOL! But that wasn't HI's line, it was Evelle's.

Sorry Kari, that was way off-topic. But irresistible.

Scott may be politically conservative, but he has always been a class act.

(Trying against odds to be substantive here...) Randle, I have to take issue with this statement. Though I don't have time here to look up innumerable details, as an unfortunate subject in Mr. B's district, I know all too well that he has a long and frankly slimy record of hoodwinking anyone and everyone he can into thinking he's a "moderate" and then cutting back-room deals with the extreme right wing of his hardly-ever-moderate party.

Not deals that get them to "moderate" their extreme anti-choice, anti-labor, anti-tax, anti-government positions, but deals where he supports them when it counts in exchange for opportunities to grandstand himself "working across the aisle" (like anyone who wants to get re-elected in his district, or most of the State, has a choice) on things that usually don't count for squat.

To me, he's the worst kind of GOP--smart enough and amoral enough to manipulate the voters into thinking he's a reasonable person, when, in fact, no member of the drown-the-rest-of-you-in-the-bath-tub-cause-I've-got-mine party should ever be considered even close.

Partisan? Hell yes. But Bruun a "class-act"? Only if you meant "ruling class."

Kari is flexing his muscles this week.

Jeff: thanks. It seems that it's a bit reactionary, Kari's jumping around deleting wildly off-topic carrying on here.

I've often had my heart warmed and a happy chuckle when someone came back at me loonily, or took off on something with baroque curlicues of comedy... and it's part of the interrelating we do here to build relationships, such as they are.

I notice that my adjurations to those attacking Kari were not removed... or my finger-wagging at Alcatross who is just being an ugly plug. :)... heh.

And: get real, Kari. You are defending your "article" on a misspelled name? ??? Yes, you want this discussed as a serious matter of state... but do you get to tell everyone to take it so and then edit thusly? That's just not the you I've defended against accusations of dictatorial editing. :)

Since I don't drink anymore, have MY home brew too. It will make it all better!

Thanks for that comment, Kari. Spells out the heart of BO.

So, Kari - are you exercising snarky bullshit by excising comments now that you deem wildly off topic in a manner you personally do not like?

Not you!

I'm too scared to go on with this line of badinage.

Now HERE'S some badarse political chitchat: http://www.slate.com/id/2223069/?obref=obinsite

There's a saying in homebreing: "relax, don't worry, have a homebrew."

<h2>Indeed. I think this one needs a whiskey chaser.</h2>