Sounds like he's too sane, responsible and not 'teabaggerish' enough for what passes for a republican these days.

OBTW there is a great couple of posts over at 'his vorpal sword' blog on FreedomWorks and their Oregon franchisees if you want to do a little extra reading. Also, some great photos of our beautiful state.

Too bad he won't be running, he would have raised the level of debate substantially. Morse has been one of the few legislators (Republican or Democratic) who has been willing to talk openly about tax reform (including the dreaded sales tax) and initiative reform. It would have been interesting to hear Kitzhaber explain why he ducked tax reform for eight long years in office, let alone kicker reform or initiative reform (all important issues that languished during the first two Kitzhaber administrations). Morse is a quiet, thoughtful lawmaker who is generally well regarded by his colleagues on both sides of the aisle. For those of us hoping for a campaign (instead of a crowning) Morse would have been a great contrast to Kitzhaber and elevated the policy debate.

"for what passes for a republican these days"

And where better to go than BO to get the real stuff on what passes for a Republican "these days"?

The problem with you Oregon blues is you can't address the real republicans so you create caricatures to diminish and ridicule. Morse would have tough time for sure. Not because the party is too extreme as ya'll like to pretend.
It's because of his support for things like a two year legislative review for all ballot initiatives. That's not Republican or conservative.

Seems to me, Morse is maybe the only Republican in Oregon who might yet win a general election to statewide office. Too bad he'd never make it through a closed primary. When's he going to switch to Democrat,anyway? He's unappreciated in his own party and I'd bet a lot of Indys and Democrats would vote for him if he demonstrated the integrity to leave the Axis of Weasels.

@Kaylee, in case you hadn't noticed, The Kitz had a Republican controlled legislature (both houses) during his entire term of office. He could not have tackled tax reform or any other problem without their cooperation.

With a Democratic controlled legislature, he'll be able to do all kinds of things.

@Richard: WE create caricatures? WOW, this is the first time on any forum where I've seen it implied that Beck, Plain, Larsen, Mannix, Thatcher, Esquival, Wingard and the rest of the right wing funny farm were created by Liberals! Seems to me, the Republicans get the Dr. Frankenstein role in those little dramas. We're just the simple villagers with the torches and pitchforks who have come to slay the monster that your party created.

Admiral -

Kitzhaber never lifted a finger to change the composition of the legislature (politics is a dirty business and the good doctor didn't want to get any dirt under his fingernails), nor did he even engage D's or R's, let alone the public in the discussion. Nothing ventured, nothing gained (pretty much summed up his 8 lackluster years in office). He was a great senator but a disappointment as a governor. Oh yeah, that is because Oregon is "ungovernable." I'm not really sure why he is running again. Cure for boredom? Can't get dates? I for one am really waiting to hear something more than platitudes. Bradbury at least is throwing ideas on the table.

Rob Kremer obviously has forgotten Morse's penchant for a sales tax. Thoughtful sure for a RINO. Why would a "conservative" like Kremer want a RINO like Morse around?

The problem with you Oregon blues is you can't address the real republicans so you create caricatures to diminish and ridicule.

Ah, but real Republicans these days are caricatures. Just peruse the COBRA blogs, with their penchant for name-calling, to see what I mean, not to mention G.O.P. bigwigs kowtowing to Rush Limbaugh.

i am not surprised by sen. morse. he seems thoughtful and, well, sane. but has the sen. ever had a tough race? he'd probably beat lim as a write-in. What i AM surprised at is the number of people already filing for state house seats. barton and bruun's seats are being sought by unknowns on both sides, who else? i thought blue o was gonna be coverin these races?: https://secure.sos.state.or.us/eim/cfFilings.do?cfSearchButtonName=currentElection&cfName=&cfyearActive=&cfOffice=&cfPartyAffiliation=&cfFilingFromDate=&cfFilingToDate=&cfWithDrawFromDate=&cfWithDrawToDate=

Rob, apparently you have mellowed with age, saying nice things about Frank Morse. To my mind, Frank is the closest to the Republicans who were in public office when Republicans held not only legislative but statewide offices.

The NY 23rd Cong. District should be an example of that rule. Hoffman may have been the darling of Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and elected officials who wanted cred from "the base". But I heard this afternoon that Hoffman was ideologically pure but knew very little about the 23rd Cong. District and made mistakes. For instance, a local newspaper published the questions they would ask in editorial board interviews and when Hoffman appeared before the editorial board he wasn't prepared to answer the questions.

Regardless of ideology, that looks to me like a guy who did not do his homework!

Rob, you might want to have a talk with your friends about the future of the GOP. Neither party wins without the votes of people not attached to a major party. Maybe it is time to quit screaming RINO at anyone who is as sensible as Frank Morse if Republicans want to start winning major elections again?

Rob, I was a McCall Republican, and even in the last few years before Tom McCall died, there were Republicans whose attitude towards people like me (or my friend who was a GOP county chair before the 1980 convention and stripped of her title because she didn't think Reagan was the greatest thing since sliced bread) was "we don't want your kind".

OK, there are now no statewide elected Republicans. Are people like me who think for ourselves (and have been known to quote McCall, Atiyeh, Goldwater, and other thoughtful Republicans) part of the target audience for the current GOP?

It was interesting on the NY Times site last night to see the Gov. margin for the GOP go from 55% the first time I looked down to 49% or whatever it was finally.

Neither party can win an election with only straight party line votes.

My suggestion is that you and your friends discuss positive alternatives for the budget in the event that the 66 & 67 results are that the taxes are overthrown. Ideas which could actually gain votes outside one particular caucus (or do members of opposing caucuses talk to each other these days?).

THESE ARE BAD TAXES sounds more like Hoffman, Palin, et al than it sounds like people who could be trusted with legislative majority or statewide office.

This is a lesson that you and your friends (and Carla and her friends who think "pushing Schrader off the fence" is a great party building exercise) need to learn. Most of us don't vote as a bloc. We vote as individuals. We tell stories to our friends (like the one I have told about not being sure how to vote in the 5th Dist. primary last year until I heard Schrader speak and he reminded me of the Clackamas County Democrats I had known in the 1980s before the consultants took over politics).

There ARE those of us who have been registered R, D, and NAV at some time in our lives---and we have more power than a lot of partisans would like to admit. I've worked on 3rd party campaigns---John B. Anderson for President in 1980, Brent Thompson for US Senate in 1996.

I have told both Bradbury and Kitzhaber that I am a member of the "spectator caucus"---will wait to see who provides us with the most intelligent debate in the Gov. race before making my decision. An old friend (we met on a primary campaign a quarter century ago) likes that "spectator caucus" idea---campaign debates have become dumbed down of late and we deserve better.

I greatly admire Frank Morse and Max Williams but think most currently active Oregon Republicans are clueless and/or ideologues.

Rob, you might want to ask your "bullish" friends if they want the votes of people like me, or if such people think for themselves too much and don't belong in a major party.

"Can't get dates?" LOL. Made my night.

Watch now for an announcement from Rep. Bruce Hanna that he is running for Governor. With only Allen Alley and John Lim in the race, the Republican field is ripe for a conservative like Hanna.

Hanna can't win the general election, but he can certainly win the primary.

You heard it here first.

nice post :D

I've heard the same rumor about Hanna running for governor, for what that's worth.

well lt i feel most liberals in oregon including kitzhaber,bradbury and that worthless do nothing invisible governor k we have now are clueless and dont care about anyone but the state workers and protecting their fat bloated pensions.

Gordo was the only chance the R's had to mount a viable challenge to Kitz. Now that Gordo is comfortably golfing in DC, the R's are toast in the election for Governor. But I'm sure if some suitably right wing big ego on the R side wants to sink his or her life savings into a self-funded run against Kitz, the R establishment will welcome them with open arms.

Matthew, do you have any opinion on Sen. Morse?

Or do you think that once again calling Kitzhaber and Bradbury "clueless" will win elections?

Or don't you care?

i like senator morse very much and please explain to us lt what have your liberal buddies in this state like the worthless governor who we never see actually done to get unemployment down and make oregon more business friendly?what have bradbury and kitzhaber ever done lt to throw a parade over?please explain that to us?all they want is more taxes,fees and school money which are not needed.i care about oregon lt but i am getting tired of the same liberal mantra of more taxes,more spending on garbage like consultants,pers and etc and trying extortion scare tactics like threatening layoffs of teachers to try to get voters to fork over more money.govt is the only thing growing now lt.

Bruce Hanna is not going to run. He's out.

Matthew, if you think everyone who didn't vote for Saxton is a "liberal" who is completely satisfied with Kulongoski, you need to get out more.

Had it been an intelligent campaign between, say, Kulongoski and Westlund, don't assume there wouldn't have been a chunk of Ted's voters choosing Ben instead.

But then, poltiicians like Frank and Ben are solution oriented, not attack oriented like some politicians and bloggers.

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