OR-GOV: DiLorenzo drops out
Kari Chisholm
Just six weeks after he started an exploratory effort to consider running for Governor as a non-affiliated candidate, lobbyist John DiLorenzo has now announced that he's no longer in the race. From his email (via Willamette Week):
My exploratory effort which featured specific proposals as its centerpiece generated significant support from non-affiliated voters as well as from Republicans and Democrats who feel that party labels no longer define them and often interfere with forging a consensus for governing. My hard look culminated with meetings with the major party nominees, John Kitzhaber and Chris Dudley. I believe they are mindful that voters want to hear them articulate specific plans to address our state’s pressing needs; not merely aspirations and platitudes.
On that last point, I do think he's right. As George Stephanopoulos once said, "specificity is a character issue." Kitzhaber's rolled out multiple in-depth policy proposals. Dudley, not so much.
As the O's Jeff Mapes notes, one of DiLorenzo's most interesting (brilliant? insane?) ideas was a sales tax dedicated to paying for a single-payer health care system for all residents.
Perhaps his most provocative idea was to impose a sales tax dedicated to providing health care for the state's residents. While a sales tax has been political poison in Oregon, DiLorenzo argued that employers would flock to the state if they knew they would be relieved of having to provide health care for their employees.
"Employers would now find that they would have 15 to 20 percent of their payroll available to do other things," he said. And he noted that few other states could copy Oregon since they already have sales taxes dedicated to other uses.
Your thoughts?
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10:41 p.m.
Jun 15, '10
Full disclosure: My firm built John Kitzhaber's campaign website. I speak only for myself.
6:47 a.m.
Jun 16, '10
Kari, you truly qualify as a True Believer by saying Kitzhaber has "rolled-out multiple in-depth policy proposals" and then provide links to what his campaign has actually put out. I admire your chutzpah.
9:56 a.m.
Jun 16, '10
Let's make it easier for everyone. Here's Kitzhaber's jobs plan, Kitzhaber's education plan, and Kitzhaber's clean energy and environment plan.
Where's Dudley's clean energy plan or his education plan? He's got a jobs plan, but includes things like doing town halls in all 36 counties (which, while laudable, doesn't have much to do with creating jobs.)
2:02 p.m.
Jun 16, '10
You need to keep in mind where we are in the campaign process. An experienced political campaign (you know the one- process of elimination) plans to feature policy positions at timed increments throughout the campaign, so there is full opportunity to publicize each major agenda point without making them fight against another. It's actually a pretty well-known political strategy.
11:14 a.m.
Jun 16, '10
Cut and pasted from his plan. Damn, that was hard.
3) EDUCATE FOR OUR ECONOMIC FUTURE
Objectives: Prepare students for college, work, and the world; stable funding with incentives for improvement and reform, quality schools essential for a positive business climate, reform PERS to curb long-term budget impacts, transform higher education
Prioritize and Stabilize K-12 Funding As Governor, Chris Dudley will reduce K-12 budget volatility by setting aside 3% of forecast revenue into a rainy day fund available for schools during economic downturns; will demand that the K-12 education budget be the first budget approved by the legislature every two years, not the last; and will dedicate savings and new revenues from privatizing liquor sales to funding for local schools.
Improve Teacher Preparation, Excellence As Governor, Chris Dudley will make improving teacher quality his top education reform through more professional training, incentives for outstanding performance and providing teachers the tools and support they need to be effective in the classroom; will support participation in federal “Race to the Top” incentives to improve teacher and student performance.
Timber for Textbooks As Governor, Chris Dudley will implement policies to increase sustainable timber harvest in our Common School Fund forests, such as the Elliott State Forest in Southern Oregon, to provide additional dollars for K-12 education and greater investment returns on state timber holdings.
Healthy Kids Make Better Students As Governor, Chris Dudley will promote policies to combat childhood obesity and increase physical activity in K-12 schools by fast-tracking physical education requirements recently passed by the legislature, requiring healthier breakfast and lunch options in schools and by engaging Oregon’s college and professional athletes to raise awareness among parents and kids of the importance of physical activity both in school and at home.
Transform Oregon Higher Education As Governor, Chris Dudley will work to position Oregon colleges, universities and community colleges to be the job and idea factories of tomorrow by unshackling them from the outdated regulations that unnecessarily increase costs and limit innovation and accountability of individual institutions; will reverse the decades-long retreat from investments in higher education.
Reform PERS to Cut Short and Long-Term Costs As Governor, Chris Dudley will address the greatest financial challenge to our education system –growing pension costs that compete and crowd-out dollars for class size reduction, teacher training, infrastructure and extra-curricular activities; will pursue reforms that respect past obligations but that build a sustainable future pension system.
11:20 a.m.
Jun 16, '10
The Kitz jobs plan:
Oh boy, I am all a twitter at such great jobs stimulus ideas.
11:28 a.m.
Jun 16, '10
Let me retract that statement. After spending 30 minutes reading his jobs and education pages, I never realized there was more to his plan that what turned out to be the introduction page.
Kari: you might want to add some navigation at the end of the intro statement to indicate there is more. I really never saw the grey boxes with the links while reading the articles.
1:59 p.m.
Jun 16, '10
Glad you found it! There is more, but rolling out the position statements is planned to reflect a "controlled release" strategy. I think it's a good one.
11:57 a.m.
Jun 16, '10
Good post. My only complaint- Stephanopolous is not a good source for character issues. You can count on Dudley not being specific about anything. He won't want to be nailed down to anything. Because he won't understand it, and he won't know how to advocate for it.He's a perfect candidate for the 21st century Know-Nothing Party.
1:11 p.m.
Jun 16, '10
I presume DiLorenzo was a vote -drainer from Kitz?
1:56 p.m.
Jun 16, '10
I believe that would be the case.
4:45 p.m.
Jun 16, '10
Disagree. He's a Republican lobbyist, and a Republican attorney.
He also proposed abolishing capital gains taxes.
2:03 p.m.
Jun 16, '10
I'm intruiged by DiLorenzo's premise that party labels interfere with creating consensus. In that it doesn't make sense.