Paulie, sorry but Kitz only improved an economy that was rising nationally. The rising tide floated all boats and he instituted some very foundational ideas that are affecting the state economy today. He accomplished nothing on his own and the only state issues he addressed successfully were with a republican led state legislature. Once he had dems in control in Salem he foundered - badly.

Thanks, Paulie. Kitzhaber is the best governor we had in our state since Tom McCall. One thing he did do was keep the barbarians at the gate and protected the legacy of Oregon, keeping intact the environmental protections we have, keeping at bay the relentless assault on public education by a pack of extremists who want to dismantle public schools, and by developing and implementing the Oregon Health Plan, the most innovative program to expand health coverage and control costs in our entire country.

The hapless Dudley, who can't walk and chew gum, has as his great claim that he is tall and was born into wealth. Dr. John Kitzhaber has seen and responded to the need of Oregonians in the emergency room of a hospital, the legislature as senate president, and the governor's office. He will take Dudley apart in the debates and take his empty suit to the cleaners.

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Thanks for this, Paulie. I needed to start the week on a positive note.

"I'm afraid Republican Jack Roberts has let his selective partisan memory distort the record of Gov. John Kitzhaber during his first administration ("The real debate in the governor's race," July 29). What Roberts conveniently forgets is the highly charged partisan political environment that swept the nation in 1994, permeating Oregon after Kitzhaber's first election as governor.

It is important to remember that political environment. Newt Gingrich promised the destructive "Contract with America" and took control of the U.S. House. He later shut down the government and was eventually tossed out in shame.

In Oregon, newly elected Republican majorities in the Legislature forced a similar highly partisan agenda. Senate President Gordon Smith's chief of staff famously declared Gov. Kitzhaber "irrelevant." It was in this destructive atmosphere that the 1995 Legislature started an unfortunate cycle of passing radical legislation that lawmakers knew Kitzhaber would be forced to veto.

Sadly, the 2010 election year threatens to become as toxic as the 1994 election. Roberts' blatantly partisan rewriting of Kitzhaber's record will only serve to make it more so."

LTE in today's big "O" written by Chris Derth

I attended a house party...and it was a good experience. I encourage others to do the same if they repeat this.

One fact that stood out for me was the differential between Kitz's having been born/raised/worked here as compared to Dudley's being raised in CA, lived in Camas when he worked for the Trailblazers.... I don't know how Dudley could assume to 'know' Oregon, let alone govern it.

I've lived here 5 years and am very involved with my local area--but this is a big state with much diversity and I think one needs to have spent far more time in OR in order to govern. He may know the I-5 corridor but I can't imagine he understands the rural needs while I think Kitz does....

There's been a long joke of 'let's not californicate OR" so I had to laugh when the idea of a new Governor was a guy raised in San Diego (I used to live there too..and it is so not OR!)