Mayor 2012: First debate tonight. (Live video.)
Kari Chisholm
The leading candidates for Portland Mayor and City Council will be featured at a debate sponsored tonight by the Oregon AFL-CIO and other unions representing workers throughout the city.
The debate, which takes place between 6:30 and 8:30 p.m., will be livestreamed here at BlueOregon. The council candidates will be up first, followed by the mayoral candidates. This will be the first debate in the mayor's race, and comes six months before the primary election and nearly a full year before the general/run-off election in November 2012.
The three major announced candidates for mayor will participate - Eileen Brady, Charlie Hales, and Jefferson Smith.
Police Chief Mike Reese had asked to be invited last week, was invited and included, and then earlier today, he dropped out of the debate. He cited a need to focus on the Occupy Portland aftermath as his reason for abruptly canceling.
As I wrote last week, I think it's a bit odd for the debate to include someone who's not actually a candidate yet. He told Willamette Week today that he's not definitely in, and not definitely out:
"I'm still seriously considering running for mayor," he says.
Here's the live video. The City Council debate will be underway at 6:35 and the mayoral debate at 7:40 p.m.
And here's the Twitter stream:
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3:58 p.m.
Nov 15, '11
There's still plenty of time to write-in Sasha Roiz from Grimm. Take a look at the video: http://professionalactorsguide.com/orfilmandtv/?p=2053
5:52 p.m.
Nov 15, '11
Full disclosure: My firm built Eileen Brady's campaign website. I speak only for myself.
7:09 p.m.
Nov 15, '11
I'm having major hiccups with the live stream. :(
Will it be posted on-line afterward so we can watch it in its entirety?
7:20 p.m.
Nov 15, '11
The video will be available following the debate at http://www.oraflcio.org
7:45 p.m.
Nov 15, '11
Assuming that what's posted after is a clean file from the camera - rather than whatever feed Ustream is getting.
8:21 p.m.
Nov 15, '11
Thanks. Good to see it.
8:38 p.m.
Nov 15, '11
Wow. Huge win for Jefferson. Not just in terms of debate points, but in the thunder of applause. He's delivering on his strengths. Can he translate it to votes?
11:31 p.m.
Nov 15, '11
I was there tonight, and though I'm helping Jefferson out with his campaign, I think I'm objectively reporting that he really connected with the audience in his assessment of the CRC and on other answers.
Jefferson acknowledged that he really wants to be Mayor, and he understands that the AFL is looking for a candidate to back the CRC as envisioned--in Jeff's words, that the correct answer was supposed to be "Build, Baby, Build". But Jefferson delivered a skeptical assessment of the funding streams needed to make the project go--including the chance that a Tea Party Congress might not come through with $1 billion or so in federal money.
The big surprise to me was how loud the applause was in response.
He leveled with them and I think they really respected it. I heard two firefighters talking about how much they liked his answer in the parking lot after the debate.
Each of the candidates did a good job. But that CRC answer from Jeff and the positive response was the key moment of the debate to me.
1:24 a.m.
Nov 16, '11
I would expect nothing less from Jefferson. He is able to speak well beyond talking points. Our citizens are hungry for sincerity in their leaders, and it sounds like Jefferson gave them just that.
8:19 a.m.
Nov 16, '11
Jefferson Smith is right about the CRC, of course. What's even better is he had the courage to say it in a place where people thought he shouldn't. But in the end, I think Portlanders respect honesty and directness more than politics and usual.
9:30 a.m.
Nov 16, '11
Are AFL-CIO members supportive of a plan B for the CRC? Sure sounds like it.
Listen for yourself @1:33:45.
11:08 a.m.
Nov 16, '11
MAN Governor Bartlet, when you were a member of Congress, you voted against the New England Dairy Farming Compact. That vote hurt me sir.
Cal looks over at Toby.
MAN I'm a businessman. That vote hurt me to the tune of maybe, 10 cents a gallon. I voted for you three times for Congress. I voted for you twice for Governor.
We see Josh again, still reading the newspaper.
MAN And I'm here sir, and I'd like to ask you for an explanation.
BARTLET [pause] Yeah, I screwed you on that one.
Josh looks up, surprised.
MAN I'm sorry?
BARTLET I screwed you. You got hosed.
MAN Sir, I...
BARTLET And not just you. A lot of my constituents. I put the hammer to farms in Concord, Salem, Laconia, and Elem.
Josh looks really shocked and is now watching Bartlet.
BARTLET You guys got rogered but good.
The man sits down.
BARTLET Today, for the first time in history, one in five Americans living in poverty are children.
We see a still surprised Josh.
BARTLET One in five children live in the most abject, dangerous, hopeless, backbreaking, gut wrenching, poverty, one in five, and they're children. If fidelity to freedom and democracy is the code of our civic religion then surely, the code of our humanity is faithful service to that unwritten commandment that says "We shall give our children better than we ourselves had." I voted against the bill 'cause I didn't want it to be hard for people to buy milk. I stopped some money from flowing into your pocket. If that angers you, if you resent me, I completely respect that, but if you expect anything different from the President of the United States, I suggest you vote for somebody else. Thanks very much. Hope you enjoyed the chicken.
The audience applauds. Josh claps too.
<hr/>Replace "dairy compact" with "CRC" and "milk" with "congestion."