Alpenrose midget cars? The "Bad Assets"?!
Kari Chisholm
Here's a little weekend levity for you. When Jeff Merkley got in that car crash last week, I was just as surprised as everyone else to hear that the guy had some experience crashing stuff.
Merkley said he didn't panic when the car went into a skid because he knew what to expect. In his youth, he said, he raced quarter-midget cars at the Alpenrose track, "and we were sliding around every corner."Once, he had to lay down a motorcycle when a car pulled an unexpected U-turn in front of him. He said he slid on his back but wasn't hurt because he was wearing a metal-frame backpack.
I don't know about you, but I know that my mental image of Jeff Merkley never included the phrase "had to lay down a motorcycle" while "wearing a metal-frame backpack."
Jeff Merkley. Easy Rider. Jeff Merkley. Easy Rider. Hard to reconcile those two - but he's obviously not just a policy wonk in a suit.
Then again, maybe he's just a policy wonk with a baseball bat.
Over at the Campaign Trail blog, Carla Axtman shared an old 1988 Washington Post story (dug up by regular BlueOregon commenter Pete Forsyth) that shares the news about the 1988 D.C. softball championship:
The Congressional Budget Office marched off with the Third Annual Think Tank Softball Championship of Washington on Saturday afternoon -- and CBO did it convincingly.To reach the finals, CBO defeated two law firms (Hogan & Hartson and Docter, Docter & Salus), a former champion (Environmental Policy Institute) and the Democratic National Committee (which has been murmuring for months that 1988 is a Democratic year). ...
[In other games,] the Government Accountability Project scored three runs with two out in the final inning to beat the Center for Defense Information, 8-7. The Heritage Foundation needed a last-inning home run to squeak by the World Resources Institute, 4-3. And the red-shirted crew from Docter, Docter & Salus needed extra innings to defeat the blue-shirted gang from the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, 7-5. ...
The environmentalists from EPI looked strong as the afternoon wore on. But CBO beat them, 12-9, on a clutch three-run homer, to advance into the final round. ...
Congratulations to the Bad Assets, who were (beside those named above) Mark Weatherley, Andy Morton, Steve Bergantino, Jean Kayser, Richard Curley, Rod Rasmussen, Holly Harvey, Michael Berger, Gene Bryton, Michael Pogue, Jeff Merkley and Michael Sieverts. And thanks again to all who took part in Think Tank III. You've helped to make it a better summer for 1,200 underprivileged Washington area kids.
Motorcyle rider, softball champ, quarter-midget car racer... definitely not just a mild-mannered policy wonk.
[Full disclosure: My company built Jeff Merkley's campaign website. I speak here only for myself.]
 |
More Recent Posts | |
Albert Kaufman |
|
Guest Column |
|
Kari Chisholm |
|
Kari Chisholm |
Final pre-census estimate: Oregon's getting a sixth congressional seat |
Albert Kaufman |
Polluted by Money - How corporate cash corrupted one of the greenest states in America |
Guest Column |
|
Albert Kaufman |
Our Democrat Representatives in Action - What's on your wish list? |
Kari Chisholm |
|
Guest Column |
|
Kari Chisholm |
|
connect with blueoregon
9:52 a.m.
Feb 3, '08
Yesterday afternoon when Jeff was live-blogging at Daily Kos, he told me about being a Harley rider in his younger days.
Could have knocked me over with a feather. LOL
Carla--Netroots Outreach, Jeff Merkley for Oregon
10:02 a.m.
Feb 3, '08
Having grown up in a tiny rural community in Western Washington County where we boys fancied ourselves the reincarnation of the Dukes of Hazzard reruns we watched on TV, the midget car racing mention definitely intrigued me. Jeff would have fit in perfectly with us.
Of course it was the older guys, most of whom were our older brothers, who had the actual hot rod cars that were our main heros back then. In fact, I remember well one of them had a souped up old Dodge Charger and one day we watched him trying to outrun 3 or 4 county sheriffs with lights blazing and sirens screaming. It was straight out of Dukes of Hazzard! Seriously!
A couple times I found myself being chased down the main road through our unincorporated community by a deputy with lights blazing. But that was on my dirt bike and I had the good sense not to try to outrun them. Several years later when I turned 21 I quickly appreciated the concept of having juvenile records expunged, as it had become rather longer than I would have liked. LOL
So yeah... in my relative old age (45 in a couple months) and having calmed down and grown up significantly, I can easily identify with Jeff Merkley having once raced midget cars. Street bikes too. But that's another story best saved for another time...
Feb 3, '08
Slow news day?
"Posted by: Kari Chisholm | Jan 22, 2008 11:34:50 PM
Is it any surprise that Kari uses his blog to push his client's cause via minor "scandals" and, at the same time, obscure the fact that he is even a client...?
Are you kidding? I've never obscured my client list in my life. As you well know, I post my disclosure on every blog post I write - and on every comment that I post on anyone else's blog. Seriously...."
10:45 a.m.
Feb 3, '08
Hey, Hawth... have you ever thought of just taking one day out of the week and trying not to be angry for just that one day?
Feb 3, '08
Kevin,
Chill. I'm not angry. Just curious.
11:27 a.m.
Feb 3, '08
Kari,
Did you miss a point?
Not sure, but I seem to recall that Jeff and Mary are/were also rock climbers.
Anybody else remember hearing this one?
Feb 3, '08
Since Kari seems to have forgotten, I'll put his disclaimer in for him: "Kari's company built Jeff Merkley's website, as well as StopGordonSmith.com for the DPO. He speaks only for himself."
Now if we could just do something about the incessant Jeff Merkley minutia...
Feb 3, '08
Part of me thinks it might not be a bad idea to elect someone with the risk-taker gene. Someone who might see the position as a challenge, rather than a free pass to the cocktail party circuit, & a berth in the sleeper car on the gravy train.
1:28 p.m.
Feb 3, '08
Dammit. I wrote this up way late at night earlier this week - think I got interrupted by the crying kid. I'm adding the disclaimer now.
As for whether it's a slow news day, we've never pretended to be a news source of record. This is a blog, and as one national blogger told me recently (when I was bugging him about covering a particular topic), "I'm a blogger. I blog about what I want to blog about. Nothing more. Nothing less. If it's interesting to me, I'll blog about it. You don't have to read it."
Feb 3, '08
Please don't confuse an apology for an excuse, Kari.
2:05 p.m.
Feb 3, '08
<eyes roll="" at="" this="" point=""> One of these days Kari is gonna stop sharing things here (god forbid there should ever not be someone to pick it apart) and then someone will wonder why he is neglecting his blog.
5:34 p.m.
Feb 3, '08
Kari, maybe you should refund these reader's subscription price... oh wait IT'S FREE! As for electing risk takers, I'm all for it. If you want to play it safe, keep on sucking up to King George I, and accept his rotten tea tax. As for me, Death to the East India Company!
5:53 p.m.
Feb 3, '08
THIS JUST IN: Jeff Merkley borrowed Michael Strahan's uniform and sacked Tom Brady a couple of minutes ago! WOTTA GUY!
8:35 p.m.
Feb 3, '08
Exactly, Glen.
Feb 4, '08
Kari, you seem to "forget" to post that disclaimer a lot.
8:16 a.m.
Feb 4, '08
No, not really. I think 4-5 times in the last six months.... out of maybe 600-700 opportunities.
8:18 a.m.
Feb 4, '08
And BTW, there's no requirement anywhere to do that every time. It's what I choose to do. Plenty of other bloggers have a single web page on their blogs (usually linked somewhere in an obscure fashion) that lists all of their disclosures. I choose to post it every time in an effort to go WAY above and beyond what's expected. I miss it once in a while for a few hours -- big f'ing deal. Is there anybody here who doesn't know this about me by now?
8:26 a.m.
Feb 4, '08
What position did Jeff play in softball?
<h2>Spring Training starts soon. I wonder who Jeff follows in the Big Leagues?</h2>