Griffin: All I am saying, is give Huff a chance....
Carla Axtman
(With apologies to John Lennon)
In her latest piece, Oregonian columnist Anna Griffin makes the case that Oregonians benefit from John Huffman's U.S. Senate run:
I am going to risk my liberal credentials and say that Jim Huffman's run for U.S. Senate is a good thing for the Republican Party -- and in this particular case, what's good for the Grand Old Party is good for Oregon.Huffman, a Lewis & Clark law professor, isn't Scott Brown. Despite the excitement that greeted his campaign to unseat Ron Wyden, odds are he'll lose badly this fall, assuming he even wins his primary.
But the fact that someone with his credentials has agreed to run is happy news. The two-party system works best when two viable parties compete for voter attention, testing each other's logic and forcing incumbents to explain votes.
Discuss.
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Mar 18, '10
"testing each other's logic "
That is what I am waiting for. But not so much Wyden testing Huff's logic as Huffman in a face to face town hall meeting being questioned on public statements or written words by ordinary folks---stay at home Mom, part time worker, college student, etc.
Will he be able to think oh his feet?
Or is he not accustomed to being questioned face to face by the general public?
3:04 p.m.
Mar 18, '10
i don't like his politics, but he's not a goober. he's smart, he can probably hold up his end in a debate, and Anna's right on this: we need more than a single candidate for good elections. i want the people i support to get challenged, hard. i want them tested, i want them to defend their positions, to make mistakes & learn from them. Obama's best speech in 2008 came following a defeat (NH: Yes we can).
so i hope Huff runs a good race. his politics are not what most Oregonians want, so he is going to lose, but he needs to make Ron earn the win (and Weigler earn his pay).
Mar 18, '10
To add to TAB's comments,
While I believe Wyden is doing a fine job in respect to his voting record, I would like to have a choice and/or reasonable comparison against another canidate for every election.
And Huff ain't it.
Mar 18, '10
Scott, Did you vote for Measure 65--nonpartisan elections?
Mar 18, '10
Yes, Oregonian, we get it. Your new libertarian editor wants you to embrace the libertarian professor. At least Griffin told the truth about Huffman's out-of-touch positions. Wyden will win, and he ought to. He's earned it.
Mar 18, '10
Scott In Damascus
You say remove all corporate money, In 66-67 the public unions were the biggest contributor.
How about number 4
4)Remove unions from elections.
Another Great Freedom Fighter in our time: Money won't create success, the freedom to make it will. Nelson Mandela
Mar 18, '10
How about removing all corporate AND union money?
To remove union money but keep corporate money means the rich shout and the rest of us whisper.
Mar 19, '10
Does whats her name have liberal credentials to risk?
Who cares what a tourist from North Carolina thinks anyway...
Liberal credentials revoked.
Mar 19, '10
Republicans are always welcome to run any old fool the want to. The crazier the better.
In Mr. Huffmans case he isn't one of the living in another universe crowd, but he will be ask how his pie-in-the-sky-conservative-think-tank-classroom theories would apply to the real world.
The answers should be interesting.
Mar 19, '10
The two-party system works best when two viable parties compete for voter attention, testing each other's logic and forcing incumbents to explain votes.
The flaw, of course, is that we DON'T have a two party system where the parties do that. The Republicans have reached the point where they are NEVER worthy of serious consideration, and where simply choosing to run with an (R) next to one's name reveals an insurmountable character flaw. Their candidates do NOT "test the other party's logic and force incumbents to explain votes"...they just spout pre-formed talking points and make things up. And so far, Huffman hasn't shown himeslf to be an exception to that.
Sometimes, Democratic politicians reduce themselves to that, too, and then we don't even have a decent ONE-party system. Fortunately, Oregon Democrats tend to be better than that.
Mar 19, '10
Spot on, Scott!
Posted by: bradley | Mar 18, 2010 8:42:33 PM
Yes, Oregonian, we get it. Your new libertarian editor wants you to embrace the libertarian professor. At least Griffin told the truth about Huffman's out-of-touch positions. Wyden will win, and he ought to. He's earned it.
It's amazing how much more registered Dems know about the Libertarian Party than people actually registered Libertarian. Every Libertarian I know is to the left of every Dem I know, and they tend to want about equal sized government. Huffman's politics make them wretch. So, drool on us oh salivary glands of political wisdom and tell us, are we deluded, are you trying to create a straw man Party, hoping that all Parties will become a stupid self parody like the GOP, or do you only know about Ls from what you hear in sound bites?
Have to agree with the Admiral this time. Definitely a two-faced, one party system. I like rw's term, "Janus Party".
2:10 p.m.
Mar 19, '10
What's there to discuss?
It is always good for candidates to face competition. There is lots of evidence that this makes elected officials more responsive to their electorate. They have to defend their positions more carefully.
<h2>One party status doesn't translate into good governance.</h2>