Attorney General Campaign Ads: Rosenblum vs. Holton
Evan Manvel
Okay political junkies, especially those without television sets: here are the latest television ads in the critical, under-talked-about race to be Oregon's next Attorney General.
Attorney General candidate Ellen Rosenblum's ad focuses on children, protecting the most vulnerable, and her endorsements from various people, including Earl Blumenauer and Barbara Roberts.
Attorney General candidate Dwight Holton's ad emphasizes his endorsements by sheriffs and district attorneys, as well as Crime Victims United and the Oregon Education Association, and cracking down on sex offenders. I wonder whether his Crime Victims United endorsement will work against him in the Democratic primary. It's more likely that not many voters know who they are, and have a positive reaction to the name.
There were also two interesting recent radio pieces on this race, yesterday's OPB piece about medical marijuana advocates targeting Holton and a summary showing Holton is leading in fundraising, $420K to $290K (yes, cue the pot jokes).
What do people think?
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2:49 p.m.
Apr 19, '12
As a note, it also looks like Mr. Holton has several versions of the ad with slight proof point tweaks.
Here's one. Here's another. And a third.
9:57 a.m.
Apr 22, '12
'The Oregonian' endorses someone who wasn't a member of the Oregon bar til 2009 over someone that graduated from U of O...twice. Am I the only one that sees something wrong with this? We need an Attorney General that supports Oregon voters and Oregon values, not someone who will trample on them. Go to http://www.NotDwightHolton.Com and http://www.BeatHolton.Com for more reasons to not vote for Dwight Holton.
11:11 a.m.
Apr 22, '12
Just to be clear, Holton was a federal prosecutor and a law professor, so he did not have to take the Oregon Bar while practicing in Oregon. As any attorney will tell you, you don't take a Bar exam unless you have to.
2:50 p.m.
Apr 19, '12
I think they're both good spots. Holton's may play better to a general election audience than a D primary, but still a solid ad.
I'll be very curious to see the outcome of this race.
4:28 p.m.
Apr 19, '12
As one of those without a TV I greatly appreciate this posting. It helps.
9:21 p.m.
Apr 19, '12
Crime Victims United?? Really? That's right wing Republican organization. He wants to use that in a Dem. primary??
7:12 a.m.
Apr 20, '12
The medical marijuana movement has a lot of momentum right now and they are getting more and more organized. The crackdowns we are seeing in other parts of the country are creating political backlash. The one thing the marijuana movement excells at is defending the OMMP. Dwight has set himself up as the anti-OMMP candidate, he is about to see how important that particular 1.4% of the population can be at election time.
10:35 a.m.
Apr 20, '12
Dwight is not anti-OMMP. You are distorting his position.
1:05 p.m.
Apr 21, '12
This is nothing more than push back for Mr. Holton's actions to shut down Safe Access last year. I'm not distorting his position at all: I'm exposing it. Medical marijuana patients and their providers need to know that Dwight Holton cannot be trusted to stand up for them - and he shouldn't get their vote. If he's not anti-OMMP, how come he organized raids of legal OMMP gardens in Southern Oregon?
10:59 a.m.
Apr 20, '12
Jenifer, the link you yourself provide below provides the evidence that disputes your claim that he "has set himself up as the anti-OMMP candidate":
Now, you're welcome to argue that he really is anti-OMMP, but it's simply not factual that he is "setting himself up" that way.
11:30 a.m.
Apr 20, '12
Actions speak louder than words: he has called the program a "trainwreck" and killed Healthcare reform implementation last year when he sent out those intimidation letters. He claims that the number of people in the OMMP indicates abuse of the program when the Oregon Pain Management Commission shows that 9% of the American population qualifies for the Program. He calls safe access abuse of the program. Would he prefer to continue to support and subsidize the Black market by denying access to medicine?
12:02 a.m.
Apr 22, '12
Like I said, you're welcome to argue that he really is secretly anti-OMMP, but it's simply not factual that he is "setting himself up" that way.
7:51 a.m.
Apr 22, '12
His interpretation of the OMMA is overly narrow and not supported by statute: nowhere in the law does it say you have to be going through chemo or be end-of-life to be in the program. There are ACTUAL criminals in Oregon that Dwight had a responsibility to go after last year, and he chose to attack Safe Access instead. He chose to protect the profits of drug dealers by going after patients who were legaly starting businesses in their communities. He has decided to attack the disabled community instead of the Cartels while the foreign threat was clearly the more important priority: Drug Availability Steering Committee reports going back nearly 30 years show Mexican Cartels control 90% of the marijuana market in the US and that Oregon has always been among the top 10 marijuana producing States in the nation, and those same reports dating back to 2004 show that Oregon was one of the first States in the nation to experience mega-grows. And DASC figures they only confiscate between 10-25% of the illegal crop - and in Oregon they confiscated 262,000 plants in 2009. Which means there were at least 750,000 that they didn't get (and that is being generous and assuming they got 25% of the crop). So how did Dwight have time to send out intimidation letters to people who were following their State law?
7:33 a.m.
Apr 20, '12
CBS has noticed this race:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/47072283
10:34 p.m.
Apr 20, '12
There will be a candidate forum for this race next Wednesday at Portland State University. Please join us!
http://oregonsatf.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/AG-Candidate-Forum-Flyer.pdf
1:22 p.m.
Apr 21, '12
Dwight Holton is clearly a Democrat in name only. A Holton victory will lead to state-wide raids against medical cannabis providers, wasting taxpayer dollars and forcing patients into the underground market.
Ellen Rosenblum is the true progressive in the race that Democrats should rally behind.
12:04 a.m.
Apr 22, '12
Interesting that you seem to think that medical marijuana is the single issue that drives whether someone is a "real Democrat" or a "Democrat in name only".
By that logic, is President Obama a "Democrat in name only"?
10:19 a.m.
Apr 23, '12
President Obama has displayed a real failure in leadership by allowing underlings like Dwight Holton to be insubordinate to the stated policy of the current Administration. It is sad, but there were a lot of Bush appointees who like the old policy better and they have a lot of autonomy in making bottom up descisions - like the descision to send intimidation letters to medical marijuana patients and providers who were in compliance with their State laws, rather than focusing on ACTUAL drug dealers.
2:11 p.m.
Apr 21, '12
Many thanks to Dwight Holton for campaigning in Klamath, Jackson and Josephine County. He has criss-crossed the state many times leading up to the May vote. I want an experienced procecutor on the job day one.
9:36 p.m.
Apr 21, '12
Judge Rosenblum is a former federal prosecutor who has actually tried cases here in Oregon State Court. She is an experienced prosecutor. That, her judicial experience and the fact she is endorsed by Governor Barbara Roberts (who originally appointed Judge Rosenblum to the bench) puts me squarely in her camp.
12:06 a.m.
Apr 22, '12
I'm still undecided in this race, but just so that we're clear for readers here -- the claim that Holton has "never tried a case in an Oregon court" is statement about state courts vs. federal courts, rather than courts physically located in Oregon.
See Politifact Oregon for a full discussion of the distinction.
11:15 a.m.
Apr 22, '12
I don't know Rosenblum's background as well as Holton's, but has she actually tried a case in a state court? She was not in private practice very long and most of her career before being a Judge was as an AUSA (like Holton for that matter). Clearly, as an Appellate Judge, she has logged more time in state courts but has she tried state-level cases?
8:30 a.m.
Apr 22, '12
Delighted The Oregonian endorsed Dwight Holton.
12:19 p.m.
Apr 24, '12
Both Holton and Rosenblum are competent reasonable candidates. We need an Attorney General who can prioritize because resources are scarce and can bring people together on controversial issues and find solutions. The medical marijuana issue shows the contrast in styles. Holton raided patients after Oregon voters legalized medical marijuana. Rosenblum sat down and talked to them. Rosenblum gets my vote.
11:04 p.m.
May 14, '12