A Kitzhaber Comeback…or a GOP Fast Break?
While most of the national attention today will be focused on Specter and Sestak in Pennsylvania, Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas and whether a straight up Tea Party candidate can get a Senate nomination in Kentucky, one of the more intriguing races could be forming in Oregon.
John Kitzhaber, a two-term former Governor, seems sure to win Oregon’s Democratic primary today, while Republican newcomer and former NBA player Chris Dudley – all 7 feet 1 inch of him – could win the GOP nod. It is a race worth watching. Both men held leads in some of the recent public polling.
I’ve written here in the past about the difficulty of pulling off a political comeback, which may be Kitzhaber’s biggest challenge in a blue state that he once called “ungovernable.” The last Oregon comeback attempt – Tom McCall’s in 1978 – fell flat. At the same time, first-time candidates who try to launch political careers from the top – above the rim in Dudley’s case? – often stumble.
MSNBC has a good take on the race this morning, noting that in a recent robo-call poll Dudley came out ahead of the two other GOP contenders at just “shy of his career 46% free throw shooting percentage.”
No word on Kitzhaber’s career shooting percentage.