| From West by Northwest.org Voices of the Northwest Sadler's Sense: Who Can Bridge the Great Divide? By Russell Sadler Feb 24, 2006
Sen. Ben Westlund's decision to leave the Republican party and run for governor as an Independent, has the potential to transform Oregon's increasingly paralyzed politics. Westlund is already being called a "voice for independents." He could become more than that. He could become a voice for many Oregonians who are disenchanted with the candidates offered by the Republican and Democratic parties each November. Neither the Oregon Republican or Democratic parties are a majority party anymore. Only 39 percent of registered voters are Democrats. Even fewer are willing to register as a Republican, 36 percent. About 22 percent register as "nonaffiliated voters," who call themselves independents. As the percentage of Republicans and Democrats dwindles, those who remain tend to be the "true believers," more doctrinaire, less able to create the consensus and make the compromises required to govern a pluralistic society. The result is the polarization that leads to the policy paralysis that afflicts both state and federal governments. The only people who can get nominated by the dwindling, polarized parties are people willing to toe the partisan party line. Once elected, they can't govern because they can't compromise with the other side. This problem has afflicted Oregon Republicans worse that Oregon Democrats. The candidates Oregon Republicans nominate for statewide office are viewed as so extreme they cannot get elected. The last Republican governor was Vic Atiyeh who left office in 1987. The last Republican Secretary of State was Norma Paulus whose term ended in 1985. The last Republican State Treasurer, Tony Meeker, left office in 1993. The last elected Republican Attorney General, Dave Frohnmayer, left office in 1991. The last Republican elected Labor Commission, Jack Roberts, left office in 1999. The Democrats have their own problems. They are winning these statewide offices by default. Democrats are simply perceived as acceptable alternatives to the more extreme Republican candidates. This has caused turmoil among registered Democrats. Many of the party faithful want to "dump" Gov. Ted Kulongoski because he "hasn't done anything." Doctrinaire Democrats don't seem to be aware of the shambles the Republicans and conservative "tax limitation" initiatives have made of Oregon's finances. As long as self-styled conservatives pretend no new tax revenue is needed and then borrow the money to keep state government going, there will be no money "to do something," regardless of which Democrat becomes governor. Interest costs are eating up any increase in tax revenue. A Republican governor will have no choice but to perpetuate his party's fiscal charade, continuing the state's partisan political paralysis. And this is where Ben Westlund may become an attractive alternative as an independent. Westlund was part of a small faction of Republican legislators that tried to derail the Oregon Republican party's practice of "borrow and spend." His recent resignation from the party reflects his frustration with his inability to change that practice and the implied threats of partisan primary retaliation if he continued talking about it. He decided to run for governor as an independent instead. Westlund has one major liability. Oregon governors usually come up through the "farm club." They usually have some experience in state or local government, then win a statewide executive office where they gain experience waiting for an opportunity to run for governor. Westlund has not held a statewide office. Ironically, Westlund's credentials are similar to the only other modern Oregon governor who did not come up through the political farm club -- Gov. Vic Atiyeh, who served two terms between 1979-1987. Shortly after Atiyeh's election, Oregon plunged into the greatest recession since the Great Depression. Atiyeh's legislative experience was on the legislature's tax and budget committees. As state revenues plunged, Atiyeh's encyclopedic knowledge of the state's finances guided lawmakers and bureaucrats through extensive budget cuts. When there were no more votes to cut budgets, Atiyeh helped craft a temporary surtax to fill in the gaps until the economy recovered. Atiyeh had the right skills for the time. The first priority of Oregon's next governor will be the formidable task for putting Oregon's fiscal house in order. It doesn't matter what other priorities anyone campaigns on, finances will have to come first. Like Atiyeh, Westlund's legislative experience has been in the tax and budget business. He has the skills to guide legislators through the fiscal mine field that more than a decade of Republican recklessness has left in its wake. Westlund would have great credibility working with a Democratically-controlled legislature or a divided legislature. Westlund knows all the Republicans' fiscal sleight of hand and he doesn't like it. If he is elected as an Independent, he is likely to blow the whistle on them in public. In any case, Westlund would have a good chance to break the partisan paralysis that frustrates so many Oregonians. Copyright © 2006 by Russell Sadler Russell Sadler is a journalist and a lecturer at Southern Oregon University. You may write him c/o publisher at westbynorthwest.org. Visit Sadler's Sense column's at West By Northwest.org: Sadler's Sense: Peer Review and Politics Sadler's Sense: Of Forests and The River Sadler's Sense: Development and Belief --Who Pays? 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