Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts published in “Day: November 1, 2007”

OR M49: Cruising?

Almost never do you hear a primary backer of either candidate or ballot issue publicly acknowledge near-certain loss before election day; if it isn't a foregone conclusion, it's either idiotic or political malpractice.

Oregon State Senator Larry George, R-Sherwood, is neither an idiot nor untutored in political communications; he knows what he's saying. George is a top backer of the opposition to Measure 49, the land use issue that would majorly revise 2004's Measure 37. So when we take it as a near-certainty that the deal is done when we saw he told the Oregonian's Jeff Mapes, on the record, this:

"We're at a point where we absolutely can't win this thing," said George, who is running the advertising campaign against 49. He's also the former head of Oregonians in Action, the property-rights group leading the anti-49 effort. "We're going to get crushed."

He attributes the ballot title, which is the first and main thing voters see on the ballot when they vote, and which was crafted by its Democratic sponsors, as being crucial. It's no doubt a factor, but we suspect other considerations as well.