PORTLAND, Ore. — Former NBA player Chris Dudley has won his rookie political contest, grabbing the Republican nomination for governor of Oregon. Dudley defeated Allen Alley with 40 percent of the vote, with 70 percent of the expected vote counted. Alley had 32 percent. Dudley has been a consultant on executive benefits and a wealth adviser since retiring from basketball in 2003. He played 16 seasons, including six with the Portland Trail Blazers. Both he and Alley are from the upscale Portland suburb Lake Oswego.
Rich white man decides to run for public office. As a Republican. Sound familiar? No, I’m not going to denigrate Chris Dudley, and I’m going to assume that his motives are pure until proven otherwise. Still, having said that, all Dudley has to run on thus far is name recognition, which, if you’re a Trail Blazers fan, is huge. Here in Oregon, an “R” behind your name and a buck might get you a latte, but it won’t garner many votes. Being a Republican isn’t nearly as much of a handicap east of the Cascades (or, as we like to call it, “West Idaho”), but Oregon is an odd duck demographically. The vast majority of voters live in the Willamette Valley, and the majority of those folks like in the three-county area that includes Portland, which is as reliably Liberal and Democratic as Ted Haggard is demonstrably gay.
Listening to Republicans here running for office on a vague “JOBS! JOBS! JOBS!” platform may taste great, but it’s certainly less filling. Specifics are for losers and Liberals, eh?
After living in Texas for 10+ years, a state in which all statewide elected offices are held by Republicans, it’s been refreshing to be in a place where Democrats hold sway. The biggest downside to this is that politics in Oregon is a far more yawn-inducing endeavor. I miss the Jesus-y, uber-Conservative, wackjob tone of Texas politics, if for no other reason than common sense and reason were in such short supply…and the comic relief potential was through the roof. In Oregon, I’d wager that most resident couldn’t even tell you who the governor is (Ted Kulongoski, who’s about as exciting as a hearing on farm subsidies). Maybe what this state needs is a prominent Republican politician embroiled in a gay sex scandal…like maybe with a few Catholic priests and a Boy Scout troop.
I’m sure Chris Dudley’s a wonderful, kind person who has his heart firmly in the right place, but he’s going to be running against a popular former two-term governor in John Kitzhaber. My advice to Dudley would be to not give up his day job. Then again, if Greg Oden doesn’t recover sufficiently from his spate of injuries, the Trail Blazers will be in need of a center.
How’s your mid-range jump shot, Chris??
