The Shadow Governor: Teddy K.

Lane County commissioner Pete Sorenson who will be one of the Democratic challengers to incumbent Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski has been asking some of the same questions I have had regarding Teddy K's performance while in office.

For one thing, how come I keep hearing about steady job growth and improvement among the state's major industries yet every working class person and family I know is still struggling to make ends meet? Teddy K has been claiming a lot of credit for improving the state's economy and ending the recession but I don't feel any better of than I did several years ago. I'm not seeing an improvement to my personal finances but I am certain that a lot of wealthy Oregonians and corporations here are pretty happy.

And has anyone actually seen or heard from Kulongoski lately? I remember him getting elected and then he sort of dropped off the radar, perhaps he is running the state from his secret bunker high atop Mt. Hood. I like to think of him as the shadow governor. He lurks just out of sight of the citizens of Oregon waiting for just the right opportunities to emerge into the light of day. And with the November elections just around the corner he has stuck to his policy of avoiding debates with the other candidates perhaps counting on a low voter turnout at the polls so that he can get his people in line and capture enough votes to remain in office.

The only good thing we Oregonians have going for us is the fact that you could take the photos of all the candidates for governor on all sides, put them up on a cork board, put on a blindfold and then toss a dart and whatever candidate you hit could do as mediocre a job or better than Teddy K.

Tagged For: Politics * Oregon * Patrick Valdez