Jason Atkinson's performance Thursday night (26-Jan-06) in front of the Multnomah County Republican Meet-Up group was the best I've seen from him, and perhaps the best of any candidate for Governor of this state.
Naturally I tend to judge candidates against myself, or my own rosy image of myself. Tonight Jason performed better than I think I ever have myself.
I have not seen all three candidates in every one of their venues, so there's a lot I have not seen. And there's much more ahead.
But tonight and for the first time, I can imagine Jason Atkinson actually winning the Republican nomination and the governorship.
I still haven't picked my favorite, and I will enthusiastically support whoever wins the primary. I have things I like about Saxton; I have things I like about Mannix. Now I have things I like about Atkinson too.
What did he do right?
He was both comfortable and confident, exhibiting a sense of leadership and of commanding the room without effort. He knew his material. His plans for the office are more specific than I've previously heard from any candidate, and were delivered with confidence. His phrasing of the role as the "CEO Governor" worked well for me.
Best of all, he had a human story for every question and issue, and put a human face on his answers. He demonstrated a sense of caring (without the bathos of a Bill Clinton) and of deep sincerity.
This party could use a dozen more people like Jason Atkinson. I'm glad the one we have is running for Governor.
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Tom:
Riddle me this as a former candidate yourself? Why no pointed discussion about transportation funding and ODOT's economically adversarial priorities?
Thousands of dollars for the umpteenth futile Downtown Tigard visioning process, thousands of dollars to figure out how to take parking away from Lake Oswego businesses to provide never-used bike lanes, and a horrific track record of building freeway capacity decades after it has been needed.
ODOT, transportation funding, "transportation options," and land use planning and regulation to reduce vehicle "dependency" and sprawl are all insidiously linked in this state.
It's time to to address the problem upfront and frankly, is it not?
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