Nicholas Kristof For Governor of Oregon?

And I suppose you have a better idea??

Native Oregonian and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nicholas Kristof might be in the running for Oregon governor in 2022.

Kristof, who grew up on a Yamhill farm, said his friends are recruiting him, saying that the state needs “new leadership from outside the broken political system.”

The 62-year-old is a New York Times columnist focusing on human rights, women’s rights, health and global affairs. Kristof would be in the running as a Democrat after Gov. Kate Brown’s term ends, as first reported by Willamette Week. Brown cannot run for re-election because of term limits.

• April Rubin

When I moved back to Portland, Oregon from Houston, Texas, in 2007, I’d spent ten years (3722 days, not that I was counting) in a deep red state in which politics felt like a blood sport. Jesus is a Republican, the GOP is just one letter removed from God, and NO ONE hoping to gain power and/or influence questions that dynamic.

In Texas, politics is entertainment. It’s not of the “Jimmy Kimmel/Stephen Colbert” genre, but rather closer to the “feeding gladiators to the lions in ancient Rome” brand. Instead, the entertainment value stems from the reality that the level of sheer, unadulterated crazy is almost literally off the charts. Admittedly, it’s not quite to the level of your average “Floriduh Man,” but neither does it lag far behind.

When I left/escaped Texas, Republicans held every statewide elected office, as they do today. The old saw that Texans would vote for a ham sandwich as long as it had an “R” behind its name is more true than people outside the Lone Star State know. For the past couple of generations, “Texas Democrat” has had approximately the same cachet as “moderate Republican,” in that few take either seriously. Instead, they’re regarded more like the crazy uncle you keep locked in the basement because you’re terrified of what they might do if they’re allowed into the general population.

Then, in September 2007, I moved back to Oregon, a place where statewide politics are so benign and bland as to be sleep-inducing. To prove my point, I’d wager that if you went into downtown Portland and asked your average man/woman on the street who the Republican candidate in the most recent gubernatorial election was, you’d get a wide variety of deer-in-the-headlights blank stares.

(In case you care, and I don’t know why you would, it was Knute Buehler. He’s a rather unremarkable doctor from Bend who tried to make Oregonians forget that Donald Trump is a Republican.)

The only reason many people here in the Beaver State know Kate Brown is Governor is that they’re still angry about the COVID-19 restrictions that just ended. Brown, a rather benign grandmotherly type in her mid-60s, isn’t your typical extroverted, hale-fellow-well-met politician. The first openly bisexual woman to be elected Governor of any state, Brown was saddled with the misfortune of trying to negotiate COVID-19 while learning about it. As any pilot will tell you, flying an airplane while building it can be a treacherous and perilous proposition. That’s essentially the dilemma Brown faced.

Despite the vitriol she faced from all corners, Brown managed to keep the body count in Oregon relatively low. For that, she deserves far more credit than she’s received. Oregon appears to have come out of the pandemic FAR better than most red states, especially when you consider that 70% of Oregonians have received at least one vaccine shot.

Brown can’t run in 2022 because she’s term-limited, so the question becomes who’s next. Unfortunately, the answer is that there’s currently no answer. No one possessed of any degree of gravitas has thrown their hat in the ring.

In more normal times, politics in Oregon garner barely a shrug from Oregonians. It’s not that we don’t care; it’s just that we have other things on our minds. That, and we’re far enough from Washington, DC, that most of us feel somewhat isolated from the Sturm und Drang inside the Beltway.

(Quick- who was Governor before Kate Brown? Most Oregonians couldn’t tell you, but it was Dr. John Kitzhaber. Few here know or care about the circumstances that forced Kitzhaber’s resignation…because most of us were probably stoned at the time.)

While Republicans own Texas and every elective office in the state, the exact opposite is true here in Oregon. It’s not because the entire state is blue, far from it. It’s that the vast majority of the state’s population lives in the Willamette Valley, and that population leans to the left. The relatively unpopulated rest of the state- southern, central, and eastern Oregon- could easily be West Idaho. It’s every bit as deep red as Arkansas, Louisiana, or Alabama.

In fact, eight counties in Oregon- all located east of the Cascades- have voted to secede and become part of Idaho. That there’s no constitutional mechanism in either state for that to occur hasn’t seemed to deter those behind the campaign. But, whatever ultimately happens, I’m not certain anyone in the rest of the state would miss these sparsely populated counties, anyway.

This is what the small, informal effort to convince New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof to run for Governor is up against. Then again, Kristof’s potential candidacy makes as much sense as anyone else’s right now…because there are no other declared candidates. Even the names that have been bandied about as possibilities are familiar only to Beaver State political junkies, a small, unfortunate, and borderline desperate breed of human in serious need of getting a life.

I can say that tongue-firmly-implanted-in-cheek because politics in Oregon possesses all the drama and excitement of watching paint dry. It may be a cottage industry in Salem, the state capital…but outside of that depressing little burg, few Oregonians give any thought to state politics.

I’m not saying that’s good or bad; it’s just the way people here look at state politics. It’s like what Gertrude Stein once said of Oakland, California: “There’s no ‘there’ there.” Collectively, we like to think there are far better things to kill brain cells over.

“I have friends trying to convince me that here in Oregon, we need new leadership from outside the broken political system. I’m honestly interested in what my fellow Oregonians have to say about that,” Kristof told The Oregonian/OregonLive in an email.

“All I know for sure is that we need someone with leadership and vision so that folks from all over the state can come together to get us back on track.”

Kristof moved back to Oregon in 2019 with his wife and fellow Pulitzer Prize winner, Sheryl WuDunn, to transition his family’s cherry farm to a cider apple and wine grape farm.

Kristof hasn’t committed to pursuing a future in state politics, so no information is available about his policies, positions, or even which party he’d represent…though it’s difficult to imagine him as a Republican. Per the policy of the Times, he’s taken a leave of absence as he ponders whether or not to throw his hat into an empty ring.

Until then, Kristof continues living in Yamhill, a lovely little town about an hour from Portland in the Willamette Valley’s pristine wine country. Honestly, he could do worse than maintaining the family farm and writing for the Times. Making the leap from writer to politician, even in a state like Oregon, is a bit like tap-dancing through a minefield. In most cases, it’s destined not to end well.

The question for Kristof is whether, at 62, he has the ambition, the will, and- most importantly- the energy to subject himself to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune that is the world of politics. Would it be worth the inevitable headaches, hassles, pushback, and questioning of his every word, thought, and/or deed? He’s yet to provide any hints as to what his future might hold.

Then again, perhaps someone as intelligent, gifted, and experienced as Kristof really DOES have something unique to offer the people of Oregon. Lord knows we could use it.

Stay tuned.

Thanks for tuning in. This is Dick Metaphor signing off. Have a great Thursday!!