Breaking news...

We might have the beginnings of an "I told you so..."

I'm listening to Lars Larson RIGHT NOW and he is concerned that Ron Saxton may have changed for the worse his stand on IMMIGRATION.  He says Ron Saxton has changed his cell phone number and he can't get a hold of him to get him on the air...

More when I know it...

* update *

It sounds like the Saxton camp is now recognizing that immigration is a federal issue, and consequently is refusing to touch many aspects of immigration.  That's odd... isn't that what many of the non-Saxton crowd kept trying to say to people like Lars before the primary?

* update *

We are into the first break of the noon hour, and Lars is still unable to get Saxton on the air...

* update *

See MAX Redline for more information about Saxton's failure.

* update *

Be sure to read the comments for a good explanation of this whole situation.

* update *

A listener asked Lars if he would now admit that backing Saxton was a mistake, and would he now support Mary Starrett.  Interestingly, Lars "immigration is the only issue" Larson said that Starrett is a single-issue candidate and he won't support her...

* update *

It is now 3 PM and the Lars Larson show has ended.  Lars' ending comment was that he still can't get Ron Saxton on the phone and Felix, Saxton's campaign manager, has stated that Saxton will not address this federal issue.

See... we told you so...

Comments

[Independent Thinker]

The way I understand what went down:

The other day, at the Oregon State GOP Convention, the Party passed a platform resolution stating that the 14th Amendment does NOT grant automatic citizenship to children born in the U.S. of illegal alien parents.

Despite the Oregonian claiming that every constitutional scholar disagrees with this, there is a lot of valid evidence to support this interpretation of the 14th Amendment. The U.S. House debated this very issue, and hopefull will pursue it further.

But then Ron Saxton says this is wrong, and then goes on to say that immigration is a federal issue, not a state issue, and therefore he should stay out of it as governor.

Meanwhile, this is the same man who, in a primary debate, threw red meat to the Lars Larson crowd by saying that, as governor, he would kick the kids of illegal aliens out of public schools.

But, if the kids are citizens by the 14th Amendment, they have as much right to an education as any other citizen. Oh, and this is a federal issue already decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in Plyer v. Doe.

So... Saxton is clearly taking two polar opposite positions on the children of illegal immigrants.

And THIS is the man that Lars said would be better than Jason Atkinson on immigration?

[Gullyborg]

Yeah, that about sums it up.

[Jim in KFalls]

Echo on my site as well...

Be prepared for the "clarification" and the "It's just semantics" comments to begin floating around...You remember right after the city club debate when SEXTON said he didn't support additional sanctions against employers of illegal aliens.

It's about time...although unbelievable...

[Gullyborg]

Surprisingly, Lars has actually been hammering him on the air. Not like he did to Jason, not even close. But he has NOT been an apologist or offered any "this is what he really meant" statements.

[Max]

During the primary, Saxton supported deportation of illegal immigrants; he's dancing away from the entire issue now.

I did hear Lars talking briefly about Saxton's campaign manager, although he kept referring to the 4th amandment.

[Jim in KFalls]

We'll see - the more and more SEXTON avoids the LL show, or even if he comes on and gets questioned about it - if Lars throws softballs at him, then he needs to be called on it.

As for talking about the 4th amendment - I heard him(LL) mention the 14th amendment not the 4th???

As for Felix "I'm good friends with Howard Dean" Schein - well...can you really expect any less?

[Gullyborg]

I heard that segment. Lars just misspoke and said "4th" when he should have said "14th." Even a nitpicker like me will cut him slack there.

[Jim in KFalls]

I just got an e-mail from LL - no further word from the SEXTON campaign as of yet...

[Gullyborg]

The last e-mail he read, saying that Saxton used Lars to win the primary and is now dumping him for the general, sounds like it could have been written by one of the Atkinson bloggers. Any of you want to fess up?

[Jim in KFalls]

Not I...although it appears to point that way...

Just curious, but what was Lars's response to that e-mail?

[Gullyborg]

His response to the e-mail, which also suggested he back Mary Starrett, was merely to dismiss Mary Starrett as a "single issue" candidate, without reaching the merits of the main point about Saxton using and dumping Lars.

[Independent Thinker]

Not that Ron Saxton had much of a shot, what with his sharing the "anti Sleepy" vote with Ben Westlund and Mary Starrett, but we can safely say that August 1, 2006, is the day Ron Saxton pissed away the election.

Good job, Ron!

[JustaDog]

I bet he wishes he he didn't turn his back so fast on Jason.

Well Lars, when you flip-flop so much you begin to look like a dying fish.

[Jim in KFalls]

Duck and run...figures...

Sleepy Ted must be loving it...

[josh reynolds]

I heard this week that a well financed 9 figured net worth prominent businesswoman has said she is endorsing and financially backing Kulongoski. Her reasoning, Saxton can't be trusted. It is enough that if this is made public it will raise a lot of eyebrows.

[Daniel]

I wasn't happy to hear this today but it really doesn't need to be gloated about by anyone whose candidate didn't win the primary.

Starrett is more than a "single issue" but she doesn't have any chance of winning. We all encouraged the liberal idiots to throw their votes away on Nader...

And the most recent poll showed that Westlund takes more votes from Teddy K than he does Saxton.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending what Saxton is doing now. If he won't go on Lars' show then he is a coward. If he won't take a position on something, regardless of whether it is state, federal, city, municipal, or CandyLand, he is a coward.

But is that coward the best that Oregon could get in the governors race?

[A.Y. Caramba]

Foreign Words Invading Oregon!

Oregon Republican Party Platform will save America!

July 30, 2006

Dear Editor:

I am writing to call your attention to a new danger to our beloved American democracy! Foreign Words! Yes! Our beloved Oregon Republican Candidate for Governor Ron Saxton has sounded the alarm, and you must listen to him!

Yes! Our English language is in danger of becoming infested with foreign words! Brought to our land by foreigners from other countries! Yes! This is true! The Oregon Republican Party must act swiftly!

The debate about protecting our borders is missing the real danger to our way of life! Yes! The foreigners will make us speak their language! Yes! The proof is in our beloved English dictionary!

Spend only a few minutes with our English dictionary, and what you will find there will chill your bones! On every page, there are words from languages that are not English! Yes! It is true! Yet they have been printed in our English dictionary next to our own beloved English words!

“How can this be?” you ask. I assure you that it is true! If you do not own a dictionary, you can look for free at the public library.

I will give you several examples:

“Tortilla” is not English! It is not English, but it is in our beloved English dictionary! “How can this be?,” you ask. "Yes," I reply. It is there, between "tort" and "tortoise!" It is not an English word, it is a Mexican word, spoken by Mexicans! Spoken by Mexicans from Mexico! Yes!

Do you realize that every time you say café, you are speaking French? Yes! Saxophone! Named for a Belgian! Are you feeling the chill in your bones? Chile con carne! Not English! All in our beloved English dictionary!

Furthermore, foreigners have been putting their words into our beloved English language for centuries, in their foreign, insidious ways! Yes, this is true! Since the times of the Latins and Greeks! Did you know that “algebra” is not English? It is Arabic! Yet we say this word every day, not realizing that we are speaking Arabic! The camel’s nose is under our precious American tent! Our beloved Ron Saxton will stomp on the camel’s nose! Yes!

Furthermore, Oregon Republicans must continue to find ways to reduce funding for public libraries until out-of-control librarians stop spending our hard-earned tax dollars on books written in foreign languages! Yes! And we must punish out-of-control librarians who insist on undermining our American way of life! Punish them!!!!

English-speaking Americans must unite and stop this assault on our precious beloved English language! We must close our beloved English dictionary to more foreign words! Foreign words are not only un-American, they are harder to spell and pronounce than our good English words!

We have a Constitutional right to speak only English--not foreign--words! Oregon Republicans will work to cut off all funding for those who want to use our public schools to teach foreign languages in America. WE ARE AMERICA! WE DO NOT NEED FOREIGN WORDS!

We must send a message to all foreigners: “Thank you, but we do not want any more of your words. We have plenty of English words that are not used up yet.”

We must close our dictionaries to new words! Unless they have been spoken by law-abiding, tax-paying, property-owning English-speaking American citizens! Only with this step can we stop the threat!

Oregon Republicans must unite and close our borders to insanity! If only we had not cut funding for the Oregon State Police, we would have the officers to set up roadblocks and examine every incoming vehicle for language infestation. Yes! We realize that was a mistake, but we know better now. Yes! You will see!

The Oregon Republican Party Platform demands an end to the expenditure of public funds on dictionaries and other books written in foreign languages! Yes! It is true! You can look it up for yourself!

Furthermore,our beloved Oregon Republican Candidate for Governor Ron Saxton and the Oregon Republican Party Platform demand that every foreigner entering our beloved land of the free and home of the brave be issued an English dictionary upon arrival with instructions to use only the words in this book while you are here. This is a very good and necessary idea to help preserve our precious American freedoms! Yes!

Remember: Many foreigners = many foreign words! Less foreigners = less foreign words! Do not let them speak their foreign words in our America!

I urge you to write to Congress, to all elected officials, to demand that they focus on the real danger and lock down our beloved dictionary! Yes! Today! Lock it up before it is too late! Stomp on the nose, Ron Saxton! Viva America!

Sincerely,
A.Y. Caramba

[Max]

Sorry, I only caught part of the LL show - came down with a slight case of food poisoning and have been alternately sleeping and ... well, you don't need the ugly details.

Quite possible that LL just mis-spoke and I was just feeling...um, crappy.

I'm not a lawyer, nor do I play one on tv, but when I was yakking earlier (before my command appearances before the porcelain throne) I was pretty sure that the amendment in play was the 14th. Hope I didn't mess up on that; it ain't been my best day.

[Max]

Oh. And A.Y. - you've apparently been having an even worse day.

[Gullyborg]

Yes, the 14th. We got that covered above.

Daniel,

I remain unconvinced that Saxton would be better than Kulongoski. In many ways, I fear he could be worse.

I do realize that Starrett can't win. But she can play a prominent role in this election by getting the far right energized to get out and vote (for her), which will mean coattails to GOP candidates running for the legislature. Her being on the ballot increases our odds of keeping the House intact and making gains in the Senate.

I'm not saying you need to vote for her. I'm just saying I'm glad she is on the ballot, as I remain skeptical that Saxton can be trusted as far as I could comfortably throw him (and I have bad back, so not that far).

Saxton ran as a liberal in 2002. This primary, he put on far right vaneer, but the liberal wood is still at his core. He is part of the Goldschmidt establishment. Always has been, always will be, his comments to Lars notwithstanding. If he became governor, he could do serious and long term damage to the GOP and the state.

If Sleepy is re-elected, he will be a lame duck, gone in four. If Saxton is elected, he could be there for eight years. As long as we keep the House, Sleepy would be checked against doing anything too drastic. But Saxton, if he won and went liberal, would have the Senate on his side (cheering happy cries of "bipartisan support") and a House that would be afraid to stand up to him, for fear of going against the party leader.

Saxton could be very, very bad.

Of course, if you are an optimist, and believe Saxton will be a good Republican in office, by all means, vote for him. If he wins, I will hope and pray that you are right. But I have no reason to believe it at this time.

Just remember, the reason so many of us were so enthusiastic about Atkinson was that we could trust him. We knew what he stood for. With Saxton, you get a flip-flopper who said one thing to win a primary, and is now distancing himself from it in the general.

But this post, and these comments, aren't about Atkinson. They are about Saxton. Yes, some of us are still upset by the primaries. But that's a different post. Right now, we need to draw a line in the sand, and see which side Ron Saxton chooses. After making immigration the centerpiece of his primary campaign, if he abandons it now, every Republican needs to abandon him.

Just because he is an "R" and not Kulongoski, that doesn't mean we need to support him! He needs to EARN that support, not just count on it as the Party nominee against the unpopular incumbent.

He has yet to earn mine.

[Coyote]

Wow, well as you say, many "I told you so's" in the offing.

I am not that tweaked at Saxton. At least not yet. After all we knew it right?

But Lars? Now THAT is a real hoot. The guy has become completely duplicitous and quite frankly I don't believe him on anything.

We knew he over reacted during the Atkinson campaign and he is sold out now. He is so far out there on a limb he cannot possibly be objective anymore.

I stopped listening to him a long time ago. Oh I have tried from time to time but his tune is always the same and it always sounds like his behavior from last January (or February). So that tells me he is selling a line of bull on more than just this topic.

So that is how I am feeling right now. Give me about 12 hours though to digest.

Unlike Lars I want to be somewhat consistent in my actions. When Jason stumbled I wanted to keep cool and let things shake out. Remember how Lars got flat out PISSED OFF that Jason did not return his call within FORTY FIVE MINUTES?! The nerve!

So that was it. He had 45 minutes to return a call to the king or is was total thermonuclear meltdown.

Lars you get 45 mins to show your clarity. Ooops, looks like time is up.

Saxton? I'll be fair, you get the same treatment I gave Jason.

[Patrick Joubert Conlon]

Well, that was quite an education in Oregon politics but I have a lot more to learn before I put in my two cents.

[Jim in KFalls]

I disagree with your assesment of Sleepy Ted - Gully. If elected to a second term, I think he will push forth even more zany ideas.

The only difference I see between Ron and Ted at this point is Ted is a known quantity while with Ron you are left scratching your head.

You have a valid point, if elected and if he governs liberal - the house would have a much harder time standing up to him, however I have to believe at the end of the day, the house would do the right thing.

[Ballot Alternatives]

Considering that about 15 of our House Republicans are extremely cozy with Saxton, I worry more about Saxton pushing the House liberal than Saxton would worry about the House keeping him conservative.

Go back to his 2002 campaign, people! Did he actually change? Or did he just bald-faced LIE to all of you to win the nomination?

The only evidence we have so far, the sudden flip-flop on the most important issue of the primary, indicates LIAR.

Neil Goldschmidt is the only winner here. He has now successfully put his own protoge in Mahonia Hall and at the same time put his own sleeper in place as the only alternative and de facto head of the GOP.

We have a choice between Goldschmidt and Goldschmidt here.

Or do we?

That's right, folks... there ARE other choices on the ballot!

Are you a liberal who is sick of the corruption? Then vote for Ben Westlund. Are you a conservative looking for needed reform? Then vote for Mary Starrett. This does NOT have to be a Ted v. Ron election cycle!

[DANEgerus]

Saxton isn't that 'eX' of a 'D' after all?

Shocker

/sarcasm off