Chris Dudley- John Kitzhaber BBQ drama

By Taxpayer Association of Oregon PAC,

Chris Dudley did a very “Oregon” thing by sending out a bipartisan invite to his home for a BBQ. A modest gesture to build relationships first in hopes of finding common political ground in the future.

The Democrat response has been the exact opposite. House Speaker Democrat Dave Hunt took the expected swipe at the event by saying he didn’t have time, and then interestingly invited Dudley to a “partisan only” event at the House Democrat leadership meeting. Speaker Hunt’s idea of getting along is you come to us and our partisan event, we do not come to you. As stated, Hunt just doesn’t have the time for others.

Democratic governor candidate John Kitzhaber response all summer long has been about only one thing — debate, debate, debate. This is not surprising coming from the man who earned the title Dr. No during his term for his record breaking amount of vetoes over several sessions.

If you worked in the State Capitol during those awful years you will remember those NO’s came about because he wouldn’t talk to members of another political party, didn’t talk much either to lawmakers of his own party, and kept offering veto threats as opposed to working out solutions. The Kitzhaber years were a low point when it came to dialogue among our elected leaders. So Kitzhaber’s call to debate and argue is the only thing he knows how to do.

(see Jeff Mapes article on Chris Dudley invite here)