Steve Novick announced today that he is running against Gordon Smith for the U.S. Senate. This is the best news Gordon Smith has had since the Democrats took over Congress.
(For those puzzled by that remark: The Democrat majority in the House might prevent Defazio and Blumenauer from running against him, as both have committee chair assignments they care about and might not give up.)
Steve Novick is not going to beat Gordon Smith. Sorry, all you Oregon Center for Public Policy socialists. I know you think he is oh-so-smart, and I know you love his lefty bonafides. But he does not have the stature (no pun intended) to be a legitimate candidate for the U.S. Senate.
A couple months ago Willamette Week gave Novick their cover story to write about why he wants to run against Gordon Smith. I was amazed that WW would do such a thing - actually allow a prospective candidate to write his own story!
Novick revealed in the story precisely why he can't and won't win: he really is nothing more than a smarter-than-average flamethrowing demagogue. That is his fatal flaw, and I have seen it in him time and again in various roles around the state capitol.
I remember the 2003 legislative session when he was the legislative director for Sup't Susan Castillo. Novick knew basically nothing about education policy, but that didn't stop him from testifying and putting his ignorance on display in the most colorful of ways.
One hearing he was arguing against my bill that would require the state to contract with a testing company for Oregon's achievement tests, rather than have Oregon bureaucrats re-create the wheel. Novick actually said, in an open hearing, on the record, cameras rolling:
"Mr. Kremer wants us to let big, evil testing corporations make our tests."
This is not a serious person. I don't care if he went to Harvard when he was twelve. I don't care if every lefty in Oregon thinks he is brilliant. Serious people don't say stuff like that.
If you read the Willamette Week article, it basically consisted of a running list of Gordon Smith's positions and votes, and how Novick would demagogue each.
I'm sure Novick would get 100% of the vote from the lefty/socialist crowd in Oregon, but thankfully that is not yet a majority statewide in Oregon. He'll find, if he actually goes through with this, that a U.S Senate campaign is for big boys.
Steve Novick is not, politically speaking, a big boy.
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6 comments:
Novick? What does he think qualifies him to be a US Senator? Are the D's really going to waste their opportunity on this guy?
How can we help?
Novick is a brilliant guy. Regardless of how smart he is, he's been in a one party town for to long. The guy is literally a cartoon of everything flawed with the democratic party in Oregon.
Better yet, he not only has drank the Portland Koolaid - he's keeps the recipe book for the party.
The guy is way out of touch and surrounded by ditto thinkers looking to him for ideas (hence the WWeek allowance of an article).
All Gordon has to do is hit his note just right and Novick will implode. This guy is not a contender.
What I actually expect is the rumors floating around are true. That Novick is really running for Blumenahuer's seat and he's clearing the field within the D's right now. As a weak candidate for statewide office Novick will bring out the statewide challengers. Once the field is set Blumenahuer will enter the fray with a war chest, Novick will shift gears and run for the PDX seat with little challenge and a head start in organization.
Keep the first hand stories coming. We know you have more.
When I saw Novick had thrown in I knew Smith would have another term.
Dave Lister
Rob -- this is Steve Novick. Most people understand humor. I might have said "big evil testing companies," but to most people that's obviously jokingly and deliberately exaggerated rhetoric. Best regards ...
Oh, and by the way, would a "serious person" say: "Portland, Oregon is occupied territory. It was invaded years ago by a non-native species of political animal from back east who took over our political and cultural institutions in order to try out their utopian socialist dreams on our great state. This blog will chronicle the insurgency that is trying to free Oregon from the occupiers' grip by shining a bright light on their most egregious schemes." Either condemn yourself as an "unserious person," or admit that it's possible that serious people can use deliberately exaggerated rhetoric in an effort to be funny. - Novick
Sure, Steve, people use humor all the time without relinquishing their claim to be serious.
But when you said that in a legislative hearing, it was proffered as an argument against the bill, not as humor.
And as I recall your testimony, you gave nothing else - no serious argument against the idea of contracting out Oregon's testing. No discussion of test validity and reliability, cost, etc.
You simply demagogued testing companies and that was your entire argument.
You can't now just say "I was joshing around."
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