Would Kitzhaber make a good presidential candidate?

[stubtoe]

I'm just thinking out loud ... clean record, intelligent, experienced, principled, actually cares about people ...

not well known nationally, so not a polarizing figure ... plus he wears jeans and boots :)

Interested to see what Oregon DU'ers think. I am getting antsy for the Dems to come up with some presidential noms.

[tompayne1]

1. i am sorry

i have no idea who that is... care to enlighten?

[stubtoe]

2. Apologies, tompayne1

He is the previous two-term governor of Oregon.

[tompayne1]

3. thanks nt

[yellowcanine]

4. I doubt if anybody named "Kitzhaber" could ever be elected president,

regardless of his qualifications. Yes, we are that shallow in this country. How many people do you think voted for George W. Bush thinking they were voting for his Dad?

[stubtoe]

5. Oh, I don't know,

we had a president named "Eisenhower" once.

[funflower]

13. And, um, Clinton. Or did they think they were voting for Jefferson?

[stubtoe]

16. Good riposte there, funflower

:)

[Blue Topaz]

6. I think he would make a great candidate

Both smart and folksy, he's the real deal. I think Americans would love him. I'm certain he'd never do it though. I think he's happy to be a regular guy these days.

[Caoimhe]

7. Kitzhaber is great

in other words, he did very little to piss me off while he was my governor :)

Kulongoski doesn't have any spine compared to Kitzhaber.

PS John (Kitz) is a blue jean wearing doctor. Always found that pretty sexy.

[joey93turbo]

18. Your avatar

What does your avatar mean? I've seen it on many cars around town...

[Blue Belle]

8. I love Kitzhaber... BUT...

He wouldn't make it past the Iowa Primaries. The GOP have too much dirt on him... the fact that he has a panache for dating scandalously younger women will bring back images of Clinton - and not the good ones. I think he is a great leader... but I'd rather see him replace Gordon Smith in the Senate.

[Caoimhe]

9. I thought

he is now married with kids and pretty settled...

Are we thinking of the same guy?

[Blue Belle]

10. He got a divorce shortly after he left the Governor's office.

I think he's still on the market... I haven't heard about him re-marrying.

[MissB]

11. I don't think you're thinking of the same guy

Kitzhaber divorced shortly after leaving the governor's office. He does have one son (7 years old, I think).

[MissB]

12. And did you ever hear a single thing about religion

during his 8 years? I don't recall anything. Don't get me wrong- I much prefer my political leaders to *not* wear their religion on their sleeves, but much of America seems to prefer just the opposite.

[funflower]

14. He won't run against Gordo or for anything else that requires him to live

in D.C.. Can't say I blame him.

[Ferret Annica]

15. Kitzhaber? No way.

Another Tom Lawson McCall or a Wayne Lyman Morse maybe, but not the good doc.

[Name removed]

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