Nick Kristof: Request for proposals.

Nick Kristof is a celebrity and a curiosity.  

Let's help him.

Back on November 21 I wrote here "Nick Kristof is screwing up." I said his campaign was biographical mush about his good intentions. Click  One's critics are what define a candidate. I said that if people like what you say more than they like what the critics say, Oregonians will change from being observers of you into supporters of you. That is how you make the transition from journalist to politician.

Kristof telephoned me and we had a pleasant talk after he saw my post. I told him it was "tough love."  He said he understood that. He told me he welcomed good ideas, but couldn't propose half-baked ones. 

Kristof addresses some Oregon problems in his Subtack series. He praised Square One Villages, a Eugene program to address homelessness. He praised infrastructure spending, both in the New Deal and now. This week he added a strong position on abortion saying the real principle involved was the woman's own will and body. Her decision. 

Good sentiments, but cautious for a Democrat, and none distinguish him from the other Democratic candidates for Oregon governor. They aren't stated as policy changes he would try to implement over the forces of inertia and opposition, including some Democrats.

Kristof has the craggy looks of a guy who spent time in the sun, and he owns a farm well away from Portland. His electability would come by bridging the rural-urban divide, because he is not associated with the current Democratic governing team, and because he would represent change. He is a plausible way to push "reset" without electing a Republican governor. 

So let's help Nick Kristof. This post is a Request for Proposals for Nick. What wouldn't Oregon Governor Kate Brown do, or what might she have wanted to do, but couldn't? What could he propose that Oregon leaders including Tina Kotek or Ted Wheeler or the Oregon Education Association would not?  What is something great for rural Oregonians?

To be meaningful it has to be big enough that some group of people will positively cheer it. Expect opposition. It needs to be big enough so that when people think "Nick Kristof" they don't think "New York Times." They think of a brave politician making changes.

I am asking readers to propose something specific which we will publish here and pass on to Kristof. Put it in the comments or send it to me directly: peter.w.sage@gmail.com.  

If Kristof doesn't get more specific I expect to hear more comments like the one made by Kevin Stine. Stine is an astute observer of local politics. Elected to the Medford City Council in 2014, Stine is a Democrat who has voiced progressive positions on issues while maintaining his connection and popularity with working people. He received over 75,000 votes when he ran against Ron Wyden in the Democratic Primary in 2016. I consider this observation from Stine to be more "tough love."

Guest Post by Kevin Stine

Stine

Nick Kristof is a wonderful writer and storyteller, as anyone can tell by reading his Substack articles about his campaign. In those articles he writes about homelessness, drug overdoses, and how Biden's Build Back Better bill is an investment opportunity. What he never writes about is anything specific about what he would do as Oregon's next Governor.

His message accompanying his introduction video contains, "A quarter of the kids on my old No. 6 school bus in rural Oregon are dead from drugs, alcohol, suicide, and there are No. 6 buses all over the state and country. So I've made the leap. I'm running for governor and here's why." He provides some facts throughout, and then just leaves it there. Unspoken is how anything would be different for his old classmates, if Nick Kristof were Governor.

Kristof's interview with Willamette Week is much of the same. You can read it here. Very generic answers, with no specific policy solutions or suggestions. He does try to compare himself to the legendary Governor Tom McCall, saying they are equal in experience. This falls flat since McCall was living, writing, and creating stories about Oregon compared to Kristof's 30+ year professional career writing for the New York Times. McCall was also the Secretary of State of Oregon before becoming Governor.

There's an obvious benefit to being a political outsider. Nick Kristof has never held any elected office, so any negatives about the state he would like to point out, he can freely do without having any culpability. When asked about House Speaker Tina Kotek, Kristof mentions the amount of homeless kids. Kristof has also mentioned people sleeping in tents in the streets of Portland, not enough drug and alcohol rehabilitation services, slowness of Oregon government in providing rental assistance, housing affordability, and much more. What would a Governor Nick Kristof do about any of these problems? As of now, we don't know. We will need to elect him first to find out.