A little while ago, some enterprising "good person" turned a normal, humdrum tree outside the Mercury's front door into a magical, cloth-and-slogan-festooned "wishing tree." Its maker even left a box with markers and more cloth strips to write more words. It was an offer a few folks here took up, adding wishes for things like "VAGINAS" and "more promiscuity" and "more things to wish for" to sad shit like "I wish I knew my kids," etc.

Well, this morning, we got a nice surprise on the tree: A poster "wishing" for the return of "missing" Republican governor candidate Chris Dudley. We immediately thought back to this stunt from last month.

Not so subtly, it pokes fun at Dudley's reticence to appear in public debates. His Democratic rival, John Kitzhaber, is appearing by himself this afternoon at the Portland City Club—a venue known for its high degree of difficulty, what with candidates subjected to a "truth squad" when their answers inevitably veer off message. The City Club is calling this a "one-chair debate." It's not the first for Kitzhaber in recent weeks. The candidates have had just one real debate so far—last week—and it seems it might be the only one.

Click through to see a couple of those other wishes.