Comments

1
flux: (archaic) A disease which causes diarrhea, especially dysentery. (from Wiktionary.org)

: D

Too bad about him not running for re-election. I would have voted for him.
2
Great news for Portland. And a savvy decision at that. Sam was going to have a heck of a time winning re-election, but now he gets to finish out his term by pushing the projects he wants to push without worrying about the repercussions. If he finishes strong then lays low for a year or two, he sets himself up to eventually run for for the senate or house. Going out as a loser would have made that much more difficult.
3
SAM ADAMS IS GOING TO RUN FOR HOUSE SEAT OR-1. I GUARANTEE IT.
4
Man, I wish more politicians would do this!
5
"A very challenging race.." Seriously? Have you seen the candidates?. I think we know why he is'nt running and it should'nt come as a shock to anyone. Sadly for the Mercury's favorite public servant, although some of you would be clueless enough to vote for him, he can't win. He knows that. I just hope we don't get stuck with someone worse, as he at least DID achieve some things
6
Eileen Brady FTW!
7
@Graham: I don't think he lives in OR-1. Just sayin'.
8
Elieen Brady is an economic conservative, Portland is going to go rightward if she wins.
9
@THE WOOKIEE: IF ONLY THERE WAS SOME WAY THAT A PERSON COULD CHANGE WHERE THEY LIVE?!? UNFORTUNATELY, THAT TECHNOLOGY HASN'T BEEN INVENTED YET.
10
@GRAHAM: ACTUALLY, CANDIDATES DON'T NEED TO RUN FOR THE CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT IN WHICH THEY LIVE; THEY JUST HAVE TO LIVE IN THE STATE. BUT YEAH, I HOPE SAM JUST FINDS A GOOD JOB IN THE PRIVATE OR NONPROFIT SECTOR WHERE HE CAN PUT HIS WORK ETHIC AND KNOW-HOW TO GOOD USE FOR OREGON. ELECTED OFFICE ISN'T THE ONLY WAY TO SERVE, AND I THINK HE KNOWS THAT.
11
I think he would have won. And I wanted to see him win, mostly just to shut up all the people are totally obsessed with the idea that he's been a lame duck since he stepped into office.
12
Jefferson smith to the white courtesy phone, please!
13
@OREGOMETRY: REALLY?!? I (and obviously many other people) WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT THEY DID. IN THAT CASE, I'D LIKE TO ANNOUNCE MY CANDIDACY FOR HOUSE SEAT OR-2. I'M GONNA BODY SLAM THE SHIT OUT OF REP. GREG WALDEN!!!!
14
I am with ROM.
15
Grahm, if Adams couldn't win the Mayors seat again then there is no way in hell he could take the House seat.
Wait, you're just fucking around, right?
At least in the short-term, the Breedlove incident has killed Adams political career.
As it should.
But politics is a strange beast and I suspect with the passage of time he could win office again someday.

Adams working in the private sector.... wow.
16
Portland needs an economic conservative. We're not exactly flush with cash these days.
17
I'm still voting for him. OMG I DON'T CARE. He's too handsome to not get my vote.
18
Big lingering question:
Who would want his endorsement?
19
@Chuck G Both Adams and his predecessor are economic conservatives. The city runs a balanced budget.

Adams is hardworking and smart. He has been somewhat a lightning rod, some by his own error, but quite a bit just libertarian grumpy antigovernmentalism. He will do fine as a consultant, which Hales by the way has done quite successfully.
20
Hardworking, I'll give you that.
But smart? Don't be fooled by the 'nerd' glasses.
Libertarian? What???!!!
You know who is smart is the guy who is sitting on the fence in the race. It ain't easy to get into Cornell.
21
R: we have very different views of what fiscal conservatism is. Spending every last dime you have is not fiscal conservatism. Having hundreds of millions of dollars in unfunded pension liabilities (tho that was a problem Sam inherited) is not fiscal conservatism. Diverting sewer and water dollars to pet projects that have little to nothing to do with either sewers or water is not fiscal conservatism. Supporting PDCs attempts to bankrupt our school systems is not fiscal conservatism.

Sam seems like a decent, smarter than average fellow, but he's just not cut out to be mayor.
22
Hardworking, yeah, but Adams still has great control of SPIN.
He isn't running because he wants what is best for PDX and won't 'phone it in as Mayor'.
Gee, thanks Sammy.
It's not that your polls show you losing heavily, or the prospect of trying to raise campaign funds from an elecorate you lied to would be difficult. (and against Brady's war big war chest)
Nope.
He just wants what is best for us.
The mans ego is enormous.
Then again, I don't know how one could humbly bow out of the race. He can't use the stock line favored by politicians throughout history "I want to spend time with my family".
23
I like Sam. I don't agree with everything he ever did or said, but I think he's better than most who have held the office in the past or are likely to in the near future. It was probably a smart decision on his part, though...why go through the fundraising hassles and face all the personal attacks when he can just finish out his term and get on with his life? (No longer having to deal with all those telephone messages from mentally disturbed citizens might also be a plus.)
24
Actually, Chuck, he didn't "spend every last dime," he gave the city a surplus, as was reported here a short time back.

And I think he would have won, if Cogen and Novick stayed out (which it seems they will). Not against Smith, though.
25
Todd, why go through the personal attacks and fundraising hassle? For most politicians it is Ego, right? I know you've seen Citizen Kane. You'd like to think an enlightened sense of public service, but Adams never struck me in this way. Politics is what Adams does. His life IS politics, or at least his professional life for the last 20 years.
If there was any chance of winning Adams would have made a statement similar to the one he issued today. He would have said he wants what is best for PDX but there is still much more to do.
Power is addictive.
I think he will miss those telephone messages too. I can totally seehim and his staff sitting around an early friday evening after buisness hours, having a beer around the table and getting a good laugh at some of those.
That is, the edited version one of his 50 assistants made for them.
26
A second term for Adams?
"You just haven't earned it yet baby, you just haven't earned it yet son"
27
wow. this comment thread is a great example of why politics are fucked.

Thanks for the years of public service, Sam.
28
Adams' chances of reelection would be about that of a hamster in a wood chipper. You don't bonk a 17 year old and lie about it because you know it could affect your chances of being elected and expect to have a second term.
29
I voted for Adams when he ran for City Council in '04. And I've always been willing to give him a pass on the whole Breedlove mess. I really don't care about that shit. Whatever. But I've always wound up with plenty of other reasons to not like him as mayor. The sentiment that seems to best approximate my view is the bumper sticker that says "Lord, help save me from your followers."
Which prompts the question, what is former Merc News Editor Amy J. Ruiz to do for a job now that el Patron is heading for the exit?
30
OMG, first Norway now THIS? All the right-wing teabagger shit-heads must be jizzing all over themselves by now, geez! Calm down, shit-heads, you're a long ways from winning. The People's Republic of Portland shall ALWAYS have a democratic mayor!
31
Judging from the continually vocal Sam haters out there I'd think the mayor doesn't want some wack suddenly freaking out and shooting him in the head. I'd bail, too.
32
frankieb: I agree with Tom. Yeah, power is addictive (well, I'm assuming that; I haven't seen Citizen Kane), but I'm sure it still sucks bigtime to be personally bashed day in and day out by folks calling him derogatory things. The suburbs of Portland are filled with semi-anonymous assholes with direct access (twitter, phone, email, etc) to him, who will probably always think the Breedlove blahblah is a huge deal. No one is totally impervious to critiques. So, I dunno, I could see that wearing on him and being a factor leading up to his decision. Especially since it would only escalate as the election got closer, plus he would be forced to constantly address breedlove breedlove breedlove in public again since some of his opponents would probably focus solely on that issue.

Can you show us the polls showing him losing heavily?

And bioswales have nothing to do with sewers? You're incorrect. What about the big pipe project - does that have nothing to do with sewers, too?
33
Hmmm, I didn't talk bioswales...nor big pipe.

I seriously doubt critisism would deter Adams. It's politics, and you have to be thick-skinned to begin with.
But if it were a reason, especially for getting some Breedlove, well then - he earned it all on his own.
If personal safety were really a concern I don't think he'd still occasionally be biking to work downtown either.
The polls. According to the Oregonian his poll #'s were about the same as the other candidates - no incumbant edge. So I gotta eat some crow there, as I expected even worse. But I didn't see #'s given in the article.
I still assert that him trying to raise cash from an elecorate he lied to would have proved difficult.
(oh, did he ever apologize to Robert Ball for his remarks during the run-up to the election? remember his defiant words about merely being a 'mentor' to Breedlove, and how hurtful this rumor was coming from another gay man as it lends into the belief that you cannot trust gays with your kids, etc?)
I wonder how much the Wu debacle played a part of his decision not to run, if any. The public here must surely be tiring of sex scandals from their elected officials. I would have expected campaign signs / flyers with pics of Packwood, Goldshmidt, Wu and then Adams. To reiterate it. I wonder when the polls were taken, because I think the Wu scandal would affect Adams own #'s somewhat.
And, as I said, he earned it. Recall the last election, Adams played damn hardball to get elected, and also dirty.
But, I must also admit that I was being too harsh on Adams for saying he is driven only by ego and not idealism. That was unfair of me, I think, just a little.
Mostly ego. He does have a vision of what he wanted and did accomplish some things too.



34
What will become of Amy Ruiz?
35
Sounds to me like he finally got tired of this shit and decided to get out while he's still in a relatively good place. I certainly don't blame him.

When i fist moved to Portland, Tom Potter was mayor and i recall folks whinning and bitching about him all the time, too. I'm pretty sure the next mayor won't prove to be any better or worse than his/her two predecessors.
36
"to get into Cornell."

Right, because Ivy League alumni are automatically better than the rest of us. Because it's not like kids ever go to Harvard-Yale-Brown-etc and get taught solely by GTFs (because the professors are all off researching or writing) while doing blow for four years. That never happens.
37
Fuck Cornell. As Holden Caulfield would put it, "He's a phoney!"
38
Maybe he wants to marry 'Beau' now.
39
This is Divine punishment for his bad haircuts.

Please wait...

Comments are closed.

Commenting on this item is available only to members of the site. You can sign in here or create an account here.


Add a comment
Preview

By posting this comment, you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.