Politics In Small Bites.

[April 2nd, 2008]

Trail Mix

• Candidates have been wearing out their writin’ hands, filling out endless endorsement questionnaires from interest groups like the friendly postal workers at the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 82 . This year, that union asked candidates for their positions on outsourcing, health care, junk mail (the postal union is for it) and—because there’s not much anyone can do about rain, snow or sleet—“animal control .” According to the NALC, dogs bite an average of 10 postal workers every day; attacks begin rising in February and peak in June. Branch 82, which represents some 2,000 Portland-area letter carriers, will make its endorsement after April 9.

• Voted yet? No, not in the May 20 primary. But at candidatesgonewild.com , where thousands have already weighed in on which City Hall candidates they want on stage at America’s premier political hootenanny April 28. Meantime, tickets for the event at the Roseland Theater are available for $4 apiece at WW, 2220 NW Quimby St. and the Bus Project, 333 SE 2nd Ave.

When Candidates Blog

Jim Lee, 70, is running for mayor of Portland, and he’s also blogging about it at blogmayor.com. Look, kids, it’s easy! Far easier, in fact, than sitting between fellow candidates Sam Adams and Sho Dozono at a recent forum hosted by Portland businessman Roy Jay. “My elbows were at full extension for two hours keeping them apart,” Lee writes on WWire. “Felt like the referee for Frazier-Ali!”

And from his blog...

Tom Potter manque

Roy Jay is a real comedian. He sat me between Sho and Sam for the “Big Job Interview” event on Wednesday. I did better than the night before at the Rose City Park Neighborhood Association’s forum; crisp one-liners are easier for me than extended oratory.

If you saw Jack Ohman’s drawing in The Big O today, I am the protozoa between the shark (with dark glasses) and the pugnacious goldfish: invisible.