[April 30th, 2008]

Phyllis Thiemann

Tattoo she'd get: “Oh, good grief. I have no clue.” Pressed, she settles on a temporary “state parks beaver.”

The Republican contest in this district is a study in contrasts. Phyllis Thiemann owns a bed and breakfast in Corbett. Matt Lindland is a mixed-martial-arts fighter, a 2000 Olympic Games medalist, an event promoter, and the owner of an apparel line that makes athletic supporters: “In our industry we wear two pieces of protective clothing,” Lindland helpfully explains. “One goes on your groin. The other goes on your teeth.”

Lindland didn’t attend our endorsement interview, saying he would do so in a general election, but didn’t see “how doing one would be helpful in a Republican primary.” Under normal circumstances, that refusal would have been the kiss of death. But we were sufficiently underwhelmed by Thiemann’s lack of specificity that we gave Lindland a second chance and interviewed him by phone.

He would certainly be, uh…interesting. In our phone conversation, Lindland posed a hypothetical scenario to explain the differences between him and Thiemann: If Thiemann makes a mistake at her bed and breakfast, a customer gets scrambled eggs instead of what he ordered. “If I screw up in my industry, someone could get hurt or killed.”

We’re tipped in Thiemann’s favor by her promise to work for solutions. She was short on vision, but we’re hoping she’ll make up for that with hard work.

Video of WW endorsement interview (thanks to Portland Community Media)