A vote for Republican Christine Drazan to become Governor of Oregon is a vote for Donald Trump to lead our state. This is certain, because high-ranking Republican politicians have to be loyal to Trump, and Drazan is a high-ranking Republican politician.
So when Trump said recently to Republican voters, “Pretend I’m on the ballot,” all Oregonians should take that seriously.
A vote for Drazan is a vote for Trump. Drazan knows this, because she is a loyal Republican. But she can’t admit it, because she wants to be Governor of a blue state where Trump isn’t popular.
That’s why Republican politicians in Oregon often appear to be more moderate than their fellow members of the GOP in Washington, DC. They have learned to disguise their Trump’ness, since it doesn’t look good in our state.
Underneath that pseudo-moderate veneer, though, Oregon Republicans are just as Trump’y as those in deep red states.
Which means, vote for Democrat Tina Kotek, our incumbent governor, if you don’t want Trump running our state. Believe me, if Drazan were to become governor, she would turn all MAGA instantly.
The good news is, that’s unlikely to happen.
Currently election prognosticator Nate Silver gives Kotek a 90.7% chance of winning. That’s down from a 94.5% chance of winning a few weeks ago. So there’s no reason for Kotek supporters to become complacent. Just fired up. Silver has the Oregon governor’s race the 10th most competitive out of 37 governor races nationally in the upcoming midterm election.
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