June 12, 2003
Blumenauer Campaign Conducting Telephone Poll Which Includes Mayoral Race
Yesterday, a poster to Portland Independent Media Center, identifying themselves as "arcata belief," reported that they had participated in a telephone poll.
According to "arcata belief," the poll asked favorability questions regarding: the current situations of the state Oregon and the city of Portland; Mayor Katz, Commissioner Jim Francesconi, and Commissioner Erik Sten; Congresswoman Darlene Hooley, Congressman David Wu, Congressman Earl Blumenauer, and Congressman Peter DeFazio; Senator Ron Wyden; and State Legislator Greg Smith.
The pollster also asked about who "arcata belief" would choose for mayor in the following potential contests: Jim Francesconi versus Mayor Katz; Jim Francesconi versus Earl Blumenauer; and Jim Francesconi versus Erik Sten.
According to "arcata belief," the pollster also asked if Earl Blumenauer should stay in the U.S. House of Representatives, and if so would he receive thei vote.
Reportedly (this is all in the original post referenced above), the pollster also asked for positions on: the USA PATRIOT Act; baseball in Portland; war with Iraq; and Bush's job on the environment.
Also asked were questions related to how elected officials should prioritize various issues; what was liked and disliked about the Portland City Council; and if the perosn being polled belonged to a labor union.
Much of the speculation following the original post considered this poll to be on behalf of Commissioner Francesconi. However, my skepticism of this theory was raised by the presence of the USA PATRIOT Act amongst the topics, since Francesconi has not exactly been out in front of that particular issue.
My own suspicion was that the poll was, in fact, being conducted on the behalf of Congressman Blumenauer as part of the process of deciding whether or not to run.
Earlier this morning, I received an email response from the Blumenauer campaign. Is Congressman Blumenauer (I had asked, in an email which included the notes from the "arcata belief" polling session) exploring the possibility of a mayoral run by having a telephone poll of Portland residents conducted to gauge opinion?
"Yes, the campaign is doing a poll," a campaign spokesperson responded. "This is something Earl periodically does as an elected official. And yes, there were a couple of questions about the mayoral race."
Not that anyone, at this point, doubts that Blumenauer is seriously considering a mayoral run. But now we have some sense of how he's exploring that possibility.