June 03, 2003
Unlikely Cooperation Between Recall Campaigns Ends Before It Begins
Well, don't say I didn't warn that this would probably happen. Not that it was particularly difficult to foresee.
With all the heated accusatory rhetoric passing back and forth between the Better Portland Alliance and the Recall Vera Katz Committee -- all in the midst of supposedly considering working together -- I've said from the start that I didn't see how the two efforts could peacefully co-exist under some sort of alliance.
Earlier today, I noticed a comment by Jack Peek of the BPA in this thread about the RVKC effort over at Portland Independent Media Center. The comment reads as follows:
Your class warfare stance isnt very smart...... your labels degrade your credibility, your last min. "Alamo defence" will get your butt whipped, That is if you did this for the sake of Portland and not a very tiny group of anarcist that just want to start a war. Lets play recall together and then see after her rear is going south if we have any grounds to work for any more issues that can benifit all.. not a few. you have until noon on Tuesday to make up your mind. After that..... well, you FIGURE IT OUT.
Naturally, I had to know. So I asked Peek: What, exactly, happens noon Tuesday? "He missed a chance to work with us," Peek responded this evening. "He called us at 2:30."
Somehow, I just don't think it was calling 150 minutes past some sort of deadline (and who knows just how that deadline came about to begin with) that created irreconcilable differences between the two campaigns. Just go ahead and read the previously-referenced thread. There's no way the personalities involved -- let alone the political philosophies -- would ever have been compatible.
Does this mean we get to experience two completely separate recall campaigns duking it out for signatures? Time will tell. But if both campaigns (presuming the BPA campaign actually files) are able to obtain the necessary signatures before their respective deadlines, whoever turns theirs in (and has them verified) second is going to have to pay for an election.
That in itself is an almost certain guarantee that this entire scenario could still just get even uglier.
Comments (1)
jack peek on 04 Jun 2003
Moore's press statement said it all, his opening preamble on his filing wasnt going to change.....We decided not to the waste time. Jack Peek