September 26, 2004
What A Difference Five Months Makes In Campaign Spin
Nick Fish Decides 'Oregonian' Endorsements Matter After All
It's always amusing to watch what politicians consider important to note shift depending on whether things happen to favor themselves. Late last night, the latest Nick Fish campaign newsletter arrived via email, excitedly announcing that The Oregonian had endorsed Fish in his race for City Council. So excited was the campaign that the subject line trumpeting the endorsement ends with no fewer than three exclamation points.
Going on to include an all-capitalized "HOORAY!" the newsletter also properly points out that during the primary campaign, the newspaper had endorsed Fish's opponent Sam Adams. Which is where we come back to the amusement of our opening paragraph.
Back during the primary campaign, Fish had an entirely different view of what an endorsement from The Oregonian means or doesn't mean, as The Portland Mercury pointed out back in June:
Two months ago, standing on stage at the Aladdin Theater, Nick Fish went about dismantling his opponent's endorsement received from The Oregonian. A candidate for city council, Fish was attending the Oregon Bus Project's "Candidates Gone Wild" forum. When asked about the newspaper's endorsement of Sam Adams, Fish explained that only nine percent of voters are even aware of The Oregonian's opinion--and, of that group, half vote in accordance with the endorsement; the other half, he said, actually vote against the endorsement. He then threw his hands up, as if to say, "Does it really matter?"
Don't get us wrong. We understand that all candidates to do this -- spin favorable developments in ways that contradict ways they've previously spun related unfavorable developments. So everyone is free to take this as they please. But we find it worthy of mention if only as an amusement.
For context's sake, here's the paper's original Adams endorsement, and here's their new Fish endorsement, which appears in today's Sunday Oregonian.
Comments (3)
Arya on 26 Sep 2004
Flip flop!
Mikey on 27 Sep 2004
It's rare that I agree with the Oregonian. But this I agree with: "We wish both Fish and Adams could serve on the council."
Nick Fish and Sam Adams are both great and it makes choosing in that race SO difficult.
How strange is it that the mayoral race is equally difficult but for the opposite reason? Francesconi or Potter? Yawn! If only we could chuck these two and take both Fish and Adams, the city would be much better off.
Nick Fish on 29 Sep 2004
Well, B!X, I'm busted!!!!
I have also said that 90% of Portlanders don't pay a great deal of attention to the Oregonian's endorsement. That's still true--even though I now have The O's nod, for showing "sparks of genuine leadership." The reality, though, is that it's not likely to sway a huge block of voters.
So why all the exclamation points?
Let's just say the campaign trail is long, and sometimes its hard to know whether all the work, all the meeting and greeting, the forums and policy discussions, are making a difference. So candidates look for ways to keep score until voters actually cast ballots. We look for those little victories that keep the team energized. When you go head to head with your opponent for an endorsement, and snag it, that's a win worth celebrating.
So I said "HOORAY" and threw in a few too many exclamation points in my email to my campaign supporters.
Forgive a candidate for getting a little carried away--it's been a long campaign.