OR-5: Morse on Schrader endorsement: ‘I did not weigh the political risk’
By Britten Chase, PolitickerOR.com ReporterSALEM -- State Sen. Frank Morse (R-Albany) said Thursday that his decision to endorse State Sen. Kurt Schrader (D-Canby) in the race for the 5th Congressional District race made many of the state’s Republican leaders upset.
“I told the folks at the central committee, and they were not happy. They were very unhappy,” Morse said at a press conference where he announced his support for Schrader, the Canby veterinarian. “Politically, it was a close call. But judgment-wise, it was not.”
Morse was also quick to point out that he does not just represent the Republican Party, but he represents all of this constituents, whose attitudes range from extremely conservative to extremely liberal.
“I’m a Republican, but I serve an entire district. You don’t get elected unless you find a balance,” Morse said.
As to whether the endorsement would have any effect on Morse when he runs for re-election in 2010, he said that factor did not have anything to do with his decision to endorse Schrader.
“I did not weigh the political risk,” Morse said. “I just said this is the right thing to do.”
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Good for Mr. Morse!
When I see a bunch of yard signs, they're all for people from the same party. It's a message that the candidate could be a stuff artichoke but as long as they belong to the right party, the lawn sign goes up.
I keep hoping to see signs where party doesn't matter as much as the quality of the candidate. Good for Frank Morse. It must not have been easy but his name is one I'll remember with positive feelings.
This year, party DOES matter if it's Democrat
The Republicans have brought this country to its knees to a point where I am not sure we will ever recover and alot of people are awake to this. That is why you are seeing yard signs for the entire ticket (at least in the case of the Dems). Gordon Smith, for example, has been counting on Dems crossing over for him as they have in the past or not voting down ticket at all, but this time it isn't working because his record and other Republicans' records are speaking volumes and the people are listening. So, you will continue to see cohesion on the tickets and in fact, the Dems are making special effort to educate voters about voting down ticket this time around.
Remembering The Good Oregon Republicans
BlahBlah, what Frank Morse did, doing the right thing, gave me hope that Oregon might pull the old respectable Republicans out of moth balls and restore a proud Oregonian Republican heritage. Remember Tom McCall, Mark Hatfield, Dave Froenmeyer, Norma Paulus, Clay Meyers, Jeannette Hamby and Mary Alice Ford? There are more I could name but those are just off the top of my head.
While I never supported Republicans on a national level, there were some great local Republicans who made me proud.
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