March 27, 2008 - 10:51am
Frohnmayer fizzles
By Wally Edge
Tags: John FrohnmayerTop Story: Opinion
Last September when John Frohnmayer announced his independent bid for US Senate many pundits and commentators actually paid attention to his announcement and speculated he'd be a spoiler for the Democratic nominee. Some thought his Oregon branded family name and involvement with the National Endowment for the Arts would boost his campaign into the spotlight.
Well, since his announcement we have heard very little from the Frohnmayer campaign. Aside from a few vocal supporters at the recent teacher's union convention, not much has come of his independent candidacy. Even his own website newsroom has only one press release dating back to December 17. As of the last FEC filing deadline he raised a mere $57,273 with a pittance of $16,513 in the bank.
Perhaps his goal was not to spoil the Democratic nominee in the general, but to withdraw from the race in the primary and spoil a current Democratic candidate whose campaign is gaining momentum?
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Wally, your veiled comment at the end is too opaque
for me, could you explain exactly who and what you are referring to with "withdraw from the race in the primary and spoil a current Democratic candidate whose campaign is gaining momentum?"
Thanks.
The Real Game Hasn't Yet Begun
Independent candidates don't get any attention before an Oregon primary because no one can vote for them so the press doesn't cover them. That will change after May 20th. Regardless of how much focus there is on Merkley and Novick now on May 21 one of them will be a "has been" and quickly forgotten while John Frohnmayer emerges as a "could be."
A day is a lifetime in politics. The period from May to November is light years.
Health care and the lack of it will gain a greater political spotlight when Frohnmayer, Merkley and Smith engage on the subject after the primary. Smith is a Republican social darwinist with regards to health care reform. He will support the status quo and oppose funding SB329. Merkley will be forced into supporting a Billion dollar tax increase to pay for SB329. Frohnmayer supports the Oregon Community Health Care Bill which involves no new taxes, creates equity between health care services available to public employees and Oregon taxpayers who participate and it lowers the costs paid by public institutions to public employee health insurance plans many of which are now making maximum contributions of more than a thousand dollars a month.
FYI - A Sampling Of Maximum Current Public Employer Contributions To Public Employee Health Insurance Benefits
Dollar figures are for individual paychecks per month.
MUTLNOMAH COUNTY - $ 1,282
City of Eugene - $ 1,256
City of Portland - $ 1,246
Portland Public Schools - $ 1,217
Oregon State University - $1,188
Portland State University - $ 1,129
City of Gresham - $1,120
University of Oregon - $ 1,084
State of Oregon - $ 1,006
Beaverton School District - $ 921
Multnomah County ESD - $ 768
Metro Regional Government - $ 763
Lane ESD - $ 750
Which begs the questions:
1. How long will taxpayers, especially those without health care, continue to accept without challenge and outrage paying more than a thousand dollars a month for public employee health care premiums?
2. Do public employees deserve better health care than the taxpayers that pay for their health insurance?
The Oregon health care reform debate hasn't started yet. When it does you'll be hearing a great deal from and about John Frohnmayer. His press conference on this subject is here: http://ivotejohn.com/blog/?cat=3 Merkley and Smith support the failed private health insurance industry model, John Frohnmayer does not.
Richard Ellmyer
Oregon Community Health Care Bill author and project champion
President, MacSolutions Inc. - A Macintosh computer consulting business providing web hosting for artists and very small businesses.
Writer/Publisher - Oregon Health Watcher commentary - Published on the Internet (http://www.goodgrowthnw.org/health.html) and distributed to 15,000 readers interested in public health care policy in Oregon. To Subscribe: HAP-Watchers-on@goodgrowthnw.org
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