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May 07, 2008
Steve Novick is no Mark Hatfield!
There's an interesting post by Novick supporter Leslie Carlson over at Blue Oregon called Oregon: we're for mavericks In it Leslie cites former Governor and Senator Mark Hatfield in trying to make the case that Oregonians are going to vote for Steve Novick because he too is a "maverick."
As a Merkley supporter I avoided trying to counter her argument, largely because she'd written an interesting post which made what seems to be a reasonable argument. But I've been a Hatfield fan for several decades and after several commenters talked about Hatfield I decided to chime in. Here's what I said:
About Hatfield...Steve Novick may be a type of "maverick," but he's certainly not the type that Oregonians repeatedly elected in Mark Hatfield. In fact, it seems to me that Jeff Merkley is significantly more like Mark Hatfield than Steve Novick ever has been. Which shouldn't surprise anyone. Afterall, he did intern for Hatfield and to some extent was mentored by Hatfield.Jeff Merkley referenced his internship with Sen. Hatfield at a fundraiser with Max Cleland, Jim Rassman and Barbara Roberts a few days ago.
He spoke about the Presidential Fellowship he won and how he won it. Apparently there were half a dozen openings and a dozen or so candidates who had made it to the final stage - getting grilled by a roomfull of Flag Officers (Generals and Admirals).
When it was Jeff's turn an officer bluntly asked him why they should pick him when he'd interned for Hatfield and Hatfield routinely voted against military appropriations Bills.
Demonstrating early his ability to think on his feet and turn a seeming negative into a positive, Jeff responded with the suggestion that he would bring a fresh perspective which was lacking in the Pentagon and that it would contribute to more balanced analysis which would be more useful to the Flag Officers than not having it.
Merkley walked out of there with a Presidential Fellowship and did it in the finest tradition of Senator Hatfield.
Steve Novick is no Hatfield. Not by any stretch of the imagination. Where Novick uses derogatory and demeaning language to describe those he disagrees with, Hatfield was scrupulously civil and relied upon the strength of both his convictions and of his argument and then let the chips fall where they may. The only trait they really share is as contrarians. Other than that Novick is essentially the anti-Hatfield.
Just read how Senator Paul Sarbane (D-MD) described Hatfield at the CRC dedication in 2004:
He lauded Hatfield's "civility, vision, intelligence and the way he preferred reasoned discourse to invective...I served with him for 20 years and it was a joy to work with him. Mark Hatfield brought a dignity, indeed a nobility to our politics. He set a very high standard of public service. Mark," he said, turning to Hatfield, "we'll do our very best to measure up to your example."Novick is no Mark Hatfield!
Examples of why are below the fold
Novick on Obama:
Novick on Clinton:
Posted by Kevin at May 7, 2008 03:20 PM