Governor -- attempt to characterize Ron as someone who supports "corporate elite" while the Governor wants to be identified with the broad middle of Oregonians -- really an appeal to the voter on grounds of: Do you really trust my opponent to be on your side...
Ron Saxton wants the voter to be reminded of the "need for a change"...the debate ends where it started - Ron Saxton wants to convert voter dissatisfaction and desire to change with a vote against Kulongoski -- the Governor wants to remind voters they don't know and can't trust Ron Saxton.

Clearly Ron had a better debate than the last one at City Club -- no knock-outs, but used the editorial endorsements as a validation of his credentials as the challenger ...on personality points and a couple of key zingers, there were real highlights for the governor in this debate and I think he will be successful in forcing voters to examine Saxton and see if he mesasures up...

The debate shows how the rest of the campaign will frame up -- Ron Saxton using endorsements to show he is the right person for a change and Governor pointing out that it would be a leap of faith to conclude that Ron Saxton would be the kind of Governor that most middle class Oregonians can trust..."change agent versus risk"..this will dominate the time between now and November 7.

Len B