Dr. No returns?

Former Governor John Kitzhaber is expected to announce today whether he plans to run for his old job, taking on fellow Democrat (and incumbent) Ted Kulogoski. The alternative for him is to push for a ballot measure on providing health care coverage to all Oregonians.

As I noted a few days ago, conservatives should come up with their own health care proposals and push hard for them, or Kitzhaber's socialized medicine ideas will come dangerously close to realization. However, the issue is an important one to hundreds of thousands of uninsured Oregonians, and the debate needs to occur.

That said, I hope Kitzhaber declines to enter the governor's race. Eight years of Kitzhaber demonstrated very little, other than his ability to veto the Republicans' ideas (thus the moniker "Dr. No"). If he runs in 2006, the entire campaign becomes one of health care, to the detriment of other issues important to the state. Health care is one important topic of discussion, but -- even if Kitzhaber gets no further than the May primary -- it will be a distraction to the candidates who want to address the myriad of issues that need attention in the state of Oregon.

Just say no, Dr. No.