National Review on the Oregon governor's race

In today's NRO, writer John Hood provides a nationwide roundup of the fall's races for governor. Here's what he has to say about Oregon:

A GOP opportunity in the Pacific Northwest? The national red-blue dichotomy leads many to overlook the competitiveness of Washington and Oregon politics at the state level, which is evidenced by Republican Dino Rossi’s narrow “loss” for governor in 2004 and Democratic incumbent Ted Kulongoski’s vulnerability in this year’s Oregon gubernatorial race. After posting a less-than-stellar performance in the Democratic primary, Kulongoski still has a lead over Republican nominee Ron Saxton in most polls, but the governor’s support is only in the low to mid 40s. Saxton, however, ruptured party unity when he came out against a spending-cap initiative on the November ballot that Oregon Republican activists have endorsed. This may confuse voters on the tax issue, which Saxton has tried to use against Kulongoski by criticizing the governor’s support of a failed 2004 tax-hike measure and talk of creating a state sales tax.

I'm not so sure about "ruptured party unity" over the spending limit (though I'd like to hear from Saxton why he plans to vote against the ballot measure) but it's interesting nonetheless.