A windmill worth tilting at

Independent candidate John Frohnmayer joins the race for the
U.S. Senate from Oregon
Friday, September 14, 2007

John Frohnmayer, former Republican and former Democrat, said this week that he wants to be U.S. senator from Oregon as an independent because partisanship has driven moderation and compromise from modern politics.

He is right about the "toxic environment of partisanship," in Congress and politics generally, and that alone should make Frohnmayer's candidacy for the Senate worth considering. Independent candidates such as Frohnmayer face huge obstacles just getting their message out to voters since they usually lack the money required to buy media advertising or mount direct-mailing efforts. The power of their ideas might get them serious consideration, if only they could get those ideas in front of the public.

Frohnmayer, who gained a reputation as a champion of free expression while serving as the director of the National Endowment for the Arts under President George H.W. Bush (and was fired for his efforts), starts with more prominence than independent candidates often do. But to have a chance in the race, he'll have to do more than get the word out. He also will have to demonstrate that his views are both sound and different enough from the other candidates to overcome the disadvantages of being independent in a partisan world.

How difficult will this be? Just consider the question of political pork, which everyone (including, especially, Frohnmayer) rails against but everyone (including, especially, Oregon) needs. In Congress, the power to control the flow of money emanates from the parties. Frohnmayer hopes that he and a couple more independent senators could become power brokers in their own right in a closely divided Senate, but this is a long shot at best.

Or you might consider the way that Frohnmayer has had to pursue joining the race in the first place. The barriers erected by Oregon's overly partisan Legislature were too high to allow him to enter the race as a truly unaffiliated candidate.

Legislators in 2005 enacted a law that disqualified anyone who had happened to vote in the most recent party primary from signing the nominating petitions for unaffiliated candidates. (We hope someone challenges this blatant theft of the public's voting rights sometime soon, but that's another matter.)

In any case, Frohnmayer will seek formal nomination via the Independent Party, which has a little more than 2,600 members. His most attention-getting argument is that President Bush ought to be impeached because he has defied Congress on matters large and small. It's not an argument that has gotten traction among the president's more mainstream critics, but it's certainly worth arguing in a campaign.

Will such views be powerful enough to get Frohnmayer's campaign anywhere? Well, welcome to the race, Mr. Frohnmayer, and good luck tilting at the political parties. It's a worthy pursuit.

©2007 The Oregonian