Chris Dudley's employment history

Chris Dudley became Vice President of M Financial Wealth Management in 2006. The "outsider" who is his "own man", would like you to think he's just like average Oregonians.














M Financial Wealth Management was featured in the October - November 2008 issue of the magazine "Private Wealth: Advising the Exceptionally Affluent". (I am guessing that isn't you, Gentle Reader.) This is a very exclusive class of people who are just itching to get their Number 1 free-thrower in the highest office in the state. These are not wealthy people who necessarily create jobs or stimulate the economy in times of recession. These are the ones who sit on their Golden Goose asses and hire firms like M to accelerate their wealth on paper. For many in this class, the only jobs created are the folks' at M.

Having connections in high places is important for a Governor. Chris Dudley is not like that other celebrity pol to our South, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who came into office politically isolated and largely remained politically isolated while running as a populist. No doubt, Chris Dudley intends to leverage his relationships with the "Exceptionally Affluent" to procure some promises for jobs. But he won't come out and say it (even when pressed) and it's the kind of back-door dealing the voters have come to hate, the promise of jobs not-with-standing. Not only that, but such deals have the potential to be dangerous especially when a political neophyte isn't a very strong communicator, which Dudley despite his overall "nice guy" persona, is not. But Dudley claiming to be "open" to offshore oil drilling and LNG pipelines means he's a typical Republican who is "open" to parceling out our natural resources to the highest bidder. That can mean jobs. And it could also result in opening the Oregon coast within 3 miles off shore to oil exploration.

For you and me, he has candy.

Dudley and another former M employee left in 2008 and started their own wealth management company called Filigree. You might recognize Gerald Graves, his business partner. He's one of the "testimonial" heads on Chris Dudley's commercial "Drive".

And lest you think, as I do, that the above is not adequate experience to run the state of Oregon, there's always this gem from Sports Illustrated:

"In the NBA you're working with 12 or 15 players of completely different backgrounds usually," Dudley said. "They're from all over the country working toward a common goal and that's winning a championship. That element of teamwork and working with others is something that translates well into politics."

The stakes have never been higher.

City Club Debate - Another Dudley Debate Failure

I actually understand Chris Dudley's aversion to debating. I don't care for it myself. But debating is about selling ideas. Pageants, parades, rodeos, and candy-throwing events are about selling a man. We're not marrying Dudley, we want to know HOW he will implement his plans for the state of Oregon. Frankly, saying he will assemble a team of people with the brightest ideas sounds a lot like Barack Obama and look who we got in that deal: Rahm Emanuel. And while we're on the subject of teams, I am not exactly impressed so far with Dudley's "team" in their handling this debate blunder (LeRoy Coleman, are you listening?)

If debates don't matter, I've certainly proved it in theory. I posted two reactions to debates with Dudley versus Alley where Alley clearly crushed Dudley and yet Dudley won the primary.

So, uh, what are you afraid of Chris?

Dudley's Bread and Circus

Just an observation. But since I closely follow Chris Dudley's tweets, something strikes me. There are an AWFUL lot of fairs, parades, racing events, rodeos etc. filling his days with an occasional Right-Wing radio show appearance thrown in. But this latest tweet really struck a chord:













Passing out candy??

It just highlights the need for a serious candidate even more. Kitzhaber, say what you will, stood up in front of the ONPA board on July 16th and fielded questions on his policies for 75 minutes. The rodeo and pie-eating contest circuit is just so weak. Sure, Kitz is doing it too, I'm sure. But the fact that Kitz has proffered the idea of 7 debates all over the state versus Dudley's counter of TWO (and after the ballots are mailed) tells me that Kitz wants to tell YOU about where he stands on issues. Not give you candy.

And how tone-deaf is a diabetic politician passing out candy?