Tonight the democrat won the Oregon gubernatorial race (thank goodness) but the web coverage of the event showed the head of Oregon’s Republican party, who I recognized.

I grew up on the edge of the “rich” area of Portland and my grade school had the hill kids (the rich ones) and the others (we freaks down below). Now it’s all kind of ritzy, but back then there was a social divide that could only be crossed if you were a jock. If it sounds like I still harbor some bitterness, I do.
My Boy Scout troop had the same mix of kids. Some of the guys were real pieces of work, and one of the biggest was Vance Day. I got along with him OK, but he was really awful to my buddy Greg. His dad was a plastic surgeon (still advertising in the “Living” section of the newspaper) and I think his sister was the singer of “Nu Shooz” who had the single hit “I Can’t Wait.”

Anyway, I heard stories about him while I was off in college and he was in seminary school. People would see him speeding up the hill in a convertible with a pair of blondes. He’s got quite a resumé now. I can hope he’s better, but since he’s the head of the Oregon Republican party, I’m pretty sure he isn’t. His background information doesn’t make him sound any more human, either. As a friend once said, people’s personalities are pretty set by the time they’re 12. (I don’t completely buy into it, but it’s a good rule-of-thumb.) Fortunately, I probably won’t ever have to talk to the guy again, and I’ll only see him on TV.