From the AP, via the Corvallis Gazette-Times:

Senate Minority Leader Ted Ferrioli, R-John Day ... said he is hoping that when the costs of environmental legislation this session come home to roost — particularly the costs of reducing greenhouse gas emissions when the state already ranks 41st in the nation on carbon footprint — voters will look to the GOP to send the pendulum swinging the other way.

The Oregon GOP is in freefall, and their hope is that Oregonians will be angry at Dems for protecting the planet? Yet another brilliant recipe for success. Will they be looking to Sarah Palin for inspiration and guidance? We can only hope.

The economy will turn around. By the time Oregonians vote in November 2010, things will be moving in the opposite direction than they are now. How strong a recovery Oregon is enjoying at that time is a big question, given how little we have to build on and how badly we are suffering now. But the national mood will be more optomistic; two years of gloom about the economy is more than most people can take, and any upswing will be a good enough reason to decide, "Hey, I'm feeling more positive."

Even in Oregon. Next year, of course, the #1 political story is going to be the race for governor. That is likely to be settled in May when the Democrats select their nominee. Republicans no longer have the ability to wage a winning statewide campaign. The general election campaign will be run with an eye on what the Legislature can accomplish in 2011, and that means building on what should be a more positive national atmosphere and turning against anything that smacks of defeatism. As in, "Poor Oregon, we cannot afford to stop destroying the planet. We have no choice but to end regulations that will save the planet but undercut corporate profit."

Because, yes, Oregonians want nothing more than to enrich corporations, most of which take those profits out-of-state while leaving the state not merely poorer, but less capable of future survival. Exhibit one: the timber industry. So Ferroli can fantasize that the Leg's actions regarding global climate change will cause a Newtonian shift to his party but what's more like is that Oregonians will have had an additional year to watch the climate turning ugly and realize that corporate profits are less important to them than basic survival.