Oregon Public Broadcasting

It's hard to imagine a wider gap in political experience than the one between the two leading candidates for Oregon governor. Democrat John Kitzhaber held the job for two terms. Republican Chris Dudley has never even run for office, much less been elected to one. Yet both men come from unique and elite professional backgrounds.

Yesterday, we heard what Kitzhaber's eight years in office can tell us about what kind of governor he'd be. Today Chris Lehman looks at Republican Chris Dudley's credentials.

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Chris Dudley spent 16 years of his life on one of the biggest stages in the world: The NBA.Sound: Dudley being introducedThat's right: He's 6-11, and he went to Yale. Dudley played for five teams, including the Portland Trail Blazers. His basketball career spanned four presidents and parts of three different decades.

Steve Brandon is the sports editor of the Portland Tribune who covered Dudley during his stint in Portland. He says Dudley wasn't a superstar.

Instead, he was a scrappy player whose work ethic kept him in the league a long time. Steve Brandon: "Very few Ivy League basketball players make it in the NBA, and here was a guy at 6'11" and not a good shooter, but was able to do it."

Now, Dudley is under a different kind of microscope -- one that examines a politician running for office.

Here he is working the room at a small restaurant in Springfield, Oregon.

Democrats portray Dudley's lack of political chops as a liability, not an asset. Dudley just shrugs that off.

Chris Dudley: "I don't think you have to be inside of government your whole life to have experience. I think there's a lot of other areas that carry over."

Like, Dudley says, his economics degree, his work as an investment adviser, and his leadership of a foundation he started for kids with diabetes.

He also says the best-known part of his resume -- NBA player -- is relevant to his goal of becoming governor.

Chris Dudley: "When I played professional basketball, I think being on a team, working with a group of diverse background toward a common goal, I think that's a life experience that's very important. I think it was helpful that I was in leadership of a union."

Dudley was secretary/treasurer of the National Basketball Player's Association. He was selected for that role by his fellow players around the league. But..

Ron Klempner: "It wasn't so much a political election."

Still, player's union attorney Ron Klempner says Dudley earned the respect of other players for his professionalism on and off the court. Dudley was part of negotiations with more than a dozen members on his bargaining unit.

But Klempner says Dudley still managed to stand out.

Ron Klempner: "He was the kind of guy who would be able to tone things down, to take a break, to stop, to make sure we went over everything and everybody understood where we were going. And he was always able to go and make people feel better about whatever result we were going to achieve."

That would certainly be a valuable skill to have when negotiating contacts with public employee unions. As governor, Dudley would be on the opposite side of the bargaining table than when he was in the players union.

But his labor credentials haven't so far impressed unions in Oregon. As in past elections, they've mostly lined up to endorse the Democrat in the race.

Arthur Towers is political director of the largest state worker's union, the SEIU.

Arthur Towers: "He's been negotiating between millionaires and multi-millionaires. That sort of experience doesn't ring true."

Dudley's not making his player's union role the centerpiece of his campaign. In fact, you rarely hear him talk about his NBA career at all.

Political analyst Jim Moore says regardless of Dudley's background, his clean political slate won't hurt him this year.

Jim Moore: "People across the country appear to be looking for outsiders. And they appear to be looking for people who don't have political experience."

Democrat John Kitzhaber has repeatedly said that the current economy is not a good time for what he calls "on the job training."

But Dudley counters that people with lots of political experience have been in charge in Salem for a long time.

And the state still faces serious financial challenges.

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http://www.capitolcurrents.com/