Sam Adams, mayor of Portland, Ore., went public Wednesday (Jan. 4) with his concerns about security costs for an upcoming GOP presidential debate at Oregon Public Broadcasting. He wants OPB and the Oregon Republican Party, co-sponsors, to move the event to a location closer to the airport to reduce the number of police necessary. "The costs are real," Adams told the Oregonian — and already $1.5 million over budget. "I don't know what else to say. We just don't have the budget for this." OPB President Steve Bass said it would be cost-prohibitive for the station to move the event from the OPB studios.
The newspaper countered with an editorial Thursday saying, "Oh, suck it up, Portland. When the president or serious candidates for president come to town, you don't whine about the costs of ensuring their safety or ask them not to stray from the airport. You welcome them the way Iowans just did — you go overtime."
The debate, set for March 19, was announced last October.
4 comments:
Sam is such a twerp. You have to live here to appreciate this.
What a whiner! Is Sam trying out for a part in Portlandia? Oh, he's already got a part in Portlandia.
I can hardly wait to see what John Stewart does with this one.
He does have a part in Portlandia. He plays an assistant to the mayor. (No, I did not make this up.)
The difference is that in Iowa, the ludicrously cockeyed caucus is something of a cottage industry, a profit center for the broadcast industry, whereas a stop by the current Republican clown car anywhere else is simply a royal pain in the posterior.
Personally, I think the debate should be held in the local city zoo monkey house, where the poo-flinging will, at least, be nothing new.
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