Can Kristof disrupt Oregon for the better?

Nick Kristof encountered disruption often in his globetrotting career. But can he create a favorable disruption from the status quo for Oregon as its next governor? Our meeting at a nearby coffee shop began with disruption — staffing shortages shuttered its doors. Instead we enjoyed a break from our welcome rains, sat outside and took a short walk.

I didn’t ask him about the residency controversy that has dogged him this week. Only one of us had anything new to say on the subject, and I wasn’t the one being interviewed. Suffice to say, he’s not deterred by this disruption. He will continue campaigning until his lawyers or a judge tell him he must stop.

“Tell me,” he said, resisting the urge to pull the reporter’s notebook from his back pocket, “what are people in Eugene talking most about these days?” I appreciate that he is using his campaign to learn about our concerns and priorities. Too many campaigns rely on pollsters for that.

He deserved an honest answer: “How would I know? How would anyone know? What does that even mean in this pandemic age?” If we bump into somebody at the grocery store, will we even recognize them with a mask from more than six feet away? Our isolation-ward life is a circumstance that hasn’t yet become a consequence. But it will.

If anything, he leaned into the situation at hand. Voters seem open to — maybe even hungry for — an unconventional candidate who approaches our problems with fresh eyes. Journalism trained Tom McCall quite well. Those are great footsteps to follow.

“Journalism essentially promotes accountability,” he told me. And then he did take out that notebook from his pocket. “We keep track of things. We tabulate results. We ask around. We circle back.” (Those weren’t his exact words. My notebook was still in my pocket.) Kristof described accountability that focuses less on organizational hierarchy and more on end users. Fresh eyes!

Kristof was one of the first to notice hopelessness in our rural areas. He wrote a book about it in 2019, from his farmhouse in rural Yamhill. He thinks green energy production could revitalize eastern Oregon. If our wide-open spaces can once again produce what our population centers need, we’ll rebuild the American Dream right here.

Turning our focus back, he asked how Eugene is coping with its unhoused population. I pointed two blocks south and asked if he’d like to take a walk. “Sure,” he said. “Stretching my legs sounds really good.” We walked over to Nightingale Hosted Shelters to tour a tool invented in Eugene. Nobody’s favorite part of Show and Tell was ever Tell.

He marveled at the simplicity of the Conestoga Huts — no special tools, materials or skills required. With a few hundred dollars and a couple of days’ effort, anyone can be lifted off the ground, protected from elements above, tucked safely behind a locked door.

We didn’t say a word about it, but we were taking in what pollsters miss. Oregon is a place where simple solutions can disrupt conventional wisdom.

Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) writes a column each Friday for The Register-Guard and archives past columns at www.dksez.com. Read Kahle’s view on resolving Kristof’s residency status this Sunday at www.registerguard.com/opinion

Submit a guest view by emailing bomeara@registerguard.com your draft of either 525 words or 725 words, not in between. Include any relevant links to resources and research. Also, be sure to include a short biography explaining who you are, what you do and where you live. Writers may publish one guest view per 90 days.

Letters should be 200 words or fewer and sent with the writer’s name, address, and daytime phone number via e-mail to rgletters@registerguard.com. Letters may be edited for length and clarity, and maybe published in any medium. We regret that owing to the volume of correspondence we cannot reply to every letter.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Can Kristof disrupt Oregon for the better?