Buchal not giving GOP?good name in political scene

After failing to get anyone to run for attorney general in the May primary, Oregon’s Republican Party finally found a candidate for this November.

James Buchal got enough write-in votes (slightly more than 13,000) to qualify for the ballot.

Buchal, a self-described “complex civil litigation attorney” from Portland, is the GOP’s candidate for AG against Democrat and current officeholder Ellen Rosenblum.

Buchal, at first glance, has some credentials. He went to prep school in New Hampshire, studied at Harvard and graduated from Yale. He came to Oregon in 1999. He lost two races for the Oregon House (2004 and 2006).

Buchal came to the East Oregonian to promote his candidacy. He failed miserably.

Republicans deserve better — much better. In fact, almost anyone with a law degree and an ounce of common sense would be better.

Quite frankly, Buchal will only appeal to the extreme nuts of the party. He rants against the federal government, admitting he’s been battling against “sinister” doctrines his whole life. He admits he’s “lost all faith in the federal government.” He maintains “criminal elements” have taken over the government.

Disagreeing with the government is quite a bit different than losing all faith. We still have faith in our government, even if at times we are displeased with its actions.

Buchal’s extreme views — returning to the gold standard is just one example that he admits “mark me as a nut” — are a better fit for Libertarians.

Of course, he also admits that only half of a divided Libertarian Party supports him.

Most importantly, his rants have little to do with the job he’s seeking — attorney general for the state of Oregon.

We finally got him to rachet down his rhetoric for a few minutes to outline the three primary goals he would push as attorney general — accountability, simplification of laws and decentralization of the government.

Then he went back to ranting. That’s when he used “the voice.”

Instead of using reasoned arguments against his opponent, he repeatedly changed his voice to a whiny, high-pitched tone to ridicule Rosenblum, Democrats, the judicial system and “enviro nuts” — to name just a few of his enemies.

That’s not effective. It’s a childlike tactic unsuitable for a candidate at any level.

While at the EO, Buchal also threatened to sue Multnomah County who, with the cooperation of the secretary of state, did not destroy unused ballots at 8 p.m. on election day. It was part of a “pervasiveness of voter fraud” that allowed ballot manipulation. (Again, he used the word sinister.)

Buchal also whispered conspiratorially that his chances of being elected are “pretty good” because his opponent has “done some extreme things that will come out later in the campaign.”

It’s truly unfortunate that Buchal represents the Republican Party.

Frankly, we believed the Republican Party was becoming relevant again when it named Allen Alley as its chairman. It also gained credibility with gubernatorial candidate Chris Dudley in the 2010 election, who lost a close race to Gov. John Kitzhaber.

Backing a candidate such as James Buchal only hurts the credibility of the Republicans.

In fact, Buchal said he only got into the race after the party agreed to pay for his campaign.

They should have saved their money.