Of the major GOP candidates in the Oregon primary for U.S. Senate, Willamette Week has endorsed state Rep. Jason Conger instead of Dr. Monica Wehby, even though the editors admitted both have excellent resumés and they "probably agree on more issues" with Wehby. They said this decision was based primarily on how she did in a 90-minute interview that reporters conducted with all the candidates, stating that Wehby's "befuddling answers" suggested she was not quite ready for prime time, and were "at times disingenuous."

Maybe she should run for President? Those don't seem to be disqualifiers for that job.

Anyway, the example the editors mentioned did suggest a certain lack of willingness to commit:

We asked all five candidates in this race a fairly simple question: which U.S. Supreme Court justice most closely mirrors your values? After one candidate named Justice Anthony Kennedy, Wehby piggybacked on the answer. After Conger gave a ringing endorsement of arch-conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, Wehby awkwardly changed her answer to Scalia as well. (Outside the interview, she told us she really meant to say Chief Justice John Roberts, but that she actually likes Justice Samuel Alito best of all.)

If she then chased a reporter's car down the street yelling, "And Thomas! I also like Justice Clarence Thomas best!" the paper did not mention it.

The interview video is also mildly entertaining at about the 1:06 mark (certainly you should fast-forward, as I did). One of the candidates, already irked at the reporters, called them out after he noticed one had written "blah blah blah" on his notepad after another candidate answered a question. Reporters are entitled to write whatever they want, and "blah" x3 may have been accurate, but I did think he scored a point there because the reporters were actually pretty rude.

I then subtracted that point, though, after the reporter asked the next question—"Climate change: myth or reality?"—and the same candidate practically shouted "MYTH!" Please. More rudeness followed and the candidate walked out.

I watched a few seconds more to see whether Dr. Wehby also walked out, then changed her mind and returned, but she remained seated.