Tim Phillips, Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon's 1st District has been endorsed by a leading conservative magazine.
Phillips, a Portland small businessman of partly Indian origin, on April 29 won the endorsement of BrainstormNW, a business-oriented magazine based in Lake Oswego. The board of the magazine voted to endorse Phillips quoting what they said was his record of creating jobs in Oregon, because "he listens and is eager to respond to your questions or concerns," and because Phillips has "gathered the majority of his contributions at home [Oregon]."
Phillips has pointed to the out-of-state funding of his Republican opponent for the May 18 Rep-ublican primaries Goli Ameri, as well as that of incumbent Democratic Congressman David Wu.
The paper said that while either Ameri or Phillips would be better than Wu, "In the final analysis, the nod goes to Tim Phillips. There is a level of enthusiasm, determination and preparedness that suggests that he is better equipped to displace Wu after three lackluster terms."
"BrainstormNW is a respected voice in the Northwest business community," Phillips said. "I told them, and I promise voters, that in addition to cutting waste, I will fight to hold the line on taxes and improve education."
Both Phillips and Ameri are self-described fiscal conservatives and social moderates, and both have solid financial backing, the paper noted. "But Phillips has also created and grown a thriving local business, while Ameri's business credentials seem thin."
On national issues, both support President Bush's tax cuts and the efforts to make them permanent. Both support the War on Terrorism, and Ameri, an emigre from pre-Ayatollah Khomeni Iran, has personal experience with radical Islamic terrorism.
Each is moderate on the abortion issue, supporting abortion rights, but opposing partial birth abortion and supporting parental notification, according to the paper's understanding of the two candidates.
It conceded that Ameri has been criticized for the amount of contributions she has received from the far-flung Iranian-American population while Phillips has gathered the majority of his contributions at home, but it added, this outside funding had never been an issue for newspapers when incumbent David Wu sought and accepted contributions from Chinese Americans around the country.
"Phillips has been criticized for lawsuits by his investment firm's clients in the aftermath of the stock market collapse of 2001-02 -- a fact he readily acknowledges but asserts is at a significantly smaller ratio than other members of the industry averaged in the same time period," the paper said.
So what is the difference? "For the editorial board of BrainstormNW it is about connecting with your audience. And here, Phillips has the edge. With him there is the impression that he listens and is eager to respond to your questions or concerns. And with Ameri there is the impression that she is preparing to work the next group. These are matters of style but they will count significantly in a race with the aloof Mr. Wu," BrainstormNW said.