The Oregonian's Editorial Page Editor has followed his publisher's lead in hitting back at allegations made by the Measure 66 and 67 campaign over the weekend.

CALDWELL: PURE B.S THAT HE IS TERRIFIED FOR [HIS] JOB...
  • CALDWELL: "PURE B.S" THAT HE IS "TERRIFIED FOR [HIS] JOB..."
The paper's new publisher, N.Christian Anderson III wrote in a publisher's note yesterday that he is "not" a "right-wing nut."

Meanwhile Editorial Page Editor Bob Caldwell—who now reports directly to Anderson, and not editor Peter Bhatia, under a change instituted by Anderson when he joined the paper last year—has refuted claims by "Yes on 66/67" campaign director Kevin Looper that he is "terrified for [his] job." From Saturday:

To be clear, Looper is not accusing Anderson of "overruling the editorial board" on Measures 66 and 67, he says. "There was no vote. But I think Anderson had a conversation with the editorial board director and said this is how it's going to be, and so [editorial page director] Bob Caldwell went in and made that happen. We had the majority of them on our side, before. We know that. But they're all terrified for their jobs."

"Chris Anderson's Sunday column pretty much covered the editorial board's role," writes Caldwell, in an email response this morning to my request for comment. "The "terrified for their jobs" comment is pure b.s."

I replied:

"So it's fair to quote you as saying it's "pure b.s" that you're "terrified for your job?" And that you would have stood up to Anderson, on principle, over the 66/67 endorsement if you'd felt he was wrong?"

His response:
"As we mentioned in our Sunday editorial, we've had a problem with the way the Legislature has approached the issue since last summer, when we first mentioned it in an editorial. I discussed it with Chris on one or two occasions when he came to the paper. He was not part of the editorial board discussions on the topic. There was nothing to "stand up" over because we didn't disagree with each other in the first place. To put in terms like that would be seriously mischaracterizing things. The "pure b.s." comment, which you can quote or not, as you wish, referred to your earlier comment that anyone here (including me) would be "terrified for [his or her] job" over this."

It's poll time. BOB CALDWELL: