From Seattle writer and consultant Matt Rosenberg...: The Governor Invited Blackmail

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The Governor Invited Blackmail

May 07, 2004

If you had an affair with a 14-year-old girl while mayor of a major city, would you later run for Governor, hoping no one would find out?

For Neil Goldschmidt, former Mayor of Portland, former Governor of Oregon, former U.S. Transportation Secretary under President Jimmy Carter, former Nike exec, and current Oregon power broker, the answer was yes.

Goldschmidt's legacy is badly stained not because anyone is all that shocked by a politician who can't keep it in his pants; but because he compromised his office and constituents by making himself susceptible to blackmail. Whether or not that ever happened (and who really knows) isn't the point.

The Oregonian story linked to immediately below notes, rumors "about the relationship" were floating about when Goldschmidt successfully ran for governor in 1986. It lasted from 1975 to 1976. After he took office in 1986, the woman was speaking about it in public, Goldschmidt says now. So he met with her, and continued to talk to her on the phone, or meet with her when others were present.

No one spilled the beans. There was a quiet legal settlement in 1994; Goldschmidt established a conservatorship for the woman.

I wonder: when he was running for Governor, and after he was elected, what did Goldschmidt's political and media advisors ask? How much did Goldschmidt tell them?

Power is the greatest aphrodisiac, Henry Kissinger said. Goldschmidt's reprehensible violation of public trust was part of a larger pattern of adultery, according to The Oregonian and the man himself.

Throughout his political career, rumors of extramarital affairs circulated around him. Goldschmidt tacitly acknowledged Thursday that the rumors had merit.
"If people work hard enough, I think you'll find indiscretions," he said. "But nothing as ugly as this."

There are repercussions for public policy right now.

His sudden withdrawal from public life, just months after being named president of the state Board of Higher Education, throws a planned overhaul of the state's university system into disarray. He has resigned from the board and taken a leave of absence from his consulting firm, Goldschmidt Imeson Carter.
It also complicates the proposed sale of Portland General Electric to Texas Pacific Group. Goldschmidt, who was in line to be chairman of a newly appointed board of PGE should the deal go through, said he will no longer be involved in the transaction.

Here's his statement on the affair with the underage girl, as published in yesterday's Oregonian, with links to related news stories.

Portland blogger Jack Bogdanski has a post; check out the comments.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at May 7, 2004 09:21 AM

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Comments:

Wow, that guy was my governor. I was too young to know anything about politics or even sex then, but I'm disgusted in hindsight. Doesn't help the rep of the Dems for being a party full of lecherous older men preying on younger women. Speaking of that, I saw a George Carlin lookalike wearing a pimp suit with a feathered hat at a party last night. He was 30 years older than anyone else. What's the deal with that?

Posted by: Greg at May 8, 2004 12:33 PM

Pimps can be any age. My l4 yr old granddaughter says one of the senior boys regularly dresses up as a pimp for special school days. He goes to church regularly, too. His gramma scoffs at the idea he'd ever dress like this.

Posted by: Lorna at May 8, 2004 02:34 PM

I think he was a less a pimp than a predator. But you're both on to something, which is the trivialization of sexual exploitation - one sign being guys parading around in pimp costumes.

There's even a Seattle nightspot that has an annual "Pimp N' Ho' Ball" where guys and gals dress up in their best Superfly finery.

And there's much worse stuff going on among Jr.-Hi guys in Seattle (and doubtless elsewhere)who're "rating" body parts and talking nasty trash about their female peers, using smart cell phones, instant messaging and their personal IM home pages to spew.

Yes, this is age-old stuff, but it's given added heft by technology, and software like Photo Shop. You almost don't want to know what's next, but the handwriting's on the wall. It's not pretty.

For now, know this. Some of today's predators are in the same CLASS as your daughters; as opposed to being the mayor next door, or the youth basketball coach.

THAT'S really scary.

Posted by: Matt Rosenberg at May 8, 2004 06:03 PM

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