Opinion: A Democratic governor puts wind in John McCain’s sails

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John McCain got an unexpected boost in his bid to woo independent and Democratic voters this afternoon: a shared stage with Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski.

Kulongoski is a Democrat who has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. So reporters were stunned to see him turn up at wind-power firm Vestas near Portland International Airport along with McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. The event, a major speech on global warming, was designed to pitch McCain’s environmental views to moderate Western voters.

The governor didn’t mention McCain in his brief remarks. Instead, he introduced Jens Soby, the president of Vestas, and promoted Oregon’s attempts to be ‘the renewable [energy] capital of America.’

Soby introduced McCain, who did not miss the chance to thank Kulongoski and use his presence to push a second independent-wooing pitch: his ability to work across party lines.

McCain lauded Kulongoski -- a former Marine who attends every funeral for an Oregon serviceman or woman killed in Iraq -- for his military service. He called him ‘a great governor’ whose leadership had lured Vestas to Oregon.

‘As president of the United States,’ McCain said, ‘I will sit down with Gov. Ted Kulongoski and all of the governors of this country, whether they are Democrat or Republican, and work for the betterment of the nation.’

-- Jim Tankersley

Jim Tankersley writes for the Swamp of the Chicago Tribune’s Washington bureau.