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United States News Title: Oregon Capitol mystery: Who wants to kill the Independent Party? SALEM -- Here's a state Capitol mystery: Who ordered a hit on the Independent Party of Oregon? Nobody wants to claim credit for a bill that would neuter the Independent Party by saying it could no longer use the word "independent." That's like telling a showgirl she can stay in the business as long as she wears a burka. The instigator of House Bill 2442 did it in a way that ensured he or she wouldn't leave any fingerprints. Even more puzzling, the bill received a hearing last week and no one was willing to testify in favor of it, something you almost never see at the Legislature. In the best tradition of Agatha Christie, several people admit they have a beef against the Independent Party, saying the very name lures in voters who don't mean to register in any political party. But the critics all trot out alibis, saying they didn't do it. "Whoever was behind it seemed to get scared off when they realized how big a ruckus it was causing," said Sal Peralta, who showed up at the hearing with the two other leaders of the 66,000-member Independent Party. After listening to the trio denounce the bill as an unconstitutional attack on their free speech, the Democratic and Republican co-chairmen of the House Rules Committee made it clear the bill is as dead as a Vegas mob boss buried in the desert. The Republican, Rep. Andy Olson of Albany, said he agreed to let the Democratic co-chair, Dave Hunt of Gladstone, hold the hearing as a routine courtesy. But after the retired state cop did some digging around, it started to smell fishy. "It is odd, really odd," Olson said. "As soon as I find out -- because I will find out -- I am going to expose what happened here." It turns out that Hunt, who is also the House Democratic leader, knows more about the bill than he is letting on publicly. His spokesman, Geoff Sugerman, said Hunt doesn't know who introduced the bill and wasn't pushing it himself. But Sugerman did reveal that yet another representative -- and Sugerman didn't dispute that it was a Democrat -- asked Hunt to hold the hearing. But he said this legislator "prefers not to be named." So, absent a subpoena, the mystery lawmaker remains in the shadows. Of course, that lawmaker may have just been the hired muscle for someone else. The Independent Party folks had their eye on Trent Lutz, the executive director of the Democratic Party of Oregon. After all, last year Lutz filed an election-law complaint questioning the structure of the minor party, and -- circumstantial evidence -- he was sitting in the audience during the hearing. In fact, Lutz makes no bones about wanting strip the party of its name. He thought of testifying in favor of the bill, but decided not to because it was clear the legislation was kaput. Still, he pleads innocence. "I'm not the one who introduced it," Lutz added. "I wish I would have been." Yeah, detective Hercule Poirot hears that a lot. -- Jeff Mapes
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