Campaign promises to be lively.

Byline: DAVID STEVES The Register-Guard

Oregon's two freshly minted gubernatorial nominees wasted no time Wednesday trying to take the shine off each other.

Republican Kevin Mannix said Ted Kulongoski, a Democrat, was an "anti-populist" who thinks the right to amend the constitution through ballot measures "ought to be taken away."

Kulongoski fired back that Mannix "represents the extreme" and "fragments the body politic."

So begins the general election campaign, a day after votes were tallied in Tuesday's primary.

The results showed Mannix eking out a narrow win over Republicans Ron Saxton and Jack Roberts, while Kulongoski drew nearly half the Democratic votes, with the rest being split by Jim Hill, Bev Stein and two lesser-known candidates.

With the first open race for governor since 1994 when John Kitzhaber won the first of his two terms in office, a Mannix vs. Kulongoski race has the potential to capture the public's attention and help frame the choices that await state policy-makers, said Portland political analyst James Moore.

"It's got the potential to be one of the best and liveliest gubernatorial races we've seen in years," he said. "The danger for both of them is if they continue with the same tactics they used in the primary. They were basically the generic type of television ads that you would see in any race anywhere else in the country."

Moore expressed hope that many voters seemed to hold out: that instead of offering what he called "platitudes and nothing else" about taxes being bad and job creation being good, the two nominees will have to give specific solutions to Oregon's problems of inadequate school funding, a gaping state budget hole and an economy with the worst unemployment rate in the nation.

The two nominees may face identical policy challenges, but each will confront different sets of political challenges along the way.

Mannix's opposition to abortion and domestic partnership benefits for gay couples made him popular among the religious conservatives who turned out in large numbers for the Republican primary. But his decision to campaign as the most right-leaning candidate on social issues could torment him this fall, when Democrats and independent voters - not just actively voting Republicans - will be assessing him.

Mannix's two previous unsuccessful campaigns for attorney general were dogged by abortion-rights groups' campaigns to alert voters to what they called his "anti-choice" views.

Mannix said he had no plans to highlight his views on such social issues as he did in the spring.

"Constitutionally, a governor is very much restricted on what he can do on these issues. I'm practical about that," Mannix said.

Maura Roche, a lobbyist for the political action committee of the abortion-rights group Planned Parenthood, said she's not surprised that Mannix wants to start down-playing the abortion issue.

"Of course he's not going to make an issue of it. But I imagine that his opponents will," she said, adding that outside campaigns by abortion-rights groups are likely to point out Mannix's views.

In a state where polls show that two-thirds to three-quarters of the population support abortion rights, Republicans in statewide races who take a contrary view have had difficulty winning general elections.

Roberts and Saxton, both pro-choice Republicans, pointed this out frequently during the primary race. But now that Mannix has won the nomination, they said they hoped he would break that trend - as did U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith and Mark Hatfield, who served as a senator and governor.

Dan Lavey, a Roberts campaign consultant and former aide to Smith, said Mannix's go-for-broke use of the abortion issue to win the primary puts him in a tougher place than Smith found himself in 1996.

Although he'd just lost to Democrat Ron Wyden after being pummeled for his anti-abortion views, Smith hadn't played to social conservatives.

Instead, he focused on convincing voters that despite his strongly held personal views, he would not try to overturn the landmark Roe vs. Wade decision that declared abortion rights to be constitutionally protected.

"The dynamics are different and that will present a challenge to Kevin," Lavey said.

But given Mannix's hard-charging style and his potential to learn from his earlier losses, Lavey said Mannix shouldn't be counted out.

"What's that song about the little ant and the rubber tree plant? He's a happy warrior," Lavey said. "If there's somebody who can do it, it would be Kevin Mannix."

Mannix came out charging on Wednesday, saying he'd avoid the general-election pitfalls that have caught other socially conservative Republican nominees.

"I'll be emphasizing my consensus-building skills and my focus on practical results for Oregonians and that makes me very different," he said, referring to his long record as a legislator and his success at pushing tough-on-crime initiatives onto the ballot.

Unlike Mannix, Kulongoski received only light criticism from Democratic rivals during the campaign, and he doesn't find himself at odds with middle-of-the-road voters because of positions taken in the primary.

Moore, the political analyst, said that Kulongoski will have to do more than run a repeat of what he called "a pretty bland, kind of humorous campaign in his bowling shirt" - a reference to his bowling-alley ad campaign meant to show his common touch and rapport with working Oregonians.

He said Kulongoski's primary campaign reminded him of Republican Dave Frohnmayer's race against Democrat Barbara Roberts in 1990. Right-wing spoiler candidate Al Mobley hurt Frohnmayer by siphoning off conservative votes, Moore said, but Frohnmayer also fared poorly because he didn't match Roberts' level of enthusiasm and vigor.

"Looking at Kulongoski's campaign, that's what the future seems to hold for him unless he changes course," Moore said.

State Sen. Peter Courtney, a Salem Democrat and a Kulongoski supporter, said he was tired of such critiques.

"I've heard that as late as this morning and I've been hearing this for weeks," Courtney said Wednesday.

"Would you mind telling me what he should do differently? He has more votes than his two other opponents, who spent millions, so you tell me what he needs to do differently."

Courtney said that while the election results confirm that Kulongoski made all the right moves in the primary, he and his campaign aides need to prepare for a different kind of race against Mannix, whom Courtney has known for years.

"They have no idea what Kevin is going to do to Ted Kulongoski. He's going to go after him. Kevin is very much of an attack person," Courtney said. "He's going to attack and attack and hit and hit. Hit, hit, hit, hit."

Kulongoski said he planned to run on the same set of issues - education, the environment and the economy.

After three decades of public service, starting as a Lane County legislator and including offices in all three branches of state government, he said that he was still true to his belief that government has the responsibility to provide opportunity to all citizens.

"But I've become much more practical. It isn't just about debating things and making myself feel good when I go home and look in the mirror," Kulongoski said. "It's about whether I've moved the agenda in the public's interest. I'm probably less partisan than I was 30 years ago."

CAPTION(S):

Oregon Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ted Kulongoski (left) and Republican candidate Kevin Mannix are preparing for their next battle. INSIDE FIRE HALL: An $8.7 million bond measure for a new downtown fire station keeps its slim victory margin / 1B FORENSICS LAB: The Eugene City Council votes to build a safer home for the police forensics lab and property control departments, now in City Hall / 1B SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT: Susan Castillo draws widespread praise after her convincing victory / 1B WRAPUP: Several election races flip- flop as final returns are tabulated / 3B SCHOOL BOND: After approval of a $116 million measure, the Eugene School Board sets its plans in motion / 3B UPDATES A LINK to updated totals is available at www.register guard.com