It most certainly will not come in the form of a Republican, however. The Oregonian's Jeff Mapes has the scoop:

Sen. Vicki Walker, D-Eugene, may be staking out her turf on the Internet -- she has, for example, registered the domain name walkerforgovernor.org -- but she says she hasn't decided whether she will challenge Gov. Ted Kulongoski next year.

Walker has been a vocal critic of the governor, a fellow Democrat, but she appeared flustered Monday when asked why she registered two Internet addresses last week that present her as a candidate for governor.

"This kind of catches me by surprise," she said. "I need about 15 minutes to think about what I want to say."

Later, Walker said she is interested in being governor, but she doesn't know whether she will run -- and if she does, whether it would be in 2006 or 2010.

The right doesn't like him because he has proved the efficacy of the moderation and the left doesn't like him because he has not forwarded progressivism at all costs. Perhaps this is why Ted Kulongoski has been such an effective governor for Oregon.

The past few years have been a real challenge for Oregon, but Kulongoski has done an effective job of navigating the middle ground between the two parties to ensure that the state always benefits. The unemployment rate is down and the budgetary situation is improving rapidly. As a result of this (and the impressive GOTV effort of statewide Democrats and allied 527 groups), the Democrats are just a few seats away from reclaiming the state House, thus cementing their domination of state politics.

Perhaps Oregon's Democrats will chose to dump Kulongoski in the primary. It would be foolish to believe this would help them in the long run. Just as the Oregon Republican Party -- once dominant in the state for decades -- lost all of its power when it moved from the center to the extreme, so too will the Democrats find themselves in dire straights should they move too far to the right. It's only a matter of time. Walker's progressive record might please the Democrats in the short run, but Kulongoski's moderation has strengthened the Party for today and the future.