It was a dark and bloggy night…

Meet Forest Grove’s most famous blogosphere webizen

By Christian Gaston

The Forest Grove News-Times, May 18, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (2 Reader comments)

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By day, Kevin Kamberg is a single father in Forest Grove who commutes 37 miles to a job in Northeast Portland as a wood tint specialist. In his spare daylight hours, he crafts rain sticks from high-end ornamental wood.

But by night, he’s Forest Grove’s most famous voice on the blogosphere.

Kamberg, 44, blogs regularly on Blue Oregon, the de facto online hang out for lefty political junkies. He also blogs on his own site, Preemptive Karma.

With the election season in full swing, Oregon’s blogosphere has kicked into high gear and the News-Times asked Kamberg a few questions about blogging, politics and the future of media.

When did you start blogging?

With a full head of what turned out to be highly naive steam I launched The Independent Voter in early 2000 with the goal of helping Sen. John McCain win the GOP primary.

When he dropped out, I slowly converted the web site into a watering hole of sorts for Independents and added a message board. Message boards had been my primary online passion since I first got online back in 1995.

Creation versus evolution, Christian theology and politics ... I was a glutton for punishment who loved debating under can’t-win scenarios. But it was a whole lot of fun and I still have a lovely memento of those days in the form of a phony Ph.D. in Creation Education from a spoof online diploma mill set up by another avid debater of creation versus evolution. Just look up By Bayou University on Google, dig around a bit (it’s not exactly a user-friendly web site) and you'll find me listed as an honored graduate.

When the 2004 presidential season rolled around I became a huge fan of Howard Dean and tried to use the web site to boost his chances, which turned out to be just as ineffective as my earlier effort for McCain. It was during that time when I first started reading and commenting at a long since defunct blog called Independents for Dean. Within a few months of Dean dropping out, using the Dean blog as my inspiration I talked a close friend into co-founding Preemptive Karma with me, which we launched on May 1, 2004.

At parties, do you describe yourself as a blogger?

No, not typically. But it depends on the type of party. I have a knack for finding the only other political junkie at a party and then my blogging usually gets mentioned. But it’s never the focus of the conversation nor is it how I like to self-identify or be identified.

You're on the Forest Grove Historic Landmarks Committee. Do you have more influence there, or on the web?

Oh, definitely on the web. I actually wanted a spot on the Youth Task Force but it still has yet to actually be formed. So when the city council asked me what other committee I’d be interested in serving on I chose the Historic Landmarks Board because I love the gorgeous aesthetics of classic old houses and have been an avid fan of the PBS series “This Old House” for many years.

Why the interest in the youth task force?

I originally wanted the Youth Task Force because I’m a recovering cocaine and methamphetamine addict who got into a lot of trouble during my own teenage years and I felt that I would bring a valuable perspective to the task force. Rumor is that the task force may get formed sometime next year, so I may yet get my chance to give something back. God willing I will celebrate 20 years clean this coming August.

Do you feel the Oregon blogosphere is too Portland-centric?

Yes, definitely! But it doesn’t bother me. It’s a numbers thing based on population. If one person in a thousand is into political blogging then the Oregon blogosphere is going to reflect that ... which it does.

You’ve blogged extensively about the U.S. Senate primary, and have commented widely on stories from print sources on the topic. You’ve been up-front with your support of Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley. Why are you backing him?

As a long-time Independent, I normally tune out partisan primary races and only really get involved after the primary is over. Even then I normally only get worked up about the major races - president, governor, senate and congress. And that’s how this political season started out. But then an old 2003 vote by Jeff Merkley in support of Oregonians being sent to Iraq was distorted by another candidate and, having grown up a Republican, I took offense at what I saw as a blatant distortion. One thing led to another and the next thing I knew I was a full-blown partisan.

There are a lot of things that I like about Jeff Merkley. But if I had to pick two things they would be his staunch support of veterans and his extensive foreign policy/military knowledge and experience.

The Senate is Constitutionally mandated with giving advice and consent to the president on matters of foreign policy and war.

Both Jeff Merkley’s time spent as a weapons analyst for the Pentagon and his later years spent as president of the Foreign Affairs Council of Oregon deeply impress me as the very kind of knowledge base which is most sorely lacking in the United States Senate today.

Well, a third reason would be that Jeff Merkley is not a lawyer, unlike Gordon Smith and 60 percent of the Senate.

Okay, a fourth reason. After digging into his legislative record I realized that he is a very talented leader above and beyond just being a legislator. Some refer to him as a “work horse” because of how doggedly he pursues his legislative goals.

A look back at the 2007 session reveals his true talent as a legislative leader. To get virtually his entire agenda through with slimmest mathematically possible majority is more accurately described as a feat than as a mere accomplishment.

As a declared Merkley supporter, do you feel some readers discount your views out-of-hand? How do you combat that when writing a broader political piece to connect with readers who may disagree with your choice for U.S. Senate?

Yes, I’m sure some of my readers discount my views or at least take them with a grain of salt. Ultimately, however, an argument rises or falls on its own merits and that is what I rely upon to connect with readers who may not share my biases.

What’s the role of newspapers today? Do they provide coverage that feeds blog conversations? Are they a distraction from real ground-level reporting? Or are they an out-of-date relic?

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