We may have, in another couple of days, a better idea of what to make of the mass of polls regionally and nationally this year. (Our skepticism about many of them, which has been growing some years, is so far unabated.)

Meantime, check out this from Survey USA, on their latest poll on the Oregon governor’s race:

In an election for Oregon governor today, 10/29/10, 4 days until votes are counted, former Democratic Governor John Kitzhaber edges Republican Chris Dudley, according to SurveyUSA polling for KATU-TV in Portland.

Among the subset of voters interviewed on their home telephones, Kitzhaber is nominally ahead, by 4 points. Among voters who do not have a home phone, interviewed on their cellphones, Kitzhaber leads by 15 points. When the groups are proportionally blended, it’s Kitzhaber 48%, Dudley 41%. Kitzhaber, who served as Governor from 1995 to 2003, has gained ground among men, where in 3 SurveyUSA polls since mid-September, Dudley had led by 19, by 11, and now by 3 points. Oregon conducts elections entirely by mail. Dudley, a former Portland Trailblazer, leads 5:3 among those voters who rarely vote in midterm elections but who tell SurveyUSA they are uniquely motivated to vote this year. In some states in 2010, those uniquely motivated voters are enough to elect the Republican. But not here: Kitzhaber leads 5:4 among those who vote more frequently. Those more enthusiastic about voting this year than in prior years vote 5:3 Republican. Those enthusiastic this year vote 2:1 Democrat. Among the 60% of voters who tell SurveyUSA they have already filled out their ballot, Kitzhaber leads by 11 points. Among those who say they are certain to return a ballot, the race is effectively even. Dudley would need to outperform Kitzhaber substantially on the not-yet returned ballots to overtake.

Send a package by FedEx or UPS and you can generally track its progress toward destination. Here’s one of the side-benefits of vote-by-mail (or drop box) in Oregon: You can do the same thing with your ballot. Our guess is that a lot of Oregonians probably don’t know they can do this.

The way is to hit a site called MyVote, associated with the secretary of state. Fill in your name, birth date and some other identifying information (it’s not a long form), and it’ll pull up a report on whether you’re registered and whether your ballot has been received by the county and state.

Mine says: “Ballot Status: November 2, 2010 General Election Your ballot was received on October 21, 2010.”

Might not be a bad idea for Oregonians to run that double-check to make sure they’re accounted for.

Not sure, though, how you’d make such a system work as a practical matter in a polling place state, where the bulk of people vote on the same day.

Not all political commentary is or has to be acidic. Here’s a piece of writing for those running who wind up, next week, winning public office. It comes from someone who’s been there, Susan Morgan, a Douglas County commissioner (Republican) writing about some of what happens after the election, on a more personal level.

Personal mileage may vary, but there’s plenty of food for thought in this commissioner’s essay (grabbed from an e-mail from one of her constituents).

For folks running for political office, the evening of November 2nd will be life changing.

If you get elected, here are a few things you should know, including that it’s now too late to back out.

First, don’t be surprised if every member of your family stops going to the grocery store with you. Soon to be gone are the days when you could nick into Ray’s for a gallon of milk and be back on your way in a few minutes. I am continually amazed by the great conversations I have had with people in Sherm’s or Fred’s exploring their opinions and sharing experiences. Almost everyone is very pleasant and interesting to talk with. First my kids, and now my grandkids, have spent significant time examining things like soup labels, waiting patiently for me to move to the next aisle. Now, letting my family know that I’m going grocery shopping leads to a flurry of suddenly remembered tasks that urgently need attention.

Second, don’t be surprised if you gain weight. Being elected to public office involves eating out a lot. After your first term of office, approximately half you body weight will be made up of prime rib, salmon fillets and chicken breasts. The other half of your body weigh will be comprised of my personal favorite: pot luck meals. I absolutely love the events where everyone brings a dish and they are all spread out on a long table. No one ever brings anything bad. In fact, every dish at a pot luck meal is fabulous, usually the chefs’ signature dish.

Third, your definition of a great evening will change. With so many events and meetings that are scheduled for after work when everyone is available, you won’t spend much time at home. Some days are long, especially when you start at a 7am breakfast meeting, and don’t punch the button on the garage door opener until around 9 in the evening. Coming home at 5:30, donning that funky sweat suit, and passing time hunched over a family game board, or reading a good novel starts to sound pretty exciting. Even weeding the garden starts looking good.

Finally, if you are part of an election campaign you are running in overdrive right now, focused on November 2nd, around 8:10 pm when the first set of returns come out. My advice to you is to quit reading this and get back to work.

I wish all candidates the very best, and thank you immensely for stepping up to public service. I know some of you will be disappointed on the 2nd, but I don’t think you will regret your experiences on the campaign trail.

Governments all over are scrambling to find ways to save money while coming as close as they can to providing the services people expect. Here’s one. As a part of overall government expenses it’s not large. But it’s an option that could save taxpayer money while impairing service not a bit.

The Oregonian has an article about it today: “Multnomah County officials have decided to dump Microsoft in favor of Google, expecting to shave as much as $600,000 a year from the county budget.”

MultCo is apparently the first governmental entity in the Northwest to do this, though a number of other metro areas around the country have begun to take the step.

They could go even further, since there are some small costs associated with Google: They could go to all-open source, and pay not software costs at all.

So ask yourself: Why aren’t more of them doing it?