By Joshua Green
Every election cycle seems to bring one or two candidates who don't rise to national prominence, but whose curious biography, bizarre sense of humor, or plucky underdog perseverance in the face of long odds makes you root for them anyway. A few years ago, Blair Hull was my guy: professional Vegas card-counter turned math whiz who made a fortune in the market and decided to run for Illinois's open Senate seat (as it happened, against a guy named Barack Obama).
This cycle, I've once again found my man. He is Steve Novick, a junior high school dropout who enrolled at Harvard Law School at 18, became a crusading environmental lawyer (he was lead counsel in the notorious Love Canal toxic waste case), and decided to seek the Democratic nomination for Senate in Oregon this year, despite getting no love from the DSCC, which has unimaginatively cast its lot with House Speaker Jeff Merkley.
Novick is an unusual guy. He is 4-feet, 9-inches tall. He has just had beer named in his honor, Left Hook Lager. And if you watch his latest commercial, I don't think there can be any question that Novick is the proverbial "politician you'd like to have a beer with." Oh, and did I mention that he has another distinguishing feature? Click here, and brace yourself for a shock. (It comes at the very end.)
