Washington Post:  “Nicholas Kristof, a former New York Times columnist, announced Wednesday he is running for Oregon governor, ending months of speculation over whether he would make a bid for the top political office in his home state.

“It’s hard to watch your home state struggle when you can make a difference on homelessness, education, jobs,” Kristof, 62, tweeted Wednesday morning, along with a link to his campaign’s launch video. In it, he spoke of his roots in Yamhill, Ore., the opportunities he felt his Oregon upbringing had given him, and the decline in prospects for those with whom he grew up.  ‘If you want to see what happens when our politics so badly fails the people it’s supposed to serve, just take a walk through downtown Portland,’ Kristoff, who is running as a Democrat, narrates in the video, as the camera pans across a homeless encampment.

“‘It’s time to do something about a system that’s rigged against so many ordinary Oregonians,’ he adds. ‘But nothing will change until we stop moving politicians up the career ladder year after year, even though they refuse to step up to the problems Oregon faces.’  Kristoff, who has no political experience, says as much in the video. Instead, he leans heavily on his 37-year career at the Times — where he was a foreign correspondent and a columnist who won the Pulitzer Prize — saying he ‘spent a lifetime shining a light in the darkest corners of the globe.’”