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PORTLAND, Oregon - The rhetoric in the Oregon governor's race, like the air, is slightly cooler than it is in other states featuring high-stakes statewide races on Tuesday.

Republican gubernatorial nominee Chris Dudley, a former professional basketball player with 16 years of NBA experience, is new to politics and brings a fresh perspective with him to the race. The Democratic nominee, John Kitzhaber, served two terms as governor ending in 2003 and shows off his more local flair on the campaign trail.

And in this blue state, Dudley acknowledges that President Obama is more popular than he is nationally. The president appeared on stage in Portland with Kitzhaber and most of the Democrats in the state's congressional delegation two weeks ago.

"I think that as far as the race goes, I think it was great for Oregon to have the president visit, and I was the first to welcome him here and appreciate him coming to Oregon," Dudley said Sunday in an interview with RealClearPolitics at his campaign headquarters. "But at the end of the day, he's not on the ballot. And so I don't think it had a huge impact one way or the other. It was great to have him here."

For his part, Kitzhaber defended the president in an interview.

"He's had a Congress that's opposed everything he's done and hasn't offered a single solution," Kitzhaber said. He clarified that the Republicans have tried to stand in the way of what Obama has done.

"I think the fact is there may be an expectation that this one man was going to suddenly change the world, and you know you can't do that overnight. These were long-term problems, but I think he has done more in two years than just about any other president," Kitzhaber said, predicting that Obama would be in good shape by the time his re-election race gets into full gear.

Dudley didn't dispute that Obama has posted some significant achievements in the first half of his term.

"I think he has accomplished a lot, but the problem is it isn't what people wanted. Getting through that health care bill was not easy," Dudley said, adding that Obama miscalculated by focusing on health care before job creation.

The Republican newcomer got a last-minute, high-profile boost of his own on Saturday when Republican Governors Association Chairman Haley Barbour of Mississippi and New Jersey GOP Gov. Chris Christie swooped in for an early morning rally with Dudley.

In Barbour's brief remarks, he tried to fire up supporters to stay active in the final few days with this comment: "Like a professional basketball game, they play the first 58 minutes but it's all decided in the last two minutes."

In the interview later, Dudley joked, "By the way, Haley totally butchered that. Basketball is 48 minutes." He added with a chuckle, "I didn't want to correct him on stage."

While Dudley said he was glad President Obama appeared in Oregon, Kitzhaber criticized the rally with Barbour and Christie later in the day.

"This morning he's hobnobbing with a couple of out of state governors. We're on the phone, on the doorstep, talking to Oregonians and getting out the vote," Kitzhaber said. Dudley campaign manager Josh Ginsberg pointed out that Dudley stopped by three phone banks on Saturday afternoon and did more on Sunday.

Dudley has worked in finance since leaving the NBA and has done some charity work, as well. But the Yale graduate spent the bulk of his career as a professional athlete.

Asked how that experience could translate if he becomes governor, Dudley said, "It's a grind in some ways, so discipline."

After mentioning teamwork, he said, "The highs and lows - you win three games in a row, you're a hero; you lose three games in a row, you're a bum. It's the player who is successful who realizes he's neither. Stay grounded."

And asked to name the governors, past or current, that he'd most like to model himself after if he is elected, Dudley named Republican Govs. Mitch Daniels of Indiana and Christie. He also named former Oregon GOP Govs. Mark Hatfield and Tom McCall, who served the state in the 1960s and 1970s.

Dudley didn't name specific new ideas he'd like to try if he's elected, but he pushed education reform as an issue area he'd like to tackle.

According to the RealClearPolitics polling average, Oregon's gubernatorial battle is the second most competitive governor's race in the country, behind the open race in Connecticut. In the Oregon average, Kitzhaber leads Dudley by 0.4 percentage points.