Oregon Politics (Green, Jefferson: low income, high school, income)

[Larry Caldwell]

One of the amazing things in this forum is the number of political comments by out-of-staters. It's like people choose their associations based on political affiliation. To a native Oregonian like me, that is just plain weird. Why would you care how somebody votes? It's their business, not yours.

For truth in advertising, I'm a registered Independent. That's the Oregon version of "none of the above", and is the fastest growing political party in the state. National politics seems to be an extension of a high school football game. All people want is for their side to win, no matter how stupid their ideology is. It's no coincidence that ideologue and idiot have the same linguistic root.

That little rant is a pretty good description of traditional Oregon politics. Oregon politicians have traditionally been issue oriented, and worked for a solution without regard to an underlying ideology. Tom McCall, the author of Oregon Land Use Planning, the Willamette Greenway and tough water and air pollution standards, was a Republican. John Kitzhaber, the democrat author of the Oregon Medical Plan, extended medical services to thousands of low income Oregonians by prioritizing services. If a medical treatment probably wasn't going to make you well, the state wouldn't pay for it. You could hear the Democrats in DC screaming all the way here on the West Coast. Wayne Morse, the Democratic senator from Oregon, who was elected to his first term as a Republican, cast the sole dissenting vote on the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.

The Oregon political tradition has been to identify a problem and find the best solution. It worked remarkably well for a long time. However, the big influx of outsiders has put the whole system under tremendous stress. People in other parts of the country seem to think right and wrong are defined by liberal or conservative. They root for their side, curse the other side, and have no interest in solving problems for the greater good.

If you really want to hear about Oregon politics, listen to The Jefferson Exchange on Jefferson Public Radio (named after the State of Jefferson, a local political joke). It's a public awareness talk show, hosted by Jeff Golden. Jeff is balanced, curious, and tries to draw out both sides of every issue he discusses. He has little tolerance for bombastic rhetoric. 8 am to 10 am, with a recorded repeat at 8 pm to 10 pm every week day.

[urlmoderator cut[/url]