The p3 2006 endorsement list

A friend of mine is holding off completing his Oregon mail-in ballot for the midterm elections until November 1st. Just in case Rove does have an October surprise ready to kick the conventional wisdom into a cocked hat--Attacking Iran? Producing bin Laden? Raising the long-neglected terror alert index to ultraviolet, so high that you can't actually see the alert with the unaided eye but if you turn off your lights it will make your t-shirt glow?--my friend wants to be ready to take full advantage of any late-breaking information in casting his vote. (For what it's worth, he also refuses to buy lottery tickets if the jackpot is less than $200 million.)

Here at p3 World Democracy Headquarters, we're not waiting. Here's the list--and remember, no wagering.

• 1st US Congressional District: Wu


• Governor: Kulongowski


• Oregon 27th District: Read


• OR Supreme Court: Roberts


• 20th Circuit Court Judge: Dequc

• Court of Appeals: no recommendation ^[1]


• Washington County Auditor no recommendation


• Washington County Commissioner At Large: no recommendation


• Beaverton City Council Position #1: no recommendation


• Beaverton City Council Position #2: no recommendation


• Beaverton City Council Position #5: no recommendation


• Tualatin Soil & Water District Zones 1, 2: no recommendation


• Tualatin Soil & Water District Zone 3: no candidate fielded
  


• Tualatin Soil & Water District Zone 4: no recommendation


• Tualatin Soil & Water District Zone 5: no recommendation


• Tualitan Soil & Water District At Large: no recommendation

• Measure 39 (Government condemning private property): No


• Measure 40 (Electing OR Supreme Court/Appeals judges by district) No


• Measure 41 (Deduct Federal tax exemption on Oregon taxes): No


• Measure 42 (Blocking credit rating use to set insurance premiums): Yes ^[2]


• Measure 43 (Requires parental notification before a minor can receive an abortion): No


• Measure 44 (Expands Oregon prescription drug program to include all residents without coverage): Yes


• Measure 45 (Term limits for state legislators): No ^[3]


• Measure 46 (Amend OR constitution to allow caps on campaign contributions and expenditures): Yes ^[4]


• Measure 47 (Cap campaign contributions and expenditures): Yes


• Measure 48 (Taxpayers Bill of Rights, by any other name, would smell): No

• Washington Co Library 34-126: Yes


• Washington Co Safety 34-127: Yes


• Metro 26-80 (Green spaces): Yes


• Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue 34-133: Yes ^[5]

Comments are welcome.

Remember, Oregon voters: Whether you mail your ballot or drop it off, it has to be received by your county elections office by 8pm on Tuesday the 7th. If you're not a registered Republican, Karl Rove wants to suppress your vote. Piss him off by getting your ballot in on time.

Eight days until the midterm elections; 812 days until George Bush leaves office.

(Tip of the hat to Toni and James for hosting a Ballot Party get-together yesterday afternoon.)

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Notes:

^[1] These races have been completely off my radar. Shame on me. I'm reminded of Bill Murray's Oscar predictions on SNL's Weekend Update: "Didn't see it . . . didn't see that one either . . . or that one . . . "

^[2] I puzzled over Measure 42 right up to the wire. On one hand, I completely distrust Bill Sizemore, the architect of this measure, and in fairness he's worked hard to earn my distrust so it would be rude to withhold it. On the face of it, this measure sounds like a good idea--one that would mean fairer treatment for consumers. So what's Sizemore's angle? Can't figure it out. On the other hand, I also completely distrust the insurance industry, the principle opponents of this measure. Since I've been distrusting the insurance industry for much longer than I've been distrusting Sizemore, the longevity factor threw this to Sizemore. Strange freaking bedfellows, indeed.

^[3] Term limits (Measure 45) is a gimmick to achieve a net reduction in governance by making our votes less relevant and by devolving legislative power from elected representatives to lobbyists and staffers. (Now who would want to do that? Hmm?) If you want someone out of office, vote them out. If the power of incumbency makes that too hard, reduce that power by having campaigns financed by the public rather than by corporate sponsors.

^[4] I struggled to the finish over Measures 46 and 47, too. I'm generally sympathetic to the idea of getting corporate money out of elections, and I'm on the same side as measure author Dan Meek on some other things. And the list of opponents of the two measures is a who's who of groups and causes I care about a lot: schools, libraries, unions, and on and on. But those opponents object to 47 (and 46, which would make 47 possible) mainly on the grounds that restricting campaign contributions will restrict free speech--and although I take a back seat to no one in my support of free speech, my position is that as long as we continue to equate speech with money we're never going to get the electoral system we want. Speech is speech, money is commerce.

^[5] We like TVF&R (Measure 34-133). When I wiped out on my bicycle a few summers ago (long story), it was TVF&R who scraped my sorry hide up and got me to the ER. Thanks, guys.