Nobody says you have to cast a vote in every race. There have been multiple times I've been the undervote just on principle. Sometimes not voting is better than putting your vote behind someone you are morally opposed to.

With ballot measures - when in doubt, vote no. With candidates - when in doubt, just don't vote. JMHO.

On a side-note, doesn't SD 9 encompass the great city of Liberal, Oregon? Sadly ironic, eh?

That's funny. I never even knew that Liberal existed until I drove through there on my way to somewhere else for work. I thought for a moment "Hmm, I should live here." Then looked around and changed my mind (very tiny, very rural, obviously very conservative -very not me).

Though, in all honesty, most people who know me would probably say I should move to Tangent, OR instead. lol. But, of course, that's neither here nor there....

Chuck, at this late date, I don't know what you can do, either. The write-in is a decent choice, and possibly you could make a pitch here on BlueOregon. Who knows, it might get a few more votes, maximizing the statement.

But as liberals, there is something we can begin to do for the future. Thanks to the scorched-Earth rhetoric of the far-right over past fifteen years, politics have becomed poisoned. The far-right retorts that it's just politics, and liberals are as responsible for the problem. That is objectively false, but it's true that progressives have missed an opportunity.

During the great progressive era in Oregon politics, the progressivism emerged from two impulses. First, a kind of excitement of the future that resulted from the forward-looking politics of liberals for two decades. With the space program and the possibilities of the civil rights movement, there was a spirit of possibility that naturally led even conservative-minded people to look toward big, optimistic projects.

But equally important was the notion of that such a polity depended on. So when Oregon began to draft nationally innovative policies, they did so as Oregonians for Oregon. It's impossible to imagine land-use planning happening without broad bipartisan support.

Progressive policy is more revolutionary because it's more inclusive. But it's also harder to achieve. It requires broad agreement and leaders willing to represent broad, rather than narrow interests. As we look forward, it's my hope that we as progressives expand the notion of what progressivism entails. It's not enough to stand against the far right. Oregonians need someone to stand for them--all of them.

Next time around, maybe someone will run in District 9 with a message not just of liberalism but inclusivity.

Sorry, I deleted a word in one of those sentences. "But equally important was the notion of that such a polity depended on" should be "ut equally important was the notion of inclusivity that such a polity depended on."

Chuck -

Why don't you run sometime?