Karen Minnis: Oregon's Tom Delay
Over at DailyKos, a blogger named "PacNW BlueBerry Girl" has posted a fantastic screed on Karen Minnis and her right-wing gang:
Cut from the mold of Tom DeLay, Minnis has turned the Oregon legislature into an all-out, bare-knuckle brawl. She's hard right, anti-choice, anti-Plan B, anti-gay, anti-civil union, anti-education funding, anti-woman and...surprise...pro-big business. She goes after Democrats as if on a crusade, using her position as House Speaker like a club to inflict the most extreme and petty forms of retribution. The result - good legislation goes down, and the people of Oregon lose.
But wait, there's more:
I think we can all agree that Minnis simply has no respect for the Democratic process, no respect for the legislature, and no respect for the voters. She is on a personal crusade and she pursues it with a vengeance.Friends - we are in trouble here in Oregon. Minnis is a tyrant and another session with her at the helm will be an unmitigated disaster.
So, if you're sick and tired of Karen Minnis and her right-wing gang, go help Rob Brading and the rest of the Oregon House Democrats.
What are you doing to flip the House? Discuss.
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Aug 4, '06
You have to be nice to Rep. Minnis: I heard she is doing a fundraiser for Democrat Charles Lee in HD 25.
It will be a tribute to celebrate the legislative career of Karen Minnis. We will be celebrating her amazing legislative career with those of Senator Starr and Rep. Backland. Because once you agree to do a fundraiser for a Democrat all of us love you and respect you and want to have numerous tributes in your name, regardless of your record.
The event will feature a reflection on the legislative career of Minnis and allow the public and invited guests an opportunity to pay tribute to her.
(Sorry, I just had expose on the irony of the list of her positions above and compare to those of the two Republicans which are being honored in another post -- please return to sincere Minnis bashing below).
1:23 a.m.
Aug 4, '06
OK, OK. Let's not get off-topic now. There are other posts to discuss those topics.
8:09 a.m.
Aug 4, '06
I'm doing my part to flip the house by working for Jean Cowan out in HD-10. We were just "given" a staffer from EMILY's List, and the field program is kicking into high gear. As long we stay flush financially through August, we are in the best imaginable position to win this seat. This is a moderate district, and we're currently represented by Alan Brown, who votes with Minnnis 99%. Jean is a moderate Democrat, but she's pro-choice, pro-working family, pro-equality and anti-politics as usual.
If you want to make a political contribution that will have a real bottom-line impact (Jean struggled with fundraising for her last-minute bid in 2004, but still lost by only 414 votes), look no further than this race. The road to a majority starts on the Central Coast.
Aug 4, '06
i've talked about rob brading at work, but so far, no action.
i'll read the full dailykos post, but it might be nice to have some specifics about minnis here. i've heard she uses dirty tactics before, but what are they, exactly?
Aug 4, '06
all right, it looks like there more than enough specific reasons to boot minnis over at dailykos.
Aug 4, '06
Since I'm not old enough to vote (quite yet), I'm doing my part to flip the house by going on as many bus trips with the oregon bus project as I can - www.busproject.org
10:40 a.m.
Aug 4, '06
Minnis behaves badly in the legislature, but she's also a rather dirty campaigner. In 2004, Rob Brading was polling almost even with her. Then she (actually her surrogates) sent out a hit piece late in the campaign implying that he's a pornographer. Why? Because he's on the library board...
Aug 4, '06
Thanks Kari, It is cracks like "You have to be nice to Rep. Minnis: I heard she is doing a fundraiser for Democrat Charles Lee in HD 25." which turn people off from politics. Cracks like that are just juvenile and snarky--and the point is to win votes, not debating points.
I am campaigning for my state rep. candidate Connie Garcia. If elected, she would be the 2nd Hispanic from this district--Rocky Barilla was the first.
I went to the House Dems. blog and noticed something: there is no list (that I could find) of all the Democrats running. There are just blog topics about specific candidates.
One night I was surfing and found a GOP site which listed all the GOP state rep. candidates and incumbents.
Seems like Dems should do the same thing.
11:38 a.m.
Aug 4, '06
The DPO website has a complete list of Democrats running for office in Oregon, along with contact information and links to their websites if the candidate has one. Just click "Campaigns" and you can view the candidates by office or name.
Aug 4, '06
I have nothin nice to say about Minnis, I live in her district and have seen her dirty campain tricks.
The Hell spawn needs to go nuff said!!!!!
12:39 p.m.
Aug 4, '06
I've walked once for Rob Brading, but not nearly enough. The constituents I talked to fell into two camps: those who are generally uninformed about politics (and about who represents them) and those with a visceral dislike for Karen Minnis. She can, and should, be beaten. But Rob is in an uphill battle to get his name recognition up there and remind people there's a real choice to be made this November.
I believe the same dirty tricks used last time have already restarted. The aim is probably to disgust people into not voting. Please remember--Karen Minnis, arch-conservative that she is, represents a majority Democrat district. Her career will end if Dems get out the vote.
Aug 4, '06
Jenny, the pornographer hit pieces are back. One definitely went out this week, rumors abound that there's a second one floating out there too. Same argument as last cycle. Sad and pathetic...
Aug 4, '06
I don't particularly care for Minnis, but this entry shows how arrogant people can be....
it always amuses me to see someone call a woman "anti-woman". So, does that mean a human can be "anti-human"? PacNWBlueberry girl merely shows her ignorance of the English language more than her political opinion. You might say Minnis is "anti-Liberal women", or "anti-women feminsit rights", but it is pretty ignorant to claim that just because someone doesn't agree with what some women think, that they are somehow "anti-woman".
I hardly think that ignorant comments like this represent anything "fantastic". Surely you can come up with something more credible than this.
Aug 4, '06
You can see the House D candidates
here
Aug 4, '06
For those who think Brading will waltz to an easy win in HD49 due to Democratic registration edge, think again. As pointed out more than once here, that district (as well as HD47-Merkley) votes far more conservatively than its registration would suggest. Go back and look at how those districts voted on M36, M37, M30 and you'll see why Minnis (and McCain) believe they are more aligned with district voters than Brading or Merkley.
But I agree that the House careers of both Karen Minnis and Jeff Merkley will come to an end following Nov. 7. Whether they win their own races or not, I believe initiative 39 (no ballot measure number yet) will pass.
That, folks, is the term limits measure that will end Karen Minnis' house career after 2007-08 if she beats Brading. And becasue I don't think the Dem's can make up that six-seat deficit in this single election, term limits will shatter once and for all, Jeff Merkley's well-known desire to be the next Speaker.
Regardless of how one views term limits generally, there is no question that this term limit measure will do more to shatter the current legislative grid lock than anything else.
Aug 4, '06
Actually - I am sick of all the idiots in the legislature. Minnis is just the only one who is evil enough to actually get noticed for her selfish ways. Deep in her soul, she is a mean person who is so bored, she takes it out on her fellow legislators. As far as Merkley goes - he is from my district and I feel he has lied to us all in the district. He replaced Shields with good ideas, but he got brow beaten by his fellow reps in the house when he got to Salem and became a weasel just like the rest of them. I put him in the same class of idiotcy as Metzger.
Aug 4, '06
Regardless of how one views term limits generally, there is no question that this term limit measure will do more to shatter the current legislative grid lock than anything else.
Term limits as a lock? Or a virtue?
There was no organized opposition to it last time it was on the ballot. How about this time?
Term limits is one of those out of state-financed measures. What is your evidence that it will pass? Are voters more or less skeptical of ballot measures than they were in the early 1990s?
Wes, are your statements based on conversations with actual voters? Poll results (which are a tool being debated on another topic here)? Your assumption?
Could Speaker Minnis and Speaker Simmons have happened without term limits?
How do the term limits advocates explain Simmons (who was term limited) taking a lobbying job before his session ended as Speaker?
Or are we just supposed to let this ballot measure steamroller us and not ask any questions?
Aug 4, '06
I will bet you $20 that if the term limits measure passes, someone will kick it into the courts becuase someone is 'being harmed' and it never will see the light of day again.
It is best just to vote NO on everything in November and not worry about it.
11:29 a.m.
Aug 5, '06
I went to the House Dems. blog and noticed something: there is no list (that I could find) of all the Democrats running.
Yup, just click on "The House Democrats", right next to the "home" link.
12:58 p.m.
Aug 5, '06
As far as Merkley goes - he is from my district and I feel he has lied to us all in the district. He replaced Shields with good ideas, but he got brow beaten by his fellow reps in the house when he got to Salem and became a weasel just like the rest of them. I put him in the same class of idiotcy as Metzger.
Your thoughtfulness, cogent arguments, and factual evidence continue to amaze, Eric.
Here I am reading along in a happy Minnis bashing daze and I run across the stinker that you......well.....emitted might be the most accurate term.
Merkley did What?
He's in the same class of iditocy (sic) as Metzger (sic)?
Would it be too much to ask for specifics for these personal attacks?
Would it be to much to ask that you at least bother to spell my senator's name correctly?
Aug 5, '06
First of all, do I like what Karen Minnis has to say? No, of course not. However, does she have a role to play in Oregon politics? Most certainly.
As I have said numerous times on this site, Oregon is for the most part a one party (Democratic) state. Unless you've got someone to keep the pot stirring on the fire, those of us at the bottom are going to get burnt.
Karen Minnis keeps the pot stirring (perhaps like the mythical witch in the woods) and serves a vital role in Oregon politics.