OEA issues endorsements in state and federal races today
Today, OEA delegates from across the state cast their votes in the Oregon Education Association endorsements. Oregon's teachers union, the OEA/PIE endorsement is considered one of the most important endorsements to win.
For President, OEA endorsed Barack Obama. In the US Senate race, OEA endorsed Steve Novick. In the 5th Congressional District, OEA endorsed Kurt Schrader. And with less drama, they also endorsed for re-election Congressmen David Wu, Earl Blumenauer, and Peter DeFazio.
In the state Treasurer's race, OEA endorsed Ben Westlund. For Attorney General, John Kroger won the endorsement. And for Secretary of State, OEA endorsed Kate Brown. The Secretary of State race required a second round of voting, featuring a run-off between Kate Brown and Brad Avakian.
For the Oregonian, Jeff Mapes blogs the endorsements here and covers the news here. AP coverage is here.
Discuss.
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Mar 8, '08
Thanks for posting this info. Especially on Novick. Congrats, Steve!! Sorry Jeff!!!
Mar 8, '08
"OEA issues endorsements in state and federal races today"
With a headline like that, why would I even bother reading more? Certainly nothing interesting could have happened.
Mar 8, '08
Hawthorne, I suspect you're on to something. It's almost as if the editor buried the lead. Mapes' second blog post linked in this column, 'covers the news,' is titled 'Novick stuns Merkley by winning Oregon Education Association endorsement.' That seems to be the headline everyone else is going with, why not BO?
I would almost have to say someone who works for The Merkley posted this column in a subtle attempt to obscure the beating he received today. Good thing the keys to Blue Oregon are tucked tight under a pillow of neutrality so that isn't possible.
8:39 p.m.
Mar 8, '08
I'm also excited to hear about the endorsement for Kroger in the AG race.
I'm still undecided in the SOS, race, though.
8:42 p.m.
Mar 8, '08
Oh my god, the conspiracy theorists are out in force again.
That headline was written long before any of the results were known. We were in touch with the OEA's PR people throughout the afternoon awaiting the final endorsements. We got the word on the final one (the SOS runoff) at 7:19, and the post went up at 7:23.
For some people, the big news of the day is the Novick endorsement. For others, it's Schrader. For still others, it's Kroger. And don't get me started on the SOS race. Depending on what's most important to you, the headline could be written a dozen different ways. We went for neutral. Isn't that what people want around here?
Seems like some folks are just intent on bashing BlueOregon. What's the point? It's a blog, not the New York Times. Get over it. If you don't like it, don't read it!
8:44 p.m.
Mar 8, '08
(Oh, and don't forget the presidential endorsement. I talked to one activist today who exclaimed, "They did WHAT?! But Obama is for merit pay!" Again, the "big news" depends on what's important to you.)
8:48 p.m.
Mar 8, '08
I think it's slightly unfair to bash the headline for the reasons Kari states.
And I think I can hold my own with all the conspiracy theorists. %^>
But I'm very pleased about the news.
9:07 p.m.
Mar 8, '08
A lot of folks made news today -- Go Obama! -- but Steve's endorsement is a very big deal. I've posted a separate quick piece with one of his video clips I've been meaning to post anyway.
Mar 8, '08
Charlie,
Thanks for the post.
Kari,
I think that the issue is with the "in the news" portions, which suggest some sort of neutrality. If I had not read "in the news" posts like these in the past:
AFL-CIO Endorses Merkley
AFSCME Endorses Merkley
Merkley's wife, Mary, talks about health care (video)
I might have a different take on this post. However.
So, the question isn't about whether BO should be neutral or not. Or whether people who don't like you should just go away. It's what does "in the news" mean and if "in the news" should be neutral or not. Based upon history, it seems as if "in the news" means whatever you want it to be.
Fine.
But call it for what it is.
Mar 8, '08
I am surprised by the margin of the AG vote, Kroger got just under 80%.
11:27 p.m.
Mar 8, '08
I don't think any if the other endorsements come NEAR bucking the CW news value like Novick's. Clearly the biggest story.
11:51 p.m.
Mar 8, '08
Hawthorne,
In the other "in the news" posts, there was only one subject in the story which the subject line indicated. In this post, there was more than one endorsement made and to focus the attention solely on Steve Novick in this story would take away from the other endorsements. That would be wrong. Charlie Burr has a post about the Novick endorsement under a separate subject heading which is as it should be.
Don't pick a fight or a conspiracy where there isn't one.
Val
Mar 8, '08
i have to agree with hawthorne. on the whole, blue oregon is a pretty transparent blog, but the "in the news" posts present an annoying contrast to that transparency. with all those "in the news" posts linking to not-so-newsworthy articles on blatant merkley sites it is no wonder that some people think this post was deliberately titled generically because merkley lost--especially in light of the whole controversy in the run up to this vote that really lit up BO all week.
so why not post the "in the news" bits under your account names, rather than anonymously?
10:22 a.m.
Mar 9, '08
i am littled baffled here. the OEA met yesterday, they came out with a list of candidates they endorse -- and that's not news? as big as that union is in Oregon, their endorsements are not to be considered news? why? because they didn't your candidate? of it it's because of the links within the original post, well 1) most people probably don't bother to click thru and b) you're free to put up links to other sites. the directions for doing that are right below the box in which you enter your comment. so rather than bitch about the news you don't like, make some of your own.
Mar 9, '08
barnhardt,
easy there, of course the OEA endorsment is news, and they did endorse my candidate, so i'm not sure what you're saying.
i was referring to past anonymous posts with just links links such as "Could Steve Novick's height cost him the election?", and "Beaver Boundary: Novick and Taxes". though i now realize there is another category of anonymous posts called "elsewhere", for these not-so-newsworthy links.
i don't know why this is so hard to understand. i don't care about bias, or propaganda, or whatever, just a lack of transparency about it. blue oregon is the biggest online gethering place for oregon democratic politics, it would be nice if it was 100% transparent.
Mar 9, '08
Kari, criticism makes a better person. We're just saying that there is a disconnect between The Merkley and Novick news on BlueOregon in the manner Hawthorne describes. I would hate to see BO turn into a spin room, and by the way this story was spun, it looks like we've taken one step in that direction.
Mar 10, '08
Kari,
I know that BO grabs info from the newspapers, but out of curiousity, was the phrase "teacher's union" something from the news (I know the Oregonian used it) or from another source?
My reason for asking is that some of us have been fighting an uphill battle to get folks to refer to OEA as the Education Union (as in "Oregon EDUCATION Association") since many of OEA's members are classified/support professionals--ie bus drivers, classroom aides, secretaries, food service workers, maintenance employees, etc. Many years ago, OEA only represented teachers, but now their membership base is much more.
<h2>If BO is writing about OEA, I encourage the writers/editors to refer to OEA as the Education Union, rather than Teacher's Union, which ignores thousands of OEA members. Thanks!</h2>