"In two weeks, we'll be on the same team."
Charlie Burr
This morning's Willamette Week features Blue Oregon's own Stephanie V and her Merkley supporting neighbor, Michelle Druce:
They live on the same leafy Northeast Portland block in the Laurelhurst neighborhood. They’re card-carrying members of the Democratic Party. But they’re in opposite corners, geographically and politically speaking.
On the north side of Northeast Hassalo Street is Michelle Druce, whose lawn sports not one, but two blue-and-green “Jeff Merkley Democrat for U.S. Senate” signs. On the south side is Stephanie Vardavas, who proudly displays a blue-and-white “Steve Novick Democrat for U.S. Senate” sign.
Both women are adamant they’ve picked the Democratic primary candidate who will win and go on to face Republican two-term incumbent Sen. Gordon Smith. One of them will be wrong in less than two weeks.
With ballots due May 20, the race between the leading candidates in the primary for U.S. Senate is heating up. Pitched battles full of name-calling and finger-pointing are being waged on behalf of both candidates on the blogosphere, in television advertisements and in news accounts (for the latest on Merkley’s record of hiring, go to wweek.com/wwire/?p=11791).
But in smaller skirmishes along liberal Portland redoubts like Hassalo Street, the scuffle is much more low-key. The Hatfields and McCoys would call it downright peaceful.
“I think they’re misguided and I think they probably think the same about me,” Vardavas says. “But in two weeks, we’ll be on the same team.”
For the next two weeks, I'm going to fight like hell for my candidates. I'm excited to watch Obama mobilize massive numbers of new voters on behalf of progressive change; Novick's running one of the most exciting, innovative campaigns in a generation. But no matter what happens May 20 and beyond, I will be fighting hard for our nominee to prevent a third term of George W. Bush.
I suspect that most feel like Stephanie and Michelle. We have intensity for our candidates. That's part of being a Democrat. But come May 20, we will be a unified force focused on one csingular goal: the defeat of Gordon Smith and his failed record of special interest politics.
Until then, see you tonight or on the doorsteps!
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9:29 a.m.
May 7, '08
I don't think you can have a cingular goal anymore, Charlie. I think now you have to have an AT&T goal.
:)
(The Merkley lady needs schwag, stat!)
10:13 a.m.
May 7, '08
When Beth Slovic called me on Saturday and told me what she wanted to write about, I burst out laughing. I think she was relieved that I thought it was funny. She had no idea at first that I was a person who commented here or elsewhere. All she knew was my address and that I had a Novick sign.
She had been driving around Portland looking for next door neighbors who were displaying a Novick sign next to a Merkley sign. She never found that, but on opposite sides of Hassalo Street she found Michelle and me. I told her that if she was looking for a Hatfields-McCoys type deal she was going to be disappointed, because my neighbors are lovely people and as far as I know they have nothing against us, either.
Beth asked me why I was supporting Steve and what I thought about my neighbor. It was all very goodnatured. When the photographer came on Monday evening, Michelle and I were laughing the whole time. When she saw me in my Hooked on Novick t-shirt she said, "But I don't have anything like that!" I reassured her that in a few weeks we'd all have them.
%^>
May 7, '08
But in smaller skirmishes along liberal Portland redoubts like Hassalo Street, the scuffle is much more low-key. The Hatfields and McCoys would call it downright peaceful.
“I think they’re misguided and I think they probably think the same about me,” Vardavas says. “But in two weeks, we’ll be on the same team.”
I am glad to hear that the skirmishes are low key and peaceful in that neighborhood in Portland.
I have noticed in recent days that Stephanie has toned down the rhetoric a bit.
I would just remind the folks who are actively involved (no lawn signs in our yard, and the only reason I have a bumper sticker is that someone here said a person even mentioning that one candidate had made a good point must be a part of the campaign and couldn't possibly be undecided ---that was before the poll saying 40% undecided and the other one saying 27% undecided---and a sharp and wise campaign person saw my "thanks for making up my mind for me" comment and sent me a bumper sticker) of a basic truth. Those of us who spend any part of our days mediating among young kids ("he called me a name!", "she's bothering us while we are playing") are not required to sign up our free time for June-October based on the May 20 election results.
I am very glad Obama won N. Carolina. But I hope the NC and national Obama campaigns are smart enough to know that nothing could be more counterproductive than telling the NC Clinton campaigners "starting next Monday, you OWE us your volunteer time---nothing in your life, no other campaign in this state, is more important than you volunteering for Obama from now on!". That would be stupid. The Clinton campaigners must be exhausted, they just lost a primary, and they need time to decompress and get back to normal life. After one primary years ago, a friend of the candidate made a remark to her other friends, "normal life, whatever that is".
There is an old line from the Spike Jones novelty records, "It will either be a photo finish or an oil painting".
Whether the US Senate primary is a blow out, a squeaker, or ends in a recount, I will serve notice right now before we know the result.
My work situation is unsettled. Family time is important to me. I am very interested in the local state rep. and Congressional campaigns. I believe that winning Oregon in the presidential election is vital. Therefore, no matter who wins, US Senate is not my top priority campaign.
I hope the nominee is elected to the US Senate. But this is fair warning. If anyone from the US Senate campaign is as stupid as the 1996 fall general election campaigners were and claims people OWE a certain amount of volunteer time/support to their US Senate campaign, I will know that campaign is lacking in common sense and it will fall even further on my priority list.
One thing kids have a hard time learning is that apologies don't wipe away everything. Sometimes there is a price to pay for making another person's life uncomfortable or difficult.
The partisans for their particular candidates should indeed "fight like hell" and have intensity for their candidates. Until the results are official.
But please realize there are people whose radar screen those candidates don't even appear on. Those about to graduate from high school or college, and their families. New parents (or those about to be). People with new jobs or facing changing jobs. People who have to make major decisions about finances or anything else.
Some of the comments on this race on this blog have sounded like a closed circle ---and would some of those words have been said face to face even at the DPO or campaign office water cooler?
To be clear: I knew Steve and Jeff long before they ran for US Senate. Like my friends voting in the 1986 4th Dist. Congressional Primary between 2 people they had known for a long time (County Comm. DeFazio and a state legislator), people like me have the right to base our primary vote on any number of criteria---incl. how the campaigns have been run and what they showed about candidate temperment (the deciding factor in favor of DeFazio by my friends in 1986).
Whatever happens, the sun will rise and set and life will go on. For the sake of those highly involved in the process, I hope there is no recount.
Other than that, I hope the wounds of the remarks here (and elsewhere) by anyone whose words bothered anyone else will heal this summer.
May 7, '08
the only reason I have a bumper sticker is that someone here said a person even mentioning that one candidate had made a good point must be a part of the campaign and couldn't possibly be undecided
Look, another strawman from LT!
Actually, LT, what I pointed out is that you had been criticizing Novick and his supporters for weeks over campaign minutiae, while never turning the same spotlight on Merkley and his supporters. Yet you had the audacity to suggest that you were still "undecided", which was flatly untrue. Sure enough, after being called on it you admitted that were supporting Merkley.
It is very possible for people to be undecided in this race, but that wasn't the case with you, even if the rest of us figured it out before you did. Congratulations on your pick, and good luck May 20th.
May 7, '08
"I'm excited to watch Obama mobilize massive numbers of new voters on behalf of progressive change ..."
Charlie,
Yes, Obama has won and its time to move on. However, in retrospect, it appears to me that Obama was able to mobilize the new voters ONLY because he was in a neck and neck contest with Hillary. There would not have been anything like the massive voter registration and turnouts without it because there would have been no need. Now that those voters are registered and voted once, they probably will vote again. So, if Obama wins in the fall, I believe it will be due in no small part to the fact that Hillary fought long and hard.
May 7, '08
Funny that a post about "coming together" generates relatively little passion or discussion.
I guess Merkley would agree with that lack of enthusiasm for coming together, I just saw an anti-Novick ad on KATU. Approved by merkley, it dredges up Novick's old BlueOregon posts where he criticized fellow Democrats.
I can feel John Frohnmayer rising in the polls already.
4:54 p.m.
May 7, '08
"However, in retrospect, it appears to me that Obama was able to mobilize the new voters ONLY because he was in a neck and neck contest with Hillary"
When? Not since Super Tuesday. What accounts for all of the votes for him when he was blowing Clinton out across the country?
5:15 p.m.
May 7, '08
Well for what it's worth, I've always stated that I'd be happy to campaign for Democrats I've opposed in the primary. Not just vote for. Campaign for. And that certainly goes for Steve Novick.
But one of the main reasons why I've never been particularly taken by Mr. Novick's charms is that he's never struck me as someone willing to pull for the general progressive cause - if he isn't chosen in the primary. That feeling has been only solidified by his petulant endorsement of the (barely) ex-Republican in the race - Mr. Frohnmayer - when Jeff finally started responding to his attacks.
In fact, Steve's campaign has seemed from the start to be one in which he is trying to attack and tear down fellow progressives. It certainly is who he's attracted as his most vocal supporters.
I haven't seen this ad yet, but if Mr. Malach's response is any indication, it probably just gives a neutral accounting of Steve's entire candidacy.
Still, Steve is way better than Gordon Smith.
5:25 p.m.
May 7, '08
when jeff responded to WHAT attacks?
May 7, '08
... and they're off!
May 7, '08
it appears to me that Obama was able to mobilize the new voters ONLY because he was in a neck and neck contest with Hillary.
Can you explain that? It strikes me as a bizarre conclusion.
May 7, '08
My point is that droves of new voters have registered to vote because there was a tooth and nail contest between Hillary and Obama. If, after Super Tuesday, Hillary had given up, the rest of the primary elections would have received little news coverage and there would have been little excitement among young voters; not nearly enough excitement to actually get them to register and vote. Now they have done both and probably will again in the fall.
Like it or not, Hillary hanging on probably has had a net good effect on the outcome this fall. Now, if she will just elegantly bow out things will work out well.
Let it be said that I still think that she would have been a better president than Obama. However, a majority does not agree. It's now time to get behind Obama and push him into the presidency.
May 7, '08
Miles, you and I have never met.
I had more important things on my mind than choosing a US Senate candidate. Had Steve done something really memorable (that poverty video used in a commercial, for instance, instead of just ads like the pull the plug and beer ads) I might have been as undecided as I became after Kroger did so well in the City Club debate.
One of the reasons I registered NAV and dropped out of politics for awhile after the 1996 primary was because people told me they knew what I was thinking, instead of asking me.
I've had friends on both sides of many political debates over the years, and exercised my right to say "sorry, I have friends on both sides, I'm not publicly taking sides unless there is a precipitating event" many times.
Telling people "the only reason I have this bumper sticker on my car is because some guy on a blog said I was obviously supporting a candidate when I hadn't decided yet. I said 'thanks for making my mind up for me' and ended up being sent a bumper sticker by this campaign" has been a great story in a number of ways---including how to react to peer pressure.
If you don't see it that way, that is your right.
But don't tell me that because I reacted to each of Steve's words and actions in a way which did not indicate he was the greatest thing since sliced bread, that made me a Merkley supporter (rather than a lost potential Novick supporter). You may think that is what happened. But I doubt you'd do well in any branch of sales with that attitude.
The flip side of "you had me when you said...." is "you lost me when you said..."
Over time, as I was keeping track of what I found admirable and what I found unimpressive or offensive, Novick kept landing in the 2nd column while his friends were saying that all good people would put those actions in the first column.
I'm such a maverick, I make those decisions myself---along with decisions that the state rep. and congressional elections locally will be higher priorities for my spare time in the fall.
May 7, '08
My point is that droves of new voters have registered to vote because there was a tooth and nail contest between Hillary and Obama.
There were also Kucinich, Biden, Dodd, Richardson, Gravel and Edwards in that "tooth and nail contest." So, why did so many people flock to Obama and, for the most part, ignore the others? I suggest Hillary had nothing to do with that but give Obama's rhetorical skills and his message credit instead. We might also consider a lack of skepticism among his acolytes as a factor.
May 7, '08
Let me get this straight: Kucinich, Biden, Dodd, Richardson, Gavel and Edwards were in the tooth and nail contest for the last three months when so many young people registered to vote in Penn. NC, Indiana, etc.? Uh ... your memory of the recent past seems to differ from mine.
7:52 p.m.
May 7, '08
torridjoe: when jeff responded to WHAT attacks? Pat Malach: ... and they're off!
Out of respect for the "unity" message of this thread, I shall decline to re- re- re- re- re- re- re- re- visit old arguments, and instead, mildly observe that I am hardly the only person with this perception. And state that in general, Steve - if he does win - is going to have to do some serious work reaching out to Democrats who are less pragmatic than I am.
And for the sake of unity, I'll also say that to a certain degree, this also applies to Speaker Merkley.
8:03 p.m.
May 7, '08
"And state that in general, Steve - if he does win - is going to have to do some serious work reaching out to Democrats who are less pragmatic than I am."
I doubt it. There's very little voter petulance when it comes right down to it--precisely because it's so counterproductive and nonpragmatic. I ran a poll asking the question, and for what its worth overwhelmingly the support was there for the nominee. It's a loooong way to November still. Look at the far right; they said they'd never accept McCain.
May 7, '08
Uh ... your memory of the recent past seems to differ from mine.
No question about that. My memory goes back beyond the past three months when young and other people got on board to put Obama on top in Iowa and run a close second in NH.
May 8, '08
But don't tell me that because I reacted to each of Steve's words and actions in a way which did not indicate he was the greatest thing since sliced bread, that made me a Merkley supporter
LT, your posts about Novick were (and still are) intellectually dishonest. I read them for weeks without comment, but could not stomach you claiming to be "undecided" when that was clearly not the case. I'm no Novick supplicant. He has some serious flaws, and I am perfectly capable of discussing those flaws. But Merkley has them too, and intellectual honesty requires us to look at those as well. That's what you failed to do.
Finally, please stop with the strawmen. No one has ever said Steve is the "greatest thing since sliced bread." No one has ever said that "all good Democrats must support Steve." No one has ever said that you "owe" Steve your time once he becomes the nominee. Those of us who support Steve believe he is the best candidate in the primary, and will be the best candidate to defeat Smith. And we would welcome your support, if you choose to give it.