In the olden days (and more recently with St. Sen. Frank Morse pushing for the PCOL reforms like the need to replace the corroded pipes in the capitol wings) there were Republicans actually interested in solving problems.

In recent years, all the GOP wanted to do was lower taxes and preach their version of morality. Ordinary people having problems scraping by didn't matter to them--preaching ideology was so much more important than solving problems. And besides, solving problems takes work and may not happen. THOSE are Republicants.

Oregon Independent writes, "What's a republicant?"

As LT states, the GOP used to be interested in solving problems. Not any more.

The Republicans have become the "can't do" party. Can't raise taxes even if it would save the average person money in the long run. Can't fund schools and universities to the level where we can build the future of our Country. Can't solve energy problems (it would cut the profits of oil companies). Can't balance a budget. The current GOP is no longer the party of Eisenhower, or even Nixon.

So, I'm calling them what they are: Republicants

After 6 years of unchallenged rule by the Reich, what did anyone win? The Reich had opportunity to do everything they wanted. The end result? All those hyper rich took their money somewhere else. They certainly did not invest it here in the US. They seek patriots because they can't find any in the mirror.

Isn't it curious how the people put into power to head the goverment were committed to disassembling that very government? Why would people expect to be anyplace other then where we are right now? Katrina was practically promised to the people when these guys were running for office.

Isn't it also curious that there was no advance against reproductive rights while the Reich had all this power? Why? Maybe because it is this issue and gay marriage that lure the believers to vote for them to the exclusion of all other considerations. It is the smoke screen of the Reich, and if it were to blow away, then the believers would more easily see that the people they supported were as corrupt and deceitful as any that have ever gone before them.

Trickle down?!? Why did anyone believe we should only get a trickle and even if we did get a trickle, where is the money that was supposed to start this trickle anyway? Vote for a trickle!!! How absurd!!!

Well, of course people are angry! What they need to realize, and we can say this very simply, is that the Reich had everything they wanted and maybe it is time to admit what they want comes at the expense of ordinary people. When will we have paid enough?!?

With the exception of abortion, which they intend to ban with a stacked Supreme Court, the Repubs seek to perpetuate the status quo. It works for them. Now ask yourself, is it working for you?

My eyes really teared up with the visions of young little socialists running around. Maybe they'll grow up to be flag burners and lawyers? Don't forget to teach them to spit on the soldiers and throw rocks at recruiting centers.

Digger,

At least they don't kill doctors or blow up a Federal building, killing 168 1and injuring another 800.

Be careful when you try to paint with a broad brush, It goes both ways!

RichW, No I am serious, It's summer and I can just see all the little socialists kiddies playing in the park....

Make sure not to keep score! Make sure no one wins - we all want to be equal losers, just like good little democrats.

Digger, I don't know where you live, even if in Oregon. But, if you do live in Oregon, there are mental health facilities in every County.

Hate is such an ugly thing to see, even in print.

Mr Bucknum,

Wow, now that is a poll I can sink my teeth in. Imagine a large amount of young American children at a county fair boosting for Obama that indicates that they will vote democratic in the future.

I wonder if they can find their state on a globe much less talk about any real issues as they grow up? Didn’t happen to ask if they supported the Patriot Act did you? Course that’s a question that the Dems don’t want to talk about at any level. Haven’t heard any Dems talking about the focusing of power in the executive branch at all either. Guess they must agree with it.

I did like your quip about the Repugs tent blowing away though. I figure the religious right need a lot of pokes in the eye right now. But the Crook county spiritual center is kinda arrogant don’t ya think?

Interesting and encouraging. In Lincoln County, the contrast between the party presence at the 2004 and 2008 fairs was also pronounced. While both parties had booths four years ago, the GOP was conspicuous by its absence at this year's fair. As far as I have been able to determine, the county GOP central committee no longer functions. As many of you know, this is a county that elected Alan Brown to the state House three times this decade. Joanne Verger beat Al Pearn for the Senate seat that includes Lincoln County by just 51 to 49 percent four years ago. Now Verger, and the Representative who beat Brown two years ago, Jean Cowan, are unchallenged in November, having won the Republican nominations on write-ins. Meanwhile, our Central Committee is active and energetic, planning a comprehensive GOTV effort that will work for Democrats from Obama all the way down to a certain county commissioner (and author of this post).

Murph - How you get from children with rabbits at the fair, to they don't know where their State is on the globe is beyond me. I didn't do a geography quiz!

But of more interest to me than those banal rantings was the following you wrote, " But the Crook county spiritual center is kinda arrogant don’t ya think?"

I have lived in Oregon nearly all my life, having grown up in North Portland, lived in Eugene, outside of Oregon City, and for the last 18 years here in Prineville. My large family has lived in Oregon for about 120 years / 6 generations and in 18 of Oregon's 36 Counties. So, I have what you call perspective on what Oregon really is and isn't.

In Oregon, the beginning and end is Portland. What I mean by that is that Portland and its four County area (if you include Clark Co.) is our "port" land, with our major shipping, train traffic, truck traffic, air traffic, and oil pipelines converging in the port. Much of our manufacturing is tied to the port. Nearly everything in Oregon goes through Port-Land. Everything that is new starts there, and everything that is old ends there. I'm not just talking about the physical realm of goods, I'm talking about ideas, policies, fads, etc. etc.

But for those things and non-things to be of Oregon versus elsewhere, they need an acceptance that is tied to the core of Oregon. There is an Oregon essence that you know when you feel it. For an idea, thing, or whatever to be of Oregon, being in Port-land isn't enough.

Now, many parts of Oregon have their distinct "flavor" and contribution to the gestalt that is Oregon. The coast has its distinct scenery and economy. Central Oregon has its mountains and economy that is different. etc. etc. I have seen all the corners of this State, save I have never been to Rome in Malheur County, or the roads around it. In considering the "spiritual center" of Oregon, one must think of all of Oregon's diversity, and look for the place that ties it all together as best as can be. Port-land just isn't it, as Port-land is the major city in a State that is 97% rural.

But consider Crook County and the Prineville area. Prineville was the first town in this region, founded in 1868 and incorporated in 1880 - 25 years before Bend was founded. We have both a strong agricultural sector, and a strong ranching sector. The Ochoco Forest has been very productive with everything from pine to fir. When the rail line going north/south bypassed Prineville/Crook Co. in 1918, the city built a rail line about 20 miles long over to the main line to keep the city alive – and it still is city run and in operation. At about that same time, the farmers cooperatively created the irrigation systems in the valleys here. We have even had cowboy/cattle wars with sheep herders in the past. We've had it all here.

So, on one level, Prineville/Crook County is the quintessential western area. But on another level, once it (whatever "it" is in each case) is accepted in Prineville/Crook County, you can pretty much bet all of Oregon has accepted "it". Example: You can't really say that Oregon is a State into recycling if it only happens in Port-land. But if someplace like Prineville has a citywide systematic recycling effort going on (we do), then you can say with some certainty that Oregon by-in-large is into recycling. If men wearing beards is accepted in Prineville, then you can pretty much say that throughout Oregon men wearing beards is accepted. In other words, Prineville/Crook County is a benchmark area for acceptance of trends.

But I don't find that to be as true elsewhere around Oregon. Port-land is atypical of the State due to its urbanization. The coast and Bend are heavily tourist influenced. The far east side gets TV from Idaho. Southern Oregon was invaded by California over the last 30 years. Lakeview, Mitchell, John Day, and Burns are too small. Other places just don't have the history.

By my dead reckoning, Prineville / Crook County are not only the geographic center of Oregon (put an "X" over the State from the four corners and the center hits at Post, near the center of Crook County), but I figure that I see in this area the core essence of what Oregon means on a spiritual level. It is at the center of our identity as a State. You want an independent spirit? Truck loads of it here. You want well thought out people? Well, if T.A. Barnhart was "surprised" in Bend, he'd faint here where all the farmers use computers and the Internet - and if they don't get cable TV, there is a satellite on the roof. I keep saying here on Blue Oregon that we not only get all the TV and papers from Port-land here, but we get our own local news and State news that Port-land doesn't get. No matter how you slice that one up, it means that over here we are better informed about this State than people are in Port-land where they don't get news from around the rest of the State at the level we do.

I could go on and on. How we travel more (the passes only run one way in the winter you know). How we are better informed on resource issues. How we have a sense of history that gives us the long view of things. and so on....

Yep, I figure, with some justification, that we are the spiritual center of Oregon.

Crook County used to have the unique distinction of voting for the winner in every presidential election going back to the 1920s. They broke their streak in 1992 and 1996 and started a new one in 2000. Let's hope they continue the streak in 2008. But my guess is they won't. That's God 'n' guns country out there. Also as white as the driven snow.

"The Republicans have become the "can't do" party."

There's one thing they can still do: Start wars.

As an E OR blogger who has had some pretty extensive travels in the 2 CD and other parts of the state and somewhat extended stays in those other parts; and as a political junky - I'd have to say that Steve has pretty good justification for his "spiritual center" remark. I don't know that Baker County is particularly backward in regard to the entire state sociologically, but I am quite aware that we have much more in common with areas with not much in common with Portland/Willamette Valley.

Steve isn't proposing a superiority of Crook Co, he's proposing that once ideas are common in that county they are a fair reflection of Oregon as a whole. There is plenty of arrogance to go around and I will tell you that there are things we do better in places like Baker Co than Portland does and admit that there are things done better in Portland. These things can filter both ways and taking the measure of places like Crook Co can be informative. If urban areas cannot figure out that there is a reason people continue to live with the disadvantages of rural life rather than live in their urban areas they will not solve those problems and they will continue to force ideas/policies that don't work on those rural areas.

<h2>This is a really large state with hugely varied geography, economy, and sociology that needs to be taken into account in our thinking. We wear blinders to our own deficit.</h2>