House District 24: Run Susan Run!
Carla Axtman
Nestled in the heart of Oregon's beautiful wine country, House District 24 is one of the loveliest places in our state. It's also being represented right now by Jim Weidner, who by any objective measure is an embarrassment.
While Oregon continues to struggle economically--with many citizens out of work or just barely getting by, Weidner decided that the big problem that needed tackling during the legislative session was a repeal of the Healthy Kids program in Oregon, doing away with access to health coverage for 80,000 children.
Earlier this year, Weidner was stripped of all but one committee for not dealing in good faith with other legislators.
With the filing deadline fast approaching, many locals are coalescing around Democrat Susan Sokol-Blosser to challenge Weidner for the seat. Sources tell me that Sokol-Blosser would be a formidable candidate against Weidner. She's a pioneer in the local wine business, one of the few women to run a winery in Oregon. She's also demonstrated a deep commitment to community service in the region.
A Facebook page has been created to encourage Susan to run, with a number of sitting legislators offering support.
With a little nudge, I'm told Susan might be willing to jump in. Head on over to encourage her on Facebook or leave a comment here to that end.
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Mar 2, '10
"It's also being represented right now by Jim Weidner, who by any objective measure is an embarrassment."
Thats' funny. Carla, do you know what "objective" means?
Sometimes the jokes just write themselves.
Mar 2, '10
I think being stripped of all but one committees can be measured pretty objectively.
Mar 2, '10
Seems to me, wanting to axe the Healthy Kids program is pretty objectively nasty. Yamhill County can do better than that.
Mar 2, '10
I think being stripped of all but one committees can be measured pretty objectively.
Not when the individual who strips you of those committees is the leader of the opposing political party and who has shown a particularly nasty streak when it comes to retribution and payback.
Then it's pretty much anything but objective.
4:38 p.m.
Mar 2, '10
Come now Don D, even his own caucus didn't object to the stripping of those committees--and they went to other GOP members.
Weidner didn't lose those assignments without at the very least the tacit approval of his own caucus.
Mar 2, '10
Carla - Whether or not the Republican caucus objected doesn't prove or disprove the "objectivity". Hell, they may have even agreed that he should have had them stripped because they felt he handled the situation poorly from the start or just because they think he is an idiot but they were not "objectively" taken away. Speaker Hunt took them away to make his point and try to humiliate Weidner.
Everything that happens in that building in Salem with the Big Golden Man on the roof is very subjective, politically motivated and meant to further someone's personal or political agenda.
But let's not kid ourselves and try to call something like that "objective".
Mar 2, '10
Carla - Whether or not the Republican caucus objected doesn't prove or disprove the "objectivity". Hell, they may have even agreed that he should have had them stripped because they felt he handled the situation poorly from the start or just because they think he is an idiot but they were not "objectively" taken away. Speaker Hunt took them away to make his point and try to humiliate Weidner.
Everything that happens in that building in Salem with the Big Golden Man on the roof is very subjective, politically motivated and meant to further someone's personal or political agenda.
But let's not kid ourselves and try to call something like that "objective".
7:09 p.m.
Mar 2, '10
Don: Whether Hunt's motive was to humiliate Weidner or merely to honor a request from GOP leadership I have no idea. It could be both. Either way...both sides clearly felt he deserved it. That's an embarrassment by any OBJECTIVE observation.
There's really no way around that.
Mar 3, '10
Since when has Hunt done anything to "honor" GOP leadership? You really don't understand how things work in that building. To throw out the canard that somehow the GOP requested that Weidner lose his committees and that Hunt was just being his normal gracious and accommodating self is just laughable. To be sure, you are a useful idiot to the cause, but now you are risking losing the first part of that title.
9:59 a.m.
Mar 3, '10
To throw out the canard that somehow the GOP requested that Weidner lose his committees and that Hunt was just being his normal gracious and accommodating self is just laughable.
When you don't pay attention to what actually went on with the stripping of Weidner's committees, then I guess it would seem laughable.
Mar 3, '10
Any Speaker has the right to strip any member of a committee---seem to recall Speaker Snodgrass doing that.
What we need are more legislators who care about actual voters and not just caucus politics.
Last night at a town hall meeting, St. Rep. Vicki Berger--while expressing support for the concept of the kicker--said it is time to change the way the kicker is calculated, so that it will not be such a shock in bad times but will be a "brake on spending".
Sounds like more discussion of the need for kicker reform than we ever heard from Hunt--who wants to see favorable poll numbers and a coalition already formed before discussing kicker reform in public. And if that is not what he meant, that is certainly how he sounded.
10:41 a.m.
Mar 3, '10
I don't think it's likely that GOP leadership asked for Weidner to be stripped of his committees, but neither do I think many of his colleagues (if any) went to bat for him.
I've been around state politics in Oregon, California, and Colorado for the better part of the last 20 years. I have never met someone who is less temperamentally or intellectually suited to serve in public office than Jim Weidner.
In 2006, I narrowly lost a race against Jim's predecessor, Donna Nelson. I ran against her because I felt that she was ineffective and largely irrelevant as a legislator, and that the county deserved better representation. I believe that campaign played a big role in her decision to retire from the legislature. I can say unequivocally that in hindsight I regret having run against Donna. As bad as she was, she was a much better legislator than Jim is.
As someone who lives in the district, now registered as an Independent, I am glad to see Susan running for this position. She is a pioneer in the most important industry in the region, and understands both economic development and the importance of agriculture in both the state and local economy in a way that Jim never will.
11:03 a.m.
Mar 3, '10
I don't think it's likely that GOP leadership asked for Weidner to be stripped of his committees, but neither do I think many of his colleagues (if any) went to bat for him.
From the conversations I've had about what went on, I do. There has been a lot of complaining about Weidner from within his own caucus.
4:00 p.m.
Mar 3, '10
I'd throw her a few bucks, as long as I get to attend a nice house party at the vineyard!
Mar 4, '10