OR-1: Romper Room
Carla Axtman
A more appropriate title for this blog post by Nigel Jacquiss at Willamette Week would be: Romper Room (for those of you too young to understand the reference, go here).
The campaigns of state Sen. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Beaverton) and state Rep. Brad Witt (D-Clatskanie) canceled their plans to participate in the debate, set for Thursday night, because they had received uncomfirmed reports that Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian's campaign had been given the questions ahead of time.
The campaign for Avakain denied that, and said Bonamici, his chief rival in the race, was using a rumor as a way to duck facing Avakian in person.
The two campaigns said they had no evidence Avakian's camp had received the debate questions but were relying on reports that reached them.
This is pathetic.
In this very short primary, its a disservice to the people of the First Congressional District to lose such an important debate. Most people can't or don't get to the non-televised debates. This was a key opportunity for a whole bunch of voters to get a look at these candidates together. Bailing out on this is just unacceptable.
The idea that Avakian had the questions in advance is laughable, frankly. He's too damn honest for something like that. The campaigns that bailed on this debate have no evidence of it, either. If this were the real problem, then they could have insisted that a new slate of questions be developed by the TV station. There was plenty of time for it.
If anyone has a legitimate complaint about integrity of process in this, its the voters who are cheated of seeing these candidates together in such a high profile setting. This election isn't about THE CANDIDATES. It's about THE VOTERS. These campaigns would do well to remember that.
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10:49 a.m.
Oct 15, '11
"We heard a rumor, so we decided to cancel," is what this amounts to.
If I had a vote in CD1, which I don't, if I were still on the fence this would have pushed me off of it, and voting for Avakian..
Canceling a debate based unsubstantiated rumors shows a lack of judgment.
1:27 p.m.
Oct 15, '11
From the linked article:
Part of the issue, Gray says, is that the man entrusted with gathering debate questions from activists in CD1, David Robinson, a retired Navy officer active in Washington County politics, has endorsed Avakian.
It is unfortunate Mr.Robinson didn't recuse himself considering the obvious conflict of interest. Requesting a new slate of questions doesn't seem reasonable as the initial concern of Mr.Robinson's participation was not addressed.
Speaking of conflict of interest it would have been nice to disclose that you have worked on Avakian's campaigns before.
2:14 p.m.
Oct 15, '11
That's a BS excuse, frankly. If Robinson were really the problem, the campaigns could have asked for the TV stations to come up with the questions. It's not like Robinson's participation was some sort of big surprise.
And why my kid (not me) working in an after school job for Avakian 3 years ago has to do with this, I don't get. He's also been treated with great kindness by Suzanne Bonamici's husband, Michael Simon. I consider that worth a lot, as his mom. Frankly, it's garbage to bring my kid into this at all.
4:39 p.m.
Oct 15, '11
I did not realize it was your child and not you. My apologies.
5:31 p.m.
Oct 15, '11
Thank you. Accepted.
8:44 p.m.
Oct 17, '11
Heard a rumor and bought it without questioning?
4:24 a.m.
Oct 16, '11
All members of the 1stnight CD Committee are backing the candidate of their choice - some openly and others not openly. My support of Avakian has been a publicly known fact since the day Avakian announced his candidacy. My name has been on his list of supporters on his webpage since the day his campaign first published the its website. No campaign raised an issue with my support of Avakian until the day before the debate despite knowing of my position for months. If it had been raised as an issue in a timely manner I would have gladly stepped aside so as to not deprive the citizens of the firtst CD of this opportunity to see the candidates in action. As reported by both the O and WWeek, the proposed question pool was provided the nobody other than the moderators and the TV station.
4:25 p.m.
Oct 17, '11
The suggestion of recusal was stupid. It's tough to find people involved in politics who don't have some opinion about politics. can you imagine if people involved in debates at City Club had to have no opinion(s)?
9:19 a.m.
Oct 18, '11
As a point of clarification, I am a member of the 1st CD delegation, was a member of the debate committee and work as staff for the WashCo Dems. Because of my position I have not backed a candidate in this race, neither openly nor privately, and have done my best to provide support to all of them.
4:26 p.m.
Oct 15, '11
Those of us attending the Democratic Oregon Summit in Sunriver this weekend heard from speakers who noted they want a positive & respectful race among the 3 Dem candidates in CD 1. One speaker even reminded the staffers from the three campaigns that they are expected to conduct themselves with dignity while working hard for their candidates.
You do get do-overs.I sincerely hope that all three campaigns mark the decision not to debate as hitting the panic button. Now start again, put this silly stuff to rest.
9:00 p.m.
Oct 15, '11
Paulie - TWO campaigns decided not to debate. Avakian was NOT the one to hit the panic button. :-)
10:07 p.m.
Oct 15, '11
Sue - sorry for lack of clarity I am aware that 2 of the 3 campaigns chose not to debate. The campaign's are tough among good candidates. Let's hope they all set a high bar.
9:30 p.m.
Oct 15, '11
I smile as I write, that I find it interesting that Carla Axtman does what I think Kari himself oughta do. I think I saw an episode of The Rifle Man where Mark referred to this as "hiding behind a woman's skirt", but that's coming from a troll anyway.
9:49 p.m.
Oct 15, '11
Huh?
3:01 p.m.
Oct 16, '11
I'm confused. What am I supposed to be doing?
3:43 p.m.
Oct 16, '11
C'mon Commandant Chisholm, you're totally hiding behind Carla's skirt. Don't pretend as if you don't know...
5:46 p.m.
Oct 16, '11
i think Kyle's being facetious.
9:02 a.m.
Oct 17, '11
Sometimes, T.A., the best way to respond to ridiculousness is with an equal amount- if not more- ridiculousness.
8:27 p.m.
Oct 17, '11
I don't know, Kyle, look what it's done to the G.O.P....
9:46 p.m.
Oct 15, '11
You're right Carla, Portland Oregon is Romper Room. And, yes Mark, that is what they call hiding behind a woman's skirts. --Lucas
4:17 a.m.
Oct 16, '11
I don't personally know the man Carla but your statement:
"The idea that Avakian had the questions in advance is laughable, frankly. He's too damn honest for something like that]"
Appears to fly in the face of some of the recent bad press on this man ...namely that at the age of 50 he is still paying off his student loans, has been sued by collectors four times for failure to pay bills he incurred, has twice failed to pay his taxes - once accruing a $13,000 tax lien - AND was briefly suspended from the state bar for failing to pay his dues...a person paying or not paying his bills to the point of a lawsuit being filed and all of the rest are serious integrity issues on my scorecard. Several of my progressive co workers and I have all reconsidered Avakian and have decided to support Bonnamici instead. As far as I know she hasn't suffered from any of those types of ethical lapses.
8:00 a.m.
Oct 16, '11
Wait..so anyone who chooses public service over financial gain is dishonest?
Wow.
5:50 p.m.
Oct 16, '11
i'm 55 in 2 weeks. i still have student loans (i went late-ish, early 30s, and had a family that got first dibs on my income, which has never been much). i've been sued for debts, if you call it sued: a creditor goes to court & gets a judgment, pretty mundane crap that millions of struggling Americans deal with.
i back Suzanne, but not because of any negative regarding either Brad. both men are honest & worthy of anyone's vote.
8:51 p.m.
Oct 17, '11
Nice to see Ms. Bonamici's supporters taking the high road and honoring her pledge to stay there.
8:19 a.m.
Oct 16, '11
The Oregonian editorial page just endorsed Bonamici. Which is a good reason not to vote for her.
8:52 p.m.
Oct 17, '11
If I wanted to know what people from Orange County CA thought of my candidates I'd move there.
8:30 a.m.
Oct 16, '11
Canceling a debate appearance based on unsubstantiated rumors? Aren't we veering into Michelle Bachmann- "Some woman told me HOV vaccines cause mental retardation" territory here?
I'm just a little concerned that as the Democratic candidates/ campaigns tear each other up, Rob Cornilles will walk into a Congressional seat.
And @Stephen Michael- You make a pretty good point re: Oregonian editorial page. Pretty much 95% of what they published should be viewed in an "Opposite Day" type of lens. But then I read an editorial last week that lambasted the upsurge of Voter ID laws and how they disenfranchise legitimate voters, so not everything they write can be dismissed out-of-hand. Just most of what they write....
8:32 a.m.
Oct 16, '11
Ha ha. "HOV vaccines." Yes, that's what we need- vaccines against high-occupancy vehicles.
Funnily enough, someone like Bachmann would actually think HOVs are a problem & need to be vaccinated. After all, if God didn't want us all driving 10 mpg SUVs, then why did he create them...?
11:04 a.m.
Oct 16, '11
Well, it looks like Bonamici is picking up endorsements and cash as FEC election reports are now online for period ending 9/30/2011.
For the Democrats:
Suzanne Bonamici raised $600,404, including $200,000 personal loan to her campaign. She has $451,872 cash on hand.
Brad Avakian raised $378,678 and has $108,871 cash on hand.
Brad Witt raised $63,977 and has $23,245 cash on hand.
For Republicans:
Rob Cornilles raised $505,556 and has $437,304 cash on hand.
7:55 p.m.
Oct 16, '11
The real issue is much more complex than suggested by this blog and considerably harder to reveal. Setting up a debate is complicated. Issues of timing, venue and TV coverage are hard to solve. And, with a compressed election cycle, the issues are even harder. Robinson and the Democrats of the 1st CD were nearly successful in being relevant. The many volunteers who tried to set up a successful debate should be thanked and not vilified.
All the participants in this effort are volunteers and none had a wealth of experience in organizing three campaigns, a TV station and a suitable venue, all at once, with no chance to misstep. It is understandable that communication was not timely and some important players did not get as much time as they needed to be comfortable with the arrangements. And, the FOX affiliate was not the best partner, possibly because they are not known for their hosting of local political debates.
There are many other debates and one that will be covered by a different TV station. Losing this debate is probably not important for the voters but is important for those of us that want reclaim the political relevance of the grass roots and the county party organizations. I hope we try again in the future.
7:34 a.m.
Oct 17, '11
I'm sure it is a very difficult and complex process. Most big events with lots of moving parts are. But the campaigns who backed out are the ones saying that they did so because they heard unsubstantiated rumors that Avakian had the questions in advance (and Witt's campaign consultant said something about not being invited to one meeting on "ground rules").
I strongly disagree that losing this "probably not important for the voters". Of course it is. Very few people (relative to the number of voters in CD-1) will see those non-televised debates. Losing one of the two is robbing voters of a very important opportunity.
10:37 a.m.
Oct 17, '11
I'd imagine very few people will watch the debates anyway. But yes, they are important opportunities and it's a shame to lose one.
The campaign that had the most to gain from the debates was Witt's, as it has the fewest resources to communicate with voters in other ways. And yet his campaign decided the concerns were serious enough to back away.
The rumors aren't necessarily an implication about Avakian's character himself. There are lots of people involved in the campaigns, including lots of passionate volunteers. The idea that one of those scores of people might have the questions ahead of time seems within the bounds of possibility.
Hopefully voters will work to make themselves informed in the many other possible ways, most of which are better served to quality in-depth information than television debates.
3:35 p.m.
Oct 17, '11
Evan: there's no evidence, as admitted by the campaigns, that any volunteer from Avakian (or anyone else's campaign) gave the questions to anyone other than the TV station and the debate organizers/moderators who were supposed to have them.
While I think Rep. Witt is a nice man and certainly would be better than Wu, the campaign that would have the most to gain from a televised debate is Avakian. I've heard even from supporters of the other two leading candidates that Avakian has been outperforming them in public forums.
5:09 p.m.
Oct 18, '11
"...nearly successful in being relevant."???? Aren't you a member of this committee? Aren't you suppose to be making it relevant? Or is your $5000 contribution to Bonamici the only relevant thing?
By pulling out of the debate at the last minute, it was the candidates that pulled out who said "Informed voters are irrelevant."
4:27 p.m.
Oct 17, '11
Surprised that there has not been a CD-1 post about recent polling, fundraising numbers, or the results of the straw poll at the Oregon Summit.
All seem like pertinent topics to discuss on a progressive blog...
3:23 a.m.
Oct 18, '11
1) There have been no independent polls in this race.
2) Even its creators note that the straw poll isn't reflective of anyone other than who showed up at a late night booze fest. Why the media insists on covering it is beyond me.
3) Fundraising numbers (and the O endorsement). Sure - you bet. I had a busy weekend with the family and the day job (note that I'm commenting at 3:22 a.m.) Can't speak for the other 50 writers here. You know where the guest column form is.
9:43 a.m.
Oct 18, '11
Thanks, Kari.
My post did sound passive aggressive. ...only intended to express genuine surprise that there was little mention of some major/interesting developments in the race, by anybody.
Looking forward to the debate and further discussion!