VIDEO: Bruce Starr can't explain his votes against minimum wage, unemployment benefits, civil rights and more.
Kari Chisholm
The Democratic Party of Oregon just released a clip of a video from this weekend's KGW Straight Talk debate between Brad Avakian and Bruce Starr.
Starr was asked directly about his absymal voting record on behalf of working families in Oregon. His answer? A lot of stammering and "I could go down that list one-by-one..." - but he didn't.
To the extent that he had an answer, it was about "balancing multiple things". I guess we know how he balances those things -- against gays and lesbians, against the families of workers killed on the job, and against minimum-wage and unemployed workers.
Nice guy, that Bruce Starr.
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2:08 p.m.
Oct 16, '12
Full disclosure: My firm built Brad Avakian's campaign website. I speak only for myself.
5:10 p.m.
Oct 16, '12
I remember that Bruce Starr. He is terrible on mj issues. We are supporting Brad Avakian.
9:01 p.m.
Oct 16, '12
While I will support Mr. Avakian (without reservation), I must say I appreciate the start of Mr. Starr's political career: when he was still in high school he helped campaign against the creepy Bob Packwood. Good move!
Maybe we could once in a while reach across the aisle and admit that the other side doesn't have horns. Of course, union stewards don't have horns either, but that's another story.
9:57 p.m.
Oct 16, '12
"Maybe we could once in a while reach across the aisle and admit that the other side doesn't have horns."
This is just utter nonsense. The idea that Democrats/progressives etc. don't compromise enough or are not nice enough to "the other side" is a complete joke. The modern GOP has become one of the ugliest and most destructive organizations on Earth...filled with gay-bashing, anti-women, science-denying, knuckle dragging neanderthals who obstruct human progress at nearly every turn. Cut taxes for the rich, slash programs for the poor, abolish the minimum wage, bust unions, destroy environmental protections, hand over women's reproductive rights to the government..........they are an amazing disgrace....a charade of a political party.
Far too often progressives lend credibility to these knuckle-draggers by engaging in the politics of niceness instead of telling the ugly truth about the modern GOP. Take our own Ron Wyden. He recently called Paul Ryan, (the author of one of the cruelest budgets ever put forward) a "nice fella."
7:37 a.m.
Oct 17, '12
We on the left are trying to make progress for humanity, not get dragged into a parallel universe where up is down and down is up. That is where republican leaders thrive and it is shameful, dishonest and destructive. You may not have horns, but if you did where your heads are shoved right now that would make the experience even more painful.
8:24 a.m.
Oct 17, '12
Thanks for not reading my post and for being childish & rude. I have had it with this blog. I am a lifelong Democrat and I thought I was a progressive until I started talking to you guys.
12:16 p.m.
Oct 18, '12
Tim showed frustration, Kari called him out on it. Don't go away, don't close down. This is the very time we learn something, change something, understand more. I ask that you stay with it.
9:15 a.m.
Oct 17, '12
Tim, that was uncalled for. There's just three weeks until the election - and it's when nerves get frayed. Let's try and remain civil to each other.
9:16 a.m.
Oct 17, '12
when he was still in high school he helped campaign against the creepy Bob Packwood.
Yes, but he worked for Joe Lutz - who was the right-wing primary challenge to Bob Packwood. Since it was 1986, and Packwood's extracurricular activities were a decade away from revelation, I'm guessing that young Mr. Starr was exercising his ideological preferences, not campaigning against any perceived "creepiness".
10:48 p.m.
Oct 16, '12
I'd like to extend kudos to the NW Labor Press for their continued coverage of this race, and for breaking two major stories about Bruce Starr -- that he favors making Oregon a "Right To Work" state, and that he wants to reduce the Prevailing Wage. The Labor Press consistently follows news of importance to working Oregonians. You can follow them on twitter @nwlaborpress.
12:14 p.m.
Oct 18, '12
The two issues you pointed out ARE the crux of this campaign. We must vote smart or Oregon Labor will not resemble what a couple of centuries have worked toward.
7:52 a.m.
Oct 17, '12
I guess I am just tired of the non-stop attacks between Republicans and Democrats, the same war of words. I am pro-union, but I think that the pro-union message is not reaching the public. We need to be more positive in the messaging in general.
Over and out.
9:17 a.m.
Oct 17, '12
I am pro-union, but I think that the pro-union message is not reaching the public.
You're right about that. It's a challenge that organized labor has been trying to sort through for two decades now.
10:01 a.m.
Oct 17, '12
I'm sorry Pamela, but with all due respect, the notion that we just need to be more positive is just plain wrong and it distracts us from the fundamental problems we face.
The problems ordinary working people, unions, etc. face is that for decades the GOP, the corporate elites, the economic royalists, have waged war on progressive ideas, organizations, policies, etc. They own politicians and own major media outlets which spread the propaganda 7 days a week and legislate anti-worker policies. To add to it, we have tens of millions of religious knuckle draggers who will fight against anything that smells progressive, e.g., unions, public schools, etc.
Attacks are an essential part of politics--if your not willing to do a lot of attacking, you better be willing to do a lot of losing.
11:40 a.m.
Oct 17, '12
Joshua, I think we need a strong critique of the destructive.
But demonizing people, which after all what Pamela is opposing, does not actually help with that. For every person whose anger is satisfied by focusing on an enemy, there are three who are turned off one way or another. The critique doesn't need to be driven by personal attack or animus.
Does it strike you as concerning at all that someone who is on your/our side on the substance is feeling badly enough to want to walk away from being part of our conversation here? It concerns me.
One of our fundamental problems is exactly to tell the story of what we really need, in an effective way that brings over folks who have many interests that align with your critique. A version that drives away current allies is the real "distraction."
11:44 a.m.
Oct 17, '12
Also, Pamela's comments strike me as real "water cooler" talk, it's the way I talk to relatives with whom I agree on some things, not others, or when I'm on the phones or the doors with someone who wants to talk a bit.
8:01 p.m.
Oct 17, '12
I would of course prefer that MORE people be part of the conversation here but I'm not going to allow ridiculous assertions to go unanswered...if I have the time anyway.
She actually asserted that "we" don't "reach across the aisle" enough and that we're not nice enough to "the other side." This kind of talk drives me a little nuts!
Bruce Starr, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan etc., demonize themselves with their actions...nobody does it for them. All politics is moral. George Lakoff has relentlessly critiqued the left for not speaking in moral terms about moral policies/issues while the right almost always does. Progressives naturally don't want to offend, to avoid conflict, to be tolerant, and in doing so we lend undue credibility to the right and lose when we shouldn't---it's a problem.
We have a complex political system with complex problems that require complex solutions. I fully agree that we must "tell a story of what we really need in an effective way that brings over folk who have many interests," but we also must tell the moral truth about "the other side" continually and not give undue respect to those who work destroy the things we love and cherish.
We have some real problems in America, but not being nice enough to "the other side" just isn't one of them.
I'll give you this, I could have been a little bit easier on Pamela, but this is politics, and if she's going to participate in the conversation and make claims, she ought to be ready to be critiqued and make a case for her claims.
12:11 p.m.
Oct 18, '12
You are so correct, Joshua. The very nature of Dems and Lefties is TOLERANCE and a broad range of ideas that can be difficult to meld. On the other hand, the party of NO and their toxic feelings toward factions of our society eases their ability to point fingers and condemn. What saddens me is the portion of Americans who prefer the latter "flavor".
12:07 p.m.
Oct 18, '12
Yikes: Chamber of Commerce(s). Wouldn't that be: Chambers of Commerce. Anyway, aside from that Brad Avakian is performing and well suited for the position. That is stacked on top of his passion for Oregonians and the work force.
12:08 p.m.
Oct 18, '12
I must clarify.....Bruce needed the correction, not Brad.