Novick’s Socialist Support That Will Lose Him The General Election

Many people consider Oregon an extremely progressive place.  Most of the time those people live either out of state, in Eugene, or in Portland.  Try canvassing in East Salem and you will have a significantly different understanding.

In order to win a statewide election, a Democrat must perform well in Washington, Clackamas, Linn, and Marion County.   Those counties are where Democratic candidates must successfully woo moderate Democrats and non-affiliated voters.  These voters share many progressive values but they also subscribe to Oregon’s libertarian streak, and are wary of pushing the pendulum too far to the left.

Showing your support from Socialists and your support of socialism, as Steve Novick has done, will lose a big voting block and with them the general election.

The Socialist frame is a tried and true loser, and one that will be hung like a noose around Novick’s neck by Gordon Smith.  When Republicans call most Democrats socialists, it is a baseless charge that is patently, ridiculous, and easily dismissed by moderates.  However, Republicans rarely have a Democrat parading around his socialist ties like Steve Novick.  Check out this screenshot taken last night from the blogroll section Novick’s website:
See the Willamette Red in the fourth line?  It links out to this site, the Salem Oregon Socialists, whose masthead is:

Salem, Oregon Socialists

A blog from Mid-Willamette Valley, Oregon Socialists. We welcome anyone whose politics come in shades of red. Party membership not required. Our interests are socialism, immigrant rights, international revolution, human rights, left-wing perspectives, and more. We’re a working collective of socialists, Communists and independent leftists. And no, we don’t sell red wine. We do drink red wine.
We are also known as Willamette Reds. [emphasis mine]

Why would the Novick staff put something on their website’s front page that could be so damaging? Or do they think showing their support in the self declared communists that support “the international revolution” demographic is a big vote getter?  Or is it because Novick is unabashed about his ties with socialists?

According to The HillI (subscription required) Novick has been passing out business cards with the communist sickle and hammer:

Novick actually has business cards identifying him just that way. A helpful tipster sent HOH a copy of the card, which looks like your standard issue, except for the tagline identifying Novick as a “labor-loving, latte-liberal pantywaist.” A hammer and sickle icon identified with communism graces the upper left-hand corner, while the symbol for recycling – another liberal cause celbre – is on the right side. A union symbol decorates the lower left corner.

If the Novick campaign cared about beating Smith they wouldn’t be putting people that support the international revolution on the front page of their website.  These two instances show a penchant for Novick to make poor decisions that sacrifice huge voting blocks to solidify his place as the candidate for far left niche groups.  In order to defeat Gordon Smith we need a candidate that will be able to see the whole board and make strategic decisions to defeat Smith, rather than cater to niche groups without the votes to help push Novick over the top. The lack of vision by the Novick campaign should wave red flags to people looking at this race.

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Tags: SteveNovick, Socialism, Communism, Gordon Smith, Salem Oregon Socialists