Forward Oregon

This is the first post of the new co-writer, atleastimhonest. I wanted a place to discuss everything that I thought should be included here, but Bdunn graciously let me join it instead. I’m interested in creating discourse here about the issues of this campaign cycle that need more attention than they are getting in the major news sources, calling it as I see it, and to generally kicking Bdunn’s ass when needed.

Having a progressive stance on reproductive rights has always made Kate Brown stand out as an exceptional candidate in the Secretary of State race, for me. That is why I am proud to learn that she has recently received the endorsements of both Emily’s List and NARAL Pro-Choice Oregon.

Jonathan Parker, the political director of Emily’s List, highlighted Brown’s legislative experience in their endorsement and stated:

“As the first woman to serve as Oregon State Senate majority leader, Kate Brown has been a role model and trail blazer for women everywhere”.

On her NARAL endorsement, Brown emphasized all she had done for reproductive rights in Oregon:

“For over twenty years, I have worked closely with the pro-choice community and have been a leader in preserving and protecting our reproductive freedoms, fighting for access to birth control and health care for Oregon woman and their families.”

These are important endorsements for her, as even though Brad Avakian has dropped out of the race, there are still two highly qualified candidates running that she needs to be able to distinguish herself from. As a member of the young progressive women voting block, being supportive of reproductive rights is important to me when choosing a candidate. Gaining these endorsements will also differentiate her from the other woman senator in the race, Vicki Walker, and gain momentum with my demographic.

In addition, Brown currently has a small monetary advantage, which is important for her to maintain. Emily’s List will definitely assist her with this as one of their main strategies in perpetuating their progressive platform is to raise money from their members (about 100,00 in the country) to benefit all of their endorsed candidates. They will also help Brown to gain more name recognition, which she needs to compete with Rick Metsger, who currently has the advantage because of his sixteen years as a KOIN-TV anchor before becoming a state senator. Brown has approximately 68,000 constituents, which is considerably less than that of the KOIN-TV viewers.

With these significant endorsements from both NARAL and Emily’s List, Kate Brown will be capable of furthering her campaign in three essential ways: she will be able to compete financially within the race, distinguish herself as a reproductive rights leader from Vicki Walker and increase her name recognition in comparison to Rick Metsger.

Forward Oregon’s favorite former Governor Barbra Roberts endorsed two of Forward Oregon’s favorite candidates, Cyreena Boston and Kate Brown.

Cyreena Boston is running for House District 45 and my reasons for endorsing her can be seen in this post from earlier this week.  In her endorsement Barbra Roberts echoed that sentiment:

“Cyreena Boston is my choice for State Representative,” said Governor Roberts. “Cyreena really understands her community. Her hands-on approach to getting things done is exactly what we need in the Oregon Legislature.”

Governor Roberts endorsement is a really nice headliner in a long line of prominent figures that have endorsed Cyreena including State Senators Avel Gordly and Margaret Carter, State Superintendent of Schools Susan Castillo, State Representatives Chip Shields and Tina Kotek, Portland Mayor Tom Potter, and City Commissioners Erik Sten and Randy Leonard.  Many people dismiss the value of endorsements, but in contested primaries like the one Cyreena Boston faces, with many candidates who have relatively low name identification, seeing a trusted name like Barbra Roberts definately creates a willingness to vote for a candidate.

Speaking of hotly contested primaries, the Secretary of State Democratic primary is just plain messy with four well know and qualified candidates.  Forward Oregon has endorsed Kate Brown for Secretary of State and in this video Barbra Roberts does the same.

Two excellent candidates endorsed by my favorite former Governor, sweet!

The Oregon Secretary of State race can only truly be described as a cluster f*ck.  I tried to come up with another phrase that would work, but after asking my roommate for help, I realized it was futile.  It seems as if the entire Senate Democratic Caucus jumped into this race. Oregon AFL-CIO President Jon Chamberlain, as quoted by Jeff Mapes, said it best:

[Chamberlain] said he didn’t expect [an endorsement] at the December meeting in the races for secretary of state or attorney general. “The secretary of state’s race is a toughie for us because we’ve got all of our friends in there,” he said.

With four well qualified Democrats vying for the right to take on an, as of yet, nonexistent Republican, differentiation is key.  The first test was provided last week, when the Oregonian editorial board suggested moving to a nonpartisan SoS.  The initial volley from State Senators Vicki Walker and Rick Metsger came in a PolitickerOR article, where they fought over column inches.

State Sen. Kate Brown took a different and highly successful approach. In the initial PoliticOR article, Brown responded that she needed more time to study the Public Commission on the Oregon Legislature proposal for a nonpartisan SoS.  Then she hit back with an email to supporters:

But, like it or not, voters use party affiliation as one tool in making their decision on candidates and no candidate running for office even if it’s non-partisan, will suddenly shed a lifetime connection to one party or another. Making the Secretary of State office non-partisan will limit the information available to voters when we should be giving them more information. 
Let me re-iterate, I believe that the unimpeachable integrity of the Secretary of State is sacred and that the Secretary of State should not participate in any election in which the public has placed their trust. Under my watch, there will be no fox guarding the hen house. I will keep Oregon from becoming another Florida.

In her email, Brown scored points with having spot on analysis. In addition, Brown successfully used an anecdote about winning her first election by 7 votes to underscore her commitment to fair elections.

The most important aspect of Browns position was the media response to the email.  Unlike Walker and Metsger, who fought over column space, or State Sen. Brad Avakian who failed to tender a position, Brown stayed above the fray.  In doing so she looked thoughtful for taking more time to consider the Public Commission on the Legislature’s proposal, and when Brown did publish her position people wanted to listen.  Articles in PolitickerOr and Blue Oregon gave Brown her own columns, and her response was even mentioned in the print edition of the Oregonian.

In a race so crowded differentiation is key.  In the first test of the race Kate Brown’s team comes out ahead.  Brown let others fight for the initial attention and then calmly stepped into the spotlight when the time was right.

Blogged with Flock

Tags: OregonSecretary of State, OR-SoS, Kate Brown, Vicki Walker, Rick Metsger, Brad Avakian