Hot take from the fail zone
The trickle of election porn into Blog Central continues, but it's still failing to excite. We got this "voter guide" yesterday from Shannon Singleton, who's running for Multnomah County chair.
From the looks of things, Singleton's not worried about Sharon Meieran, who's the best candidate in the three-way race. Instead, Singleton's taking aim at Julia Brim-Edwards, the machine candidate who came into politics via a career at Nike. To Singleton, Nike's one of those evil, evil institutions known as "business." In Portland, that's a dirty word for many people, especially the youthful readers of the Merc and the Weed who have come to our city to retire.
Singleton also tries to slap a MAGA hat on Brim-Edwards, but it's not convincing.
I'm as down on the CEO types as anybody, and I have serious misgivings about JBE. But Singleton's hostility toward commerce, and her years of feasting at the nonprofit and government troughs, are utterly disqualifying. That's been my view of her since she first emerged on the political scene, and this mailer does nothing but reinforce that assessment.
Rank Meieran no. 1, and JBE no. 2, but do not rank Singleton.
The vast majority of Portland voters do not read much media (sorry, Jack). They're incapable of working their way through dense stuff (like the new city charter, which was loaded with time-bombs), and put far more emphasis on "feelings" than rational analysis. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteWhat I see happening these days, is that candidates running for non-partisan offices are having a hard time getting their messaging across in our sound-bite world.
ReplyDeleteA lot of voters still just want to know party affiliation when deciding how to vote in a race, plus there's a number of voters now who haven't switched-teams but don't automatically vote their party-line anymore, either.
Trying to appeal to voters with varying views requires more that what fits on a glossy mailer.
Websites like this seem to be trying to put a finer point on things, but...https://whosbuyingpdx.com/
And as for Nike, c'mon, it's about years of tax gifts & subsidies.
Same as with the Blazers, now - give us everything we demand or we leave.
In the "non-partisan" races, there is in fact one party: the Democratic Socialists. They're all set up with loyalty oaths, the whole works.
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