by Rep Earl Blumenauer, Tues Oct 17, 2006
Part of the challenge of this campaign season is balancing the demands of national efforts with responsibilities here at home. Last week was a perfect example as I juggled the day to day work in Congress with politics here in Oregon and day trips out of state. We started last weekend with a series of events, including the kickoff of the Democratic Campaign in Multnomah County where we concentrated on the Oregon Legislature and school district campaigns.
Then, after meetings down the valley on agriculture policy and a Salem session with the Association of Oregon Counties, we had an event for a critical state Senate race. Paul Evans is an dynamic new candidate and as the former mayor of Monmouth and Iraq War Veteran, he is a fresh face for Oregon politics and a throwback to bipartisan problem-solving that we were use to in years past. Paul will win if he is able to counter the last minute avalanche of money against him and continue his aggressive door-to-door work.
After that event, I raced back to Portland to meet with the crowd that filled Portland's historic Hollywood theatre to view "Iraq for Sale." This powerful film is largely in the voices of the men and women, who either worked for or received services from the companies like Halliburton and Blackwell, caught up in the unprecedented "outsourcing" of the war in Iraq.
Critical services have been delegated to companies providing things that the military used to deliver such as food, laundry, transportation and security. The film brought into focus the consequences of this outsourcing: the lack of accountability and responsibility, especially on the part of Congress. Despite widespread media accounts of abuse and findings from the Inspector General, Congress has been missing in action and has never engaged in meaningful oversight of the Iraq war
This video is available for viewing and discussion. I strongly urge you to go to www.iraqforsale.org.
Before leaving on the road to three more Congressional districts, another race right here in Oregon jumped up on my radar screen. Darlene Hooley's reelection has been subjected to vicious, unfair attacks. To slander Darlene as somehow "not hardworking" is outrageous. I see this woman drag herself onto a plane every week, exhausted from the long hours, then often driving hundreds of miles from the coast to Corvallis to Oregon City. I see Darlene relentlessly working on the floor of the House late at night and lining up votes for the things that are important to her and to Oregon.
The notion that she wasn't at some committee meetings only demonstrates her opponent's lack of knowledge. In truth, the Republican leadership has poorly managed the way Congress operates, convening for fewer days than any Congress in decades - only 64 full days. It's not uncommon to have 3 subcommittee or committee meetings the same day, and at precisely the same time that all our constituents come back for their meetings because they know that is only day we are there. If her opponent knew anything about how Congress worked, he wouldn't attack her for not being able to be at three places at once - he'd be attacking the Republicans, who are in charge of the place.
One of these two days working with Darlene was spent with our Democratic Leader, Nancy Pelosi, here in Portland to share her vision of Democratic Leadership and to support Darlene. At our lively, overflowing crowd and media event in SE Portland, it was a delight to contemplate the notion of calling her Speaker Pelosi. Although Nancy is already the highest ranking woman in American history, being Speaker would enable her to instill her vision, decency and civility into Congress, which is so desperately needed at this time.
The Wednesday before Nancy's visit, I sped off for a day of campaigning in Colorado. It's been fascinating to watch the politics shift in that state. Democrats have taken control of the state legislature for the first time in 42 years and are favored to retain control in this election. Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter is poised to be elected Governor with a diverse base of support including much of the business leadership. Ritter supported the successful, but controversial campaign to suspend the TABOR Act (a tax-payer "bill of rights") that is killing Colorado. Taking this controversial and courageous stand has proven in retrospect to actually help rather than hurt him, as Colorado finally realized what a disaster TABOR is. I hope that Oregonians consider the Colorado experiment before voting on a similarly flawed measure here.
Of Colorado's seven Congressional seats, three of the four GOP held seats are in play and the three Democrats will be handily re-elected. In the Colorado 5th, an extreme right-wing nominee ran such a vicious campaign that retiring Republican Congressman Joel Hefley would not endorse him.
I campaigned for Angie Paccione in the Colorado 4th. Appearing with my Democratic colleague Mark Udall, we were able to highlight Angie's race against Marilyn Musgrave, who is renowned for her one-item agenda: trying to pass a national Constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Her extremism was such that she barely won in 2004. Angie is a stronger candidate and began campaigning nine months earlier, raising twice as much money as the previous Democratic challenger.
I concluded the day meeting with Ed Perlmutter in the Colorado 7th. Ed is a lawyer and former state Senator, who emerged from a vigorous hard-fought primary to take on a well-financed yet extreme opponent. I was there working with the environmental community, who are enthusiastic about Ed's leadership and commitment. Both Perlmutter and Paccione are supported by my leadership committee, LivPAC, and will be allies for Oregon in the new Congress.
After returning from Denver late Wednesday night, I was back at the airport Friday morning en route to the Arizona 5th to support Arizona State Senator Harry Mitchell. I have known of Harry's work for years. He was an educator and a much beloved Mayor of Tempe - serving as a beacon for people who care about livability, transportation and land use in Arizona. Tempe is the best Arizona example of these principles, and Harry was the driving force. He is running against one of the most divisive and negative forces in Congress, JD Hayworth. There are some indications that the tide is running against Republican extremists in Arizona. I didn't visit Tuscan where our candidate, Gabrielle Giffords, is running for an open Republican seat and is so far ahead that the national GOP has pulled out any support.
LivPAC was able to make the maximum contribution allowed to Harry in an effort to help him withstand the assault from Hayworth, who has more than a million dollars ahead in funding.
I hope that you would consider working with me to help support these outstanding candidates, whether $50 or the maximum $2,100 per candidate, whatever you can afford will make a big difference in these final days of the campaign. It will also be a potent symbol that people care about our courageous candidates who stand up against these negative forces and provide the type of leadership that will make such a difference.