Recall efforts require signatures, and that means people need to support it. Here’s my opinion on 3 types of voters that will help to push the recall effort against Ted Wheeler to success.
“I Don’t Vote For Criminals” Voters
There’s lots of people who don’t want a criminal running Portland, but Ted Wheeler broke election law and the auditor did nothing about it. The election law was passed with over 87% of Portland voting for it, does that mean 87% of people don’t want a person who broke the law responsible for the police in Portland too?
“Biden Democrat” Voters
The Biden administration’s pace was swift, bold, proactive action but in Portland Ted Wheeler is mostly reacting to situations day-to-day. He’s nowhere near getting ahead and is falling further behind on essential post-Trump actions like Biden’s civil rights efforts. The Biden administration also set the tone for the nation with “follow the science” policy but Wheeler’s response to the pandemic was to continue sweeps of homeless camps against CDC guidelines.
Biden’s approval ratings are extraordinarily high but Wheeler’s status quo work is better aligned with Trump voters (that team that lost the election).
Swing Voters
Wheeler’s most notable campaign against Sarah Iannarone was corporate style fear-based marketing about her Twitter use. The people swayed by this kind of messaging are the people the recall effort needs to talk to. The base of people aligned against Ted Wheeler will support the recall effort unless the team in charge makes truly egregious missteps, it’s everyone else in the city they need to talk to.
Practices like deep canvasing open a conversation with people who just don’t know what to think right now. Instead of focusing on one-way conversations, deep canvasing builds two-way conversations, practicing non-judgemental relationship building. To be able to hear why voters chose Wheeler will help the team to communicate with their most important audience, people who can be persuaded.
“Never become so much of an expert that you stop gaining expertise. View life as a continuous learning experience.” Denis Waitley
I’m not an expert, and don’t have a degree in political science, but I do keep my eyes open. I don’t expect this opinion will become essential strategy for the effort but will appreciate my opinion being considered like any voter might ask.