The Democratic Party of Oregon kicked off its 2012 campaign at the Sunriver Resort this weekend with an Oregon Summit. It featured Governor Kitzhaber, all the Party leaders in the State Legislature, its two US Senators, and four of its US Congressmen. These enthusiastic, intelligent and articulate public servants who represent the people of Oregon were truly inspiring. The workshops on the economy, jobs and education instilled informed hope for Oregon’s economic and educational future.
However, this summit also reinforced my concerns for our nation’s future. I’ve written about this before in posts such as Republican Death Spiral Enters its militant phase. An extremist minority now dominates the Republican Party. It undermines any ability to govern when we desperately need a healthy national government. The extremists are working diligently to disenfranchise the middle class, shred social safety nets, and severely limit voting rights of minorities and the poor. Tragically, many of these intensely frustrated people are well intentioned with legitimate concerns which need to be addressed. However, they lack knowledge, temperaments and any willingness to work for constructive compromises. Even more tragically, they were elected by a minority of citizens largely galvanized by uncertainty, anger and blame; emotions which they reinforce in a destructive feedback loop.
To some degree, Oregon’s politics reflects the politics of the nation. Oregon’s Governor is a Democrat and Democrats are a majority in the State Senate, while the House has a newly elected Republican majority which is highly cohesive, dogmatic and inflexible. Working across the aisle is extremely difficult, even on trivial issues or issues on which most of the Representatives agree as individuals. However, unlike the Federal Government, Oregon’s politicians worked through enough of their differences to produce a responsible and balanced state budget.
Senator Al Franken of Minnesota spoke about national issues and the inner workings of the Senate. To illustrate one of the frustrating problems in Washington, he described a recent debate during which a Republican Senator (which he graciously didn’t name) stated that 97% of Planned Parenthood’s budget was used to support abortions. The fact is that only 3% of its budget funds abortions, most of its budget is for education, contraception and medical support for pregnant women who have no other place to turn. When his staff contacted the Republican Senator’s office to enquire as to the evidence to support his statement, the strange reply came back that “The Senator’s remarks were not meant to be factual.” Sen. Franken said he was inclined to introduce a resolution of the Senate to the effect that: remarks purporting to be factual should, in fact, be factual. His staff nixed the idea suggesting it was too snarky.
Sen. Franken articulated some of the heartbreaking consequences of extremism with a calm tone and subtle humor that inspired us to more constructive courses of action without arousing our own unproductive passions. His message was more helpful to me than those of the four Oregon Congressmen, who preceded him. They were clearly frustrated, worried, and mad as hell at the breakdown of the legislative process and the loss of compromise and civility, which has accompanied the Republican House majority and its “take no prisoners” extremist element. They provided the red meat course for lunch. I understand their feelings and share their frustrations, but wonder if they understand how Democrats might have induced some voters to elect these self-righteous extremists. I would have welcomed a workshop on constructive introspection.
A critical objective for this summit was to clarify how Democrats were working to restore the middle class by creating sustainable, high-paying jobs. I was particularly pleased about two efforts: stimulating entrepreneurship and improving education. The breakout sessions on these subjects included examples of local successes by entrepreneurs, cities and school districts. These bottom-up successes can be models for statewide actions.
One of the most notable projects was a program to maintain private, local ownership and healthy stewardship of forest land as a CO2 sink in an Oregon County. It was led by Catherine Mater of Oregon State University. What made it notable was how she went about it and what was learned. The first step was to conduct in depth interviews of current owners asking them what would cause them to sell out and move, and what would inspire them to stay and retain their forestlands. The answers were completely unexpected, and formed the basis of a (thus far) successful program involving clever leveraging of carbon storage credits.
This program reminded me of the Deschutes River Conservancy another, very successful conservation project in Oregon, initiated by members of the Warm Springs Indian tribe. Its objective is to restore more natural flows and healthy fish populations in the Deschutes River. The upper portions of the river have been used for decades as part of an agricultural ditch network between a reservoir and farmers all over northeast Oregon. Lots of water flows in Spring and Summer, virtually none flows in the fall and winter, thereby decimating the fish. The first thing the Deschutes River Conservancy did was to ask the farmers who received the water, and everyone else who had a vested interest, what might induce them to help restore more stable the river flows. They also promised to work with all interested parties and not to be legalistic or antagonistic, a promise that has been adhered to for over 20 years. Agreement by agreement, project by project, river flows have improved steadily and significantly year after year while farmers are getting an even more dependable supply of water and new sources of electricity!
The Conservancy’s methods are inspiring and an object lesson for Congress and for both political Parties: they listen with respect to everyone with vital interests in the outcome, are prepared to learn surprising things, they enable inclusive participation and produce mutual benefits which motivate the next round of cooperation among diverse interests.
I left the conference ready to work for Obama’s re-election and for Democratic majorities in Oregon and in Congress. None of these candidates is perfect, but all of them care and are willing to work tirelessly for the good of the country. The alternative is unthinkable.
