Oregon

A lot of blogs are going on and on about Novick's "attack"mailer on Merkley. Thus far, none of the postings I've seen have given the actual context or even the content of the mailer. Since I received one, I thought I'd share.

Here's the full mailer, with the exception of the area with my name and address (click images for larger version):

The part that is getting the most attention is the item in the bottom left corner of the back of the mailer that covers health care:

Ambassador Joe Wilson interviewed by Moses Ross on April 28, 2008. The interview took place in the offices of the Hillary Clinton for President in downtown Portland, Oregon.

OLMC opens doors to opportunity for minority candidates!  

The Oregon League of Minority Candidates will host its kickoff gala on the evening of May 12, at the Oregon Convention Center.  

Just a little while ago I went out to the mailbox to see if our mail had come. I open the box, and to my delight our ballots had arrived. Sometimes we're lucky enough to get ours on the first day, but more often than not they arrive on Saturday instead.

But to my surprise, what else arrived in the mail? A letter from the Oregon Republican Party addressed to our family. Now, my husband has been a registered Republican, but recently switched parties so he could vote for Steve Novick in the primary (he's planning to go non-affiliated after the primary). But I've always been a registered Democrat. There is another voter registered in our household (my sister, who has a different last name), and she was not addressed on this letter - she is a Democrat. Apparently they think that the husband controls the vote in the family?

Since it was addressed to both of us instead of just my husband, I opened it.

It reads as follows (I had to type this in because the OCR on my scanner isn't working correctly... I tried to type it exactly as written, including grammatical errors):

Dear Fellow Republican,

As I am sure you are aware since you recently received your ballot, there is no candidate standing for the Republican nomination in State Senate District 25. Without a candidate, the Democrat incumbent will be uncontested and assured a lock on the seat in November.

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My picks for candidates on the Multnomah County ballot:

U.S. President
Barack Obama
You can read why I support Obama here and here

U.S. Senator
Steve Novick
You can read why I support Steve Novick here

U.S. Rep, Dist 1
David Wu

U.S. Rep, Dist 3*
Earl Blumenauer

U.S. Rep, Dist 5
I do not know enough about any candidates in this race

Secretary of State
Kate Brown
This was a hard race to choose a candidate for - I really liked both State Senators Kate Brown and Brad Avakian. Earlier this year, Labor Commissioner Dan Gardner resigned his seat for a position in DC, and Avakian was appointed to replace him. Now that Avakian is Labor Commissioner and will be running for election for that position, it made the decision a lot easier. I met State Senator Brown not too long after moving to Oregon, and I've long been a suppoter of hers. As someone who won her first race literally by a small number of votes (6), she really does understand the importance of every vote being counted. And her commitment to civic education is a huge plus for me - it's something that I've advocated for ever since I was a 6th grader attending school board meetings.

State Treasurer
Ben Westlund

Attorney General
John Kroger
You can read why I support John Kroger here

Well, it's now past 5 p.m., which means if you haven't registered yet to vote in the May primary, you're out of luck unless you can get it to a post office and get it postmarked today. You're also out of luck if you wanted to change your party affiliation - it's not one of the changes allowed after the voter registration deadline.

Last night I got an unexpected reminder of today's deadline - from my Cricket phone. Cricket sent out text messages to all phones in Oregon to remind them of today's voter registration deadline. It was a surprise and I was very excited to see them doing it. With their cheap unlimited plans and no contracts necessary, these phones are often times in the hands of those who are the hardest to reach - young people, low income people, etc.

Today is Election Day!

Ballots must be turned into your county elections office or other official drop box by 8 p.m. tonight. Postmarks do not count.

If there is a long line at your county elections office, you're ok as long as you are in line by 8 p.m.