In the closing weeks of the campaign season, I felt like I was a lawyer who had a bad client while writing this blog. That client was the Republican Party which had broken its Contract with America from 1994 and had become unmoored from its conservative principles. As its advocate, I couldn’t make a more compelling case for Republicans staying in power than the fact that the Democrats would be worse. I believed in that case, but when that’s all the party gave its advocates to work with, you can honestly conclude that Republicans got this drubbing the old fashioned way — we earned it.
The Voters’ Pamphlet is Here!
I received the Oregon General election Voters’ Pamphlet, 1 of 2, State Measures in the mail today. Life is good!
Oregonians get a “pamphlet” listing the measures and candidates. The measures includes the official ballot title, the test of the measure, an explanatory statement, and the fun part: arguments in favor and in opposition. For a mere $500, Oregonians can submit arguments that are included in the Voters’ Pamphlet and mailed to all voters. Because the price is a good deal, the number of arguments continues to increase and the Voters’ Pamphlet now comes in two volumes: Statewide Measures and Candidates. I believe the Candidates pamphlet also includes any local measures.
This election, Oregonians get to vote on Measures 39 through 48 — the state measures pamphlet is about 170 pages long. There’s no excuse for Oregonians not to know the issues. I plan on reviewing the ones that interest me (maybe all of them) in individual posts to follow over the next few days.
Welcome to Oregon politics! :-)
Update: According to the Oregon Secretary of State’s website, the online version of the Voters’ Pamphlet will be available starting October 13, 2006. That’s tomorrow! Can you feel the excitement?!
Update 2 (Oct. 13, 2006): It’s online! While waiting, I discovered the Military/Overseas Voters’ Guide has the filings of the arguments including their cover sheets, bad handwriting, and all.
By
on
Tags:
