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Posts published in July 2024

A wake-up call

July 31, 2024

What a difference a single decision can make in a presidential election.

In a span of a couple of weeks, Democrats have gone from the sleepiest to some of the most exciting moments since Barack Obama came onto the scene. And it appears that the convention will not have the look and feel of a yawning festival, which would have been the case with President Biden heading the ticket. Poll after poll has shown that the vast majority of Americans did not want to see a Biden-Trump rematch, yet that’s what the Democrats were about to validate.

That is, until President Biden dropped out of the race and threw his support to Vice President Kamala Harris. Her nomination isn’t official yet, but putting this into football terms, the score is 48-0 with about a minute to play.

“There is pretty much unanimous agreement, coast to coast, that she is our standard bearer,” said Idaho House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, one of 27 Idaho delegates to the national convention.

And, suddenly, excitement is building. As Rubel tells it, “It is supercharged.”

Rep. Lauren Necochea, who chairs the state Democratic Party, agrees. In a released statement, she said, “Idaho Democrats are fired up and ready to get to work because the stakes in this election couldn’t be higher. This November, voters face a clear choice between MAGA authoritarianism that will keep stripping away our freedoms and future where we have a say over the decisions impacting our lives. Harris is uniquely positioned to make this argument, having been an unrelenting champion of our freedoms, especially when it comes to abortion care.”

As “supercharged” as Democrats may be in Idaho, it probably won’t make a big difference in the outcome in Idaho. This state has not favored a Democrat since 1964, and it’s not going to change this year considering that former President Trump’s popularity is somewhere on the level of God’s. But Idaho’s Democratic delegates will find plenty of friends on the convention floor. And with Harris leading the ticket, Dems now see the White House and both houses of Congress in play in November.

Rubel says she was one who was worried about the party’s ability to take the fight to Trump, especially after Biden’s historically awful debate performance. Rubel sees a lot of nice talking points for Democrats – a low unemployment rate, a long stretch of job growth overall and the addition of some 800,000 manufacturing jobs. Wages have increased, and while inflation is high, it’s not so outlandish on a global scale.

“We were just having problems getting the message out, and Vice President is going to be able to get that message out,” Rubel says.

And Harris won’t back down from Trump on the debate stage – while exposing his flaws. The “age” issue, which ultimately drove out Biden, will be turned against the 78-year-old Trump. Says Rubel, “This is a man who called the secretary of state in Georgia and told him to falsify the election results. This is a person who incited a mob to storm the Capitol. This is a person who does not have respect for American democracy.”

Republicans counter that it is the Democrats who turned their back on democracy, discarding the 14 million people who voted for Biden in the primary races. Of course, Biden was running unopposed, but there’s no need to let facts get in the way of good campaign rhetoric.

However, Biden deserves goat horns for waiting so long to get out. It would be understandable if he came into office with the notion of being a transitional president, one who would serve four years. But somewhere in the midst of that embarrassing withdrawal from Afghanistan and failed border policies, he decided that he was the only person in America who was qualified to do the job. His inept debate performance showed otherwise.

So, Democrats are left with Kamala Harris – like it, or not. Fortunately for the Dems, Harris has shown herself in the early going as being up to the task as a campaigner. The 2024 election, which was on its way to being one of the worst in the nation’s history, is shaping up to be among the most interesting.

Chuck Malloy is a long-time Idaho journalist and columnist. He may be reached at ctmalloy@outlook.com

 

Grief and politics

July 30, 2024

Our family has had a tragedy or two.  Most likely yours, as well.

So, it is with some empathy that we watch those of the Bidens and the Trumps.

Yes, even Trump.  He's assaulted daily with continual media fallout from his criminal antics.  Uncles, aunts, brother and sisters have to be experiencing a type of grief.  And, the children.  Adult children.  All are affected in some way.  Innocent bystanders.

And, the Bidens.  If ever there was a family that's suffered tragedy after tragedy, the Bidens have had more than their share.  His first wife and daughter killed in a car wreck.  Now, son Hunter convicted.

The major difference between our struggles and theirs is that their tragedies play out in massive public media coverage while ours go mostly unnoticed except for family and close friends.

I've experienced the death of a young spouse, mother, father, a sister and assorted uncles, aunts and cousins.  I know grief, mourning and the strength needed for recovery.  Most of us have similar experiences.

But, to have to bear your grief in the glare of constant publicity - to try to deal with the loss or other tragedy while living with constant reminders of the event(s) - that has to make it so much harder to regain your footing and get on with your life.

Assorted members of the Trump family have made many media appearances.  A niece has been most publicly outspoken about her uncle and his personal and public lives.

President Biden and his wife have also had to deal with their personal tragedies in the glare of daily - and sometimes hourly - public coverage.  Coverage that's been an unwelcome constant reminder of what they're dealing with.

Grief - for any reason - is a most humbling experience.  Acknowledged or not, it is a constant that affects all we do for a very long time after its inception.

In walking away from the Presidency, Joe Biden has to be feeling some element of grief.  During his 50+ years of public service, Biden often talked about being President some day.  It was his life-long goal.  Now, after just one term, he's chosen to pass the torch to someone else.  Much of that decision had to be affected by the relentless media talk of old age surrounding him daily.

At age 59, Kamala Harris is 22-years younger than Biden.  A generation, really.  It's a good bet she'll surround herself with a staff of much younger people than Biden had.  How that will work out remains to be seen.

But, I digress.

By the time people reach their eighties, they've experienced grief.  Grief in the loss of family and friends who've died.  Grief because they can no longer do some formerly daily activities.  Grief in the loss of youth.

Still, grief is a transitory experience.  It's always pushed aside by the eventual resumption of the daily activity of our lives.  Grief recedes.  For most of us, grief is occasional and fleeting.

Unless there are unforeseen events in the next four months, the 2024 Presidential race will feature Trump and Harris. A mixed race female versus a convicted criminal.  We've never seen anything like it.

 

Immigrant bashing

Immigrant bashing

July 29, 2024

We have heard recent claims that Idaho is being invaded by hordes of undocumented immigrants seeking to vote in Idaho elections and grab government handouts. There is no evidence to support either claim, but in today’s charged political environment, proof is the last thing you need to address an imagined problem.

Idaho is doubling down against immigrant voting. Earlier this month, Governor Little issued an executive order prohibiting the apparently non-existent evil. It has been pointed out on numerous occasions that there is no proof of undocumented immigrants voting in Idaho elections, but that has not stopped state officials from declaring total war against the slim possibility that it might happen. Perhaps everyone was spooked by the false claims of Dorothy Moon back in 2022 that Canadians were crossing the border to vote in Idaho. The Legislature was fearful enough to put a proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot to prohibit such voting, although the existing Constitution only allows Idaho citizens to vote in our elections.

On the dreamed-up government handout front, the City of Eagle just passed a city ordinance banning the use of taxpayer funds for services to undocumented immigrants. The ordinance overlooked the fact that these folks are barred from getting government handouts and most are gainfully employed. Unsurprisingly, the city could provide no proof to justify the ordinance. The city’s action could have been prompted by a sketchy video that surfaced in May.

Idaho’s former Solicitor General recently posted a video of individuals at a Boise strip mall, pronouncing them to be part of an “illegal alien invasion” of the country. It is not surprising that a person who views the world through white nationalist glasses would jump to such a faulty conclusion. Anyone who has lived in Idaho for any length of time knows that undocumented workers live in the shadows so as not to attract attention. Hanging around a strip mall can result in deportation.

The fact is that Idaho is not being invaded by immigrants of any nature. There is certainly an influx of people on the southern U.S. border, but a recent report by the University of Idaho’s McClure Center shows the population of undocumented workers in Idaho has remained fairly stable “at around 35,000 between 2005 and 2021.” The report discloses that 92% of them are working age adults and 86% are in the workforce. The report indicated that they had an estimated $570 million available for spending in 2019 and “they play a key role in Idaho’s economy.” Rather than getting government handouts, they pay almost $30 million a year in state taxes. Social Security and Medicare taxes are deducted from their pay, even though they may never receive program benefits.

The fact is that these undocumented workers have helped to drive Idaho’s economy to its present heights. They are the backbone of Idaho agriculture, doing the backbreaking work that most Idaho citizens refuse to do. They risk their health in scorching fields to produce the crops that fuel our economy. Our dairy industry could not produce yearly sales of $10.7 billion without their year-round services.  More than half of these dedicated workers have been in the country for more than 15 years.

In addition to those immigrants who work in the agricultural sector, many work in the hospitality and construction sectors. They deserve a great deal of credit for the booming construction industry across the state.

Many of these good folks are respected members of their communities. Their kids, many of whom are U.S. citizens, go to Idaho schools and their families are community contributors. If the United States had a rational immigration system, they would be citizens. If Idaho officials would take the opportunity to get to know these folks, perhaps we would not see them continually being used as political punching bags.

 

Harris and the Oregon delegates

July 28, 2024

On May 21, Oregon’s Democratic-registered voters made their choice for their nominee for president. It was not close: 87% of them – about 362,500 voters – weighed in for the incumbent, President Joe Biden.

Oregon has been Biden country for some time. In the 2020 election, Biden won Oregon’s vote by 16 percentage points, well above his national average.

In all, Oregon will have 78 delegates at the 2024 national convention, 12 of which are “superdelegates” who can vote as they choose but cannot vote during the first round and will only cast votes if a candidate doesn’t receive majority support in the first round. The other 66 were chosen based on the primary election results, and Biden has been slated to receive the votes of all of them. State law requires delegates to sign a pledge to continue supporting their candidate through the first two rounds of balloting unless the candidate releases them from that pledge or receives less than 35% of the nominating votes.

Now that Biden is no longer running for president, and has thrown his backing to Vice President Kamala Harris, he has effectively released them to do as they will.

In a strict sense, the delegates, including Oregon’s, have the power. No longer bound to vote for Biden, they can choose to support at the convention anyone they like.

The old political adage in presidential politics was that Democrats fall in love and Republicans fall in line. Will Oregon’s Democrats turn that on its head this year?

Probably. Delegates around the country could react in different ways, but there’s reason to think Oregon’s delegates are likely – barring any new unforeseen developments – to join the Harris campaign.

In many states, Democrats are scattered, geographically and organizationally. In Oregon, they’re relatively organized, reflecting the organized labor structure that has helped them to so many wins. In some states, many delegates may be atomized, with little outreach from other nearby party members. In Oregon, that’s less likely to happen.

And what have the leaders been saying?

Some had not yet weighed in on the nomination question in the hours after Biden announced he was withdrawing. They confined themselves to praise for his leadership. Like other state party organizations, Oregon’s is  supposed to avoid weighing in on candidates for a nomination until the question is settled.

But by Monday, many of Democratic leaders in Oregon, who are also superdelegates, had voiced support for Harris. The big name is Sen. Ron Wyden, probably Oregon’s leading Democrat, who declared, “I’m all in to support Vice President Harris with all my energy.” Oregon’s other senator, Jeff Merkley, also voiced support for Harris as did Oregon’s Democratic House members, Reps. Earl Blumenauer, Suzanne Bonamici, Val Hoyle, and Andrea Salinas.

Gov. Tina Kotek, another superdelegate, also backed Harris on Monday, releasing a statement through her campaign that said she was “proud” to endorse the vice president.

“She’s tough, she’s smart and she’s ready to unite the country. Kamala Harris should be our next president,” Kotek said.

Some individual party officials expressed support for Harris as well. At least one convention delegate from Oregon, Kevin Stine of Medford, said he would vote for Harris.

Matt Keating, a member of the Democratic National Committee from Oregon who is also a member of the Eugene City Council, signed a letter including scores of names of Democratic officials around the county, declaring support for Harris.

Many delegates and party officials have not made a formal or public statement so far, but when they do, those who have are likely to play a visible role in the discussions and possibly help set its course. Some states – Tennessee and South Carolina are two – already have held Democratic delegate meet-ups, either in person or virtually, to discuss options, and Oregon could and probably will do something similar.

The Harris campaign has a solid beachhead in Oregon’s Democratic organization, and it probably will grow swiftly over the next week or two. There’s been no apparent pushback either from other prospective candidates or even from the alternative suggestion of arranging a competitive battle – a gladiatorial “thunderdome” approach.

Oregon’s role in deciding the nomination is not among the largest – bigger states have many more delegates – but it could be on the front end of deciding on a nominee. That might make Oregon a more important state in the Democratic presidential nominating process than anyone would have thought early this year, or even when the party’s primary voters were casting their ballots.

This column originally appeared in the Oregon Capital Chronicle.

The gaslighting of America

July 27, 2024

I filed this column on Thursday before President Biden’s Sunday decision to step out of the presidential race, but that incredibly significant event doesn’t change the essential need for the party of Donald Trump to confuse, lie and distort the reality of the last eight years.

Buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

——

“Gaslighting is an insidious form of manipulation and psychological control. Victims of gaslighting are deliberately and systematically fed false information that leads them to question what they know to be true, often about themselves. They may end up doubting their memory, their perception, and even their sanity. Over time, a gaslighter’s manipulations can grow more complex and potent, making it increasingly difficult for the victim to see the truth.” — Psychology Today

———

In the 105 days until American voters elect their next president, we will experience the greatest deluge of political gaslighting in the long history of the republic.

We’ll be told that God spared Donald Trump at his Pennsylvania rally and, by logical extension, God apparently cared nothing for a retired firefighter who died at that same rally trying to protect his family.

We’ll be told the one-time views of JD Vance, Trump’s new running mate — like the views of so many others in his party — have “evolved,” that Vance no longer views the three-time Republican presidential candidate as possibly “America’s Hitler,” and that those who vote for him must be “idiots.”

We’ll be told that the inexcusable, horrendous violence that marked the Trump rally was prompted by Democrats and others who have the courage to highlight the manifest dangers of another Trump term. We can and should thank God that Trump was spared, both for the humanity of that thanksgiving but also because — at least temporarily — the violence that might have been set off has been tempered.

We’ll be asked to forget that it was the three-time Republican candidate for president who called fellow Americans vermin, who pledged to provide retribution to match the grievances of his white Christian nationalist followers, who joked about the vicious attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband, who summoned a mob to Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021, with a promise that it would be “wild” and then did nothing when that mob chanted: “Hang Mike Pence.”

We’ll be told to disregard Trump’s 34 felony convictions and his civil liability for sexual assault and defamation of his victim.

We’ll be told that “justice prevailed” when a Trump-appointed judge did everything in her power to delay adjudication of charges that Trump illegally removed top secret documents from the White House and stashed them in a Mar-a-Lago bathroom. And when delay was no longer enough, the judge totally dismissed the charges citing justification as flimsy as J. D. Vance’s resume.

We’ll be told the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on presidential immunity — a case almost certainly shielding Trump from any future accountability for January 6 and the worst Supreme Court decision since the Dred Scott case — was not all that big a deal, just good conservative constitutional rewriting from the bench.

We’ll be told Trump presided over the greatest economy since the beginning of time, that he handled a deadly pandemic and its million victims “beautifully” and that the hundreds of former officials who worked for him and saw him up close and came to consider him unfit are just a bunch of losers.

“I have no idea who is behind it,” Trump said of the Heritage Foundation’s catalogue of grotesque policy proposals, the so-called Project 2025. We’ll be told time and again that the 140 ex-Trump staffers involved in the plan that would destroy the nonpartisan civil service, gut Social Security, implement mass deportations, cripple the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and heap benefits on the wealthiest among us is nothing more than a random collection of policies, not an astonishingly crackpot blueprint for a second, authoritarian Trump term.

Vance’s positions — a national abortion ban, ending support for Ukraine and opposition to same-sex marriage — will be minimized and, where possible, ignored. He’s a Yale graduate masquerading as a bearded hillbilly from Appalachia. But since he looks the part and coat-checked his character before entering the Senate chamber, he’s the perfect Trumpian Mini-Me.

Inventing “alternative facts” has been the Trump — and now the Republican Party — playbook since they claimed the largest crowd in the history of presidential inaugurations showed up in Washington, D.C., in 2017. And make no mistake: These fabrications are ripped from the playbook of every demagogue, every charlatan, every would-be authoritarian who ever craved public attention and sought unbridled political power.

The gaslighting has only one purpose: to get as many Americans as possible to consume enough “false information that (it) leads them to question what they know to be true, often about themselves.”

The grifting MAGA podcast host Steve Bannon, now behind bars for refusing to tell Congress what he knows about January 6, distilled the essence of Trumpism when he said it was about “flooding the zone with shit.”

“What we’re facing is a new form of propaganda that wasn’t really possible until the digital age,” Sean Illing wrote in 2020. “And it works not by creating a consensus around any particular narrative but by muddying the waters so that consensus isn’t achievable.”

Sort the crap from the important while remembering even a fraction of the Trump actions that have brought our country to this extraordinarily dangerous moment is simply exhausting. Many give up and give in.

Yet, facts are facts. The Republican presidential candidate, celebrated this week by his cult following, is a twice-impeached convicted felon who stole national security secrets and owes millions to a woman he defamed after losing a civil trial for sexual assault. He lies repeatedly about a “stolen” election that he lost, and he desperately tried to cling to power by inciting a violent mob to attack the seat of our government. His own vice president stopped the formal part of the Trump insurrection. You can bet a Vice President Vance will carry out any orders no matter how extra-constitutional they might be.

All that is left this a question: Is this the kind of country you want to pass along to a next generation? Do you really want a felon in thrall to Russian President Vladimir Putin with his stubby finger on the nuclear button?

As the always-sensible journalist Margaret Sullivan wrote recently: “Let’s be steered not by political opportunism, delusion and blame-casting, but by a more constant North Star: the rule of law and the truth.”

Were it to be. Were it possible to be.

 

United for Biden to united for Harris

United for Biden to united for Harris

July 26, 2024

From an outside point of view, you can understand how this will look, which may be a little strange.

After all, the 27 delegates Idaho will send to the National Democratic Convention – the number isn’t especially large, partly because Idaho is a small-population state and partly because it doesn’t elect a lot of Democrats – who were chosen at the state party’s convention, were prepared to vote for incumbent President Joe Biden.

Until he withdrew from the race. Within only a day or so, they shifted as if in a military drill, in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris.

Hours after that was locked into place, Idaho Democratic Party Chair Lauren Necochea released a statement saying: “Idaho Democrats are united in our support of Kamala Harris as the next President of the United States.”

All this in a state where, in contrast to a number of blue states where the Democratic organization is tightly constructed, Democrats tend to be, shall we say, a bit less precision-drill.

It has the appearance of puppetry and of behind the scenes management. .

But you don’t have to wade into very deep weeds to see how this change in presidential candidate support – in Idaho as in other states – almost had to play out more or less as it has.

The Democratic delegates were united behind Biden up until earlier this month in part because he was the only real choice in the party by the time the party’s delegate-selection process kicked in. Two or three minor names were out there, but Biden nearly had the Democratic field to himself. (It was quite a contrast even to the Republican field this year, where Donald Trump was the clearly dominant figure but opponents like Ron DeSantis and Nikky Haley, though losing decisively, were much more than minor or unknown contenders.)

The single-dominant candidate scenario is the way it works, typically the rule and not the exception, with incumbent presidents and their parties. That’s how it happened with Donald Trump in 2020.

What’s new this year is the Biden dropout, so late in the campaign season, the kind of late campaign development that has never happened before in the nation’s history.

So how to select a replacement nominee, at such a late stage?

Much of the national punditry  seemed enamored of some kind of mini-primary or contest – the “thunderdome” scenario, in which a bunch of leading national figures from the Democratic party might rise up and campaign, albeit briefly, for the nomination. But that would only ever happen if multiple major candidates emerged to participate. As a matter of practical reality, it couldn’t happen, because no one but Kamala Harris would have available the organization and money and background of campaigning around the country, needed to make it work. No other candidate could possibly put together a national presidential campaign in the time available. A year ago, yes; at this point only weeks ahead of the general election, no.

In the hours and days after Biden’s announcement, Harris simply was the only contender to join in, and the only one with the practical resources to make a candidacy work.

In fact, even now others could try entering the race if they really wanted to. All they’d have to do would be to line up support from at least 300 delegates – a reasonable measure of some serious support within the convention. But absolutely no one has made any move toward doing that, other than Harris. Don’t hold your breath waiting for someone to do it.

So with Biden out, where else other than Harris were those Idaho delegates – and others around the country – going to go?

This may sound as if they were backed unwillingly into a corner, and I don’t mean to suggest that. The support for Harris within the party overall seems genuine and specifically within Democratic circles in Idaho (and yes, they do exist) as well. I talked with a number of Idaho Democrats in the days after the Biden-Harris switch, and all  seemed pleased with the change and optimistic about it.

Yes it looked a little odd. But that doesn’t mean it was.

(image)

SCOTUS ducked

July 23, 2024

Octogenarian.

That's a word used to describe folks in their eighties.  Like your scribe.  And our President.

Octogenarian.

At the moment, thanks to SCOTUS, my octogenarian world has been shaken.  Again.  A SCOTUS ruling that resolved almost nothing regarding Presidential immunity.

Basically, the "Supremes" acknowledged, yes, there are times when it exists.  And, there are times when it doesn't.  But, when it does - and when it doesn't - that's up to the lower courts to decide.  So the "Wise Nine' opined.

Yep.  That's what they said.

At issue was Donald Trump's participation in some parts of the January 6th rebellion.  Did he or didn't he?  Is he immune from prosecution if he did?

I suspect other octogenarians - like me - are having some heartburn over that issue.  And, with some other recent SCOTUS decisions.

We 80-something's have been unsettled about a lot of life's going's-on for some time now.  One-by-one, the institutions we grew up with - the institutions we've respected and lived our whole lives with - have been proven to be fallible.  Just like us.

There was a time, for instance, when SCOTUS handed down a ruling on this or that, it was taken at face value.  The action was firm.  It was, almost always - final.  The last word on the subject at hand.

Not so any more.  As in the immunity case, the Court ducked much of the issue and handed off various unsettled parts to other courts to decide on.

Our current crop of octogenarians is having trouble with other events, as well.  There seems to be a lot of parsing and dissent in the world nowadays.

We were raised to believe that Congressman So-and-So was a fine, honorable gentleman.  Look at Congress now.  Look at the mess - the inaction - clay feet running up past the hips.  Controversy.  Personal frailties and dishonesty.  Not all but enough to dispel the image.

We octogenarians were taught police officers were our protectors.  They were there to help and defend us.  Now, four cops in Chicago are being tried for the killing of an unarmed Black man.  Cops.

We were brought up to respect the President - to trust and believe in whoever was in that powerful job.  We learned about the Oval Office and Air Force One.

Now, the respected and experienced holder of that office is under the political microscope.  He's being asked if he has the "right stuff" for the job.  He's being parsed by critics near and far.  It would almost seem - at the moment - we are "leaderless."  Until the expected tests are in.

But, that's not true.  Joe Biden is serving his Presidency with more guard rails on both sides than any man in history.  He's being watched "24-7" by family - by staff - by White House physicians - Congress - the media - and you and me.

From this point of view?

He's the President.  Duly elected.  Most days, working seven days a week.  He seems steady in carrying out his duties.  Doing the job.

Should he be replaced?  That's up to you.  And me.  Not Congressional Republicans.

 

Restoring decency

July 22, 2024

There has been no shortage in recent days of California political refugees who arrive in the Gem State to “wake up” native Idahoans to a variety of political calamities. One day it is waking us up to the supposed danger that evil librarians pose to the morals of our kids. The next thing you know, they warn us to wake up to the mortal danger of critical race theory, which they have never been able to define or find anywhere in Idaho.

Now, California transplant Morgan MaGill, who works for the extreme-right Idaho Family Policy Center, is awaking us with the claim that the Open Primaries Initiative (OPI) is an evil plot to turn Idaho into California. MaGill says California Governor Gavin Newsome brought the idea for the initiative to Idaho last year. It is passing strange that he would support ranked choice voting in Idaho when he has vetoed the idea in his own state.

The truth is that Idaho’s former GOP House Speaker, Bruce Newcomb, was the earliest proponent of the Open Primaries Initiative in Idaho. He saw it as the only way to break the stranglehold that extremists have on the Idaho Republican Party. Bruce and many traditional Idaho Republicans grew up with a primary system where voters of every political stripe could vote any party ballot they pleased in the primary election. That produced governments where officials worked together for the common good. GOP culture warriors now employ fear and outrage to scare up votes for their own benefit.

Former Governor Butch Otter and many other traditional conservatives support the OPI

because they know it is the best hope for restoring civility and reason to the Republican Party. That means ousting Dorothy Moon and her cronies who use the low-turnout primary election to put extremists on the general election ballot. Almost 90% of the general election winners are actually chosen in the GOP primary in this red state.

The Open Primaries Coalition modeled the OPI after the system that worked so well in Alaska in 2022. All candidates, regardless of party, compete on the same primary ticket. The top four vote-getters move to the general election ticket. In that election, voters select their first choice for each office, but they may also rank the other candidates in order of preference. The candidate receiving a majority in the first vote count wins. If there is no winner, the candidate getting the fewest votes is eliminated from the running. The selections on ballots where that candidate was first choice shift upward a notch (choices 2, 3 and 4, become 1, 2 and 3) and a second count is made. If that count does not produce a winner, a third count will do it. A bonus of the system is that if your favorite does not win, your second choice might.

Alaska voters found the system to be simple. It caused candidates to conduct more civilized campaigns, those elected were more reasonable and pragmatic, extremists with a narrow culture war agenda had a hard time winning and all voters had an actual say in selecting their leaders. GOP Senator Lisa Murkowski said the system worked very well. Similar voting systems have been used in Ireland and Australia for decades.

MaGill contends that primaries are not elections. Actually, they are elections because Idaho law says they are. They are paid for by all Idaho taxpayers, regardless of party, and everyone should have the right to vote in any of them. The Idaho Constitution enshrines the right of all citizens to vote. It conveys no rights to political parties.

MaGill says a close friend heard of registered Democrats asking for Republican ballots in the May primary. If there is one instance where a registered Democrat voted the Republican ballot, it should be reported to election officials because it is a violation of the law. The contention is obviously unreliable hearsay.

It is a given that the OPI will weaken the hold of MaGill’s employer, the Idaho Family Policy Center, over public policy in Idaho. That is precisely the aim of the OPI–to reduce the influence of culture warriors in Idaho’s government. It will hit the Moon branch of the GOP hard. The Idaho Freedom Foundation and its dark-money supporters hate the initiative. On the other hand, the OPI will allow Idaho's 264,000 unaffiliated voters to finally have a say in who represents them in important public offices. Idaho’s 160,000 veterans will have the opportunity to vote in any election they choose. None of this is a California agenda. It is an Idaho agenda that many Idaho voters want to restore.

 

Homelessness help starts in the cities

Homelessness help starts in the cities

July 21, 2024

The widespread take on the June 28 U.S. Supreme Court decision sustaining Grants Pass restrictions on public camping was widely interpreted as kicking the issue, as it did with abortion in the Dobbs decision, to the states.

In many states, few of which have state laws on the subject, that may be the effect. Oregon, which does have a state law on the subject, may be different. Here, the effect of the decision, which simply said the Grants Pass rules were not “cruel or unusual,” was to place the subject back before individual communities.

Oregon’s state law, House Bill 3115, was passed in 2021 following an earlier court decision about the Grants Pass rules. Its lead sponsor was then-speaker and now-Gov. Tina Kotek, and it sets some limits on city and county action on homeless camping, saying that communities cannot pass any unreasonable restrictions.

Following the Supreme Court decision, the next steps are likely to be – and should be – taken by local governments. As they act, they may run into the walls of state law and regulation.

That should make it clearer what action the Oregon Legislature ought to take.

HB 3115’s core provision says: “Any city or county law that regulates the acts of sitting, lying, sleeping or keeping warm and dry outdoors on public property that is open to the public must be objectively reasonable as to time, place and manner with regards to persons experiencing homelessness.”

Some of those terms are defined in the bill, but that’s about it. Local ordinances have to be “objectively reasonable,” but it doesn’t define “reasonable,” only saying that the availability of local shelters should be borne in mind in any restrictions. The anti-camping rules in Grants Pass that sparked the decision barred people from sleeping publicly with “bedding,” set fines of $295 and much more if not paid. Orders to stay away from parks could follow. As a last step, jail time was possible. The Supreme Court decision allows all that.

Would that necessarily violate the Oregon state law? We may have to wait for an Oregon court to say.

That may be the way it goes around the state, because many local communities have been moving ahead on the subject, and may move faster now.

Not all communities in Oregon have a problem with homelessness; most smaller towns do not. But larger cities, especially where more extensive social and other services are located, tend to have larger numbers, and the pressures to regulate, if not resolve, homelessness have been growing there.

Salem, Bend, Medford, Corvallis and McMinnville are among the cities that have passed rules relating to camping areas where homeless people have congregated. With the new Grants Pass ruling in hand, pressure locally likely will increase to do more.

Portland has a new revised camping ordinance, effective July 1, which Mayor Ted Wheeler said would be enforced at first on camps around the city that “present the greatest health and safety risks.” The plan is to develop a series of assessments and then refer them to city agencies, including the police.

Portland’s approach seems likely to shift and change in the months ahead, not least because the planned assessments may uncover information and ideas that change views of what should be done. Some of the same may happen in other cities, too, as they try policies to meet area concerns about homeless health and safety issues, and advocates for the homeless push back.

Although Kotek said she wants to keep the current law on the subject in place, a number of Oregon legislators are likely to weigh in as well. Two Democrats, Sen. Mark Meek of Gladstone and Rep. Paul Evans of Monmouth, have said they would like to see more specificity in the state law so that cities have clearer guidance about what they can do.

That’s true. But the way to get there probably is to allow the cities to experiment – and they should start on that promptly – and see where the problems, legal, practical or moral, turn out to be. As they discover more, legislators probably will be able to better figure out what they should do next.

This column originally appeared in the Oregon Capital Chronicle.

(image/public domain, George Hodan)