Carol Voisin, Cipher Candidate for OR-2?
One of the races we've paid particular attention to, despite the current consensus that there is little chance of unseating the incumbent, is for Oregon's 2nd Congressional District. In contrast to previous years, the opposition to Greg Walden from Democrats is vigorous and varied--no fewer than four qualified citizens stepped up for the thankless job of traversing one of the biggest districts in the country, and enduring outright dismissal by most media.
We're proud of those guys, and since the area they're trying to represent is about 3/4 of the whole state, our readers deserve coverage of their collective quest. So in that vein, we asked each of the candidates to respond to a short email questionnaire.
Chuck Butcher responded first, despite declaring he was too busy for a thorough response.
Scott Silver was right on his heels, with a very thoughtful set of answers.
Dan Davis (IMO) topped them both with a detailed analysis of just how Greg Walden is hurting the residents of the 2nd District, and how he can break through the filter that prevents many OR-2 voters from considering Democrats at all.
So who does that leave? Carol Voisin, the teacher/administrator from Medford. Her office received the request at the same time as the other three. There was no response. Sometime in the middle of last week, I called Regina Ayers, Voisin's campaign manager. She was courteous and promised to address the request, but was very hesitant and wary. Of the four candidates, only Carol has failed to engage us in some way, which is of course her right.
In speaking with Ayers, she said the staff was perhaps reviewing whether they wanted to respond (by which I took to mean that they were checking out LoadedO to see if we were ideologically correct). Assuming that we are(!), I expected some kind of response in fairly short order. And the wheels were indeed turning at Voisin Central; a couple days after my request I think I was inadvertantly cc'ed on an email from Ayers to another staffer: "We need to respond yes or no. Decision?" I tried to help them along, noting that their campaign was alone in not responding.
And that was the last we've heard. I think Voisin appears well-qualified to challenge for the seat, so on that basis it seems important to hear her views alongside the other three, and disappointing that none appear to be forthcoming. There is still a week and a half left to turn in ballots however, so here's one final, public appeal: Carol, let's hear from you! The voters want to make a good choice; explain why you're the one. Don't let it be said that you couldn't be bothered to represent yourself to the online constituency!
We're proud of those guys, and since the area they're trying to represent is about 3/4 of the whole state, our readers deserve coverage of their collective quest. So in that vein, we asked each of the candidates to respond to a short email questionnaire.
Chuck Butcher responded first, despite declaring he was too busy for a thorough response.
Scott Silver was right on his heels, with a very thoughtful set of answers.
Dan Davis (IMO) topped them both with a detailed analysis of just how Greg Walden is hurting the residents of the 2nd District, and how he can break through the filter that prevents many OR-2 voters from considering Democrats at all.
So who does that leave? Carol Voisin, the teacher/administrator from Medford. Her office received the request at the same time as the other three. There was no response. Sometime in the middle of last week, I called Regina Ayers, Voisin's campaign manager. She was courteous and promised to address the request, but was very hesitant and wary. Of the four candidates, only Carol has failed to engage us in some way, which is of course her right.
In speaking with Ayers, she said the staff was perhaps reviewing whether they wanted to respond (by which I took to mean that they were checking out LoadedO to see if we were ideologically correct). Assuming that we are(!), I expected some kind of response in fairly short order. And the wheels were indeed turning at Voisin Central; a couple days after my request I think I was inadvertantly cc'ed on an email from Ayers to another staffer: "We need to respond yes or no. Decision?" I tried to help them along, noting that their campaign was alone in not responding.
And that was the last we've heard. I think Voisin appears well-qualified to challenge for the seat, so on that basis it seems important to hear her views alongside the other three, and disappointing that none appear to be forthcoming. There is still a week and a half left to turn in ballots however, so here's one final, public appeal: Carol, let's hear from you! The voters want to make a good choice; explain why you're the one. Don't let it be said that you couldn't be bothered to represent yourself to the online constituency!
posted by Anonymous at 2:41 PM
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