Glimmer of hope from yesterday's Oregon primary

[central scrutinizer]

Another precursor for November? A right wing incumbent county commissioner was soundly defeated in a district that would normally be considered "safe". Anna Morrison is a total right wing tool and her office at County Hall is plastered with Bush posters. Rural Oregon usually votes pretty conservative, yet she was bounced from office yesterday. These races are nominally "non-partisan". This is not my district, so I didn't get any of their campaign literature and I don't know how the issues were framed, but having her out is great.

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2006/05/17/a1.commissioner.0517.p1.php?section=cityregion

"For somebody to come in and beat an incumbent that's been there for that long and works as hard as she does, it's an upset. (Fleenor) worked tirelessly out there convincing the citizens he'd do a better job."

Morrison predicted that, with Fleenor's win, the political makeup of the five-person board would shift to the liberal side, given the liberal-leaning philosophies of commissioners Bill Dwyer and Peter Sorenson.

[CabalPowered]

1. Oh how I miss Eugene. Morrison is definately 100% Bushbot

I haven't kept up recently though, does Eugene still have that City Manager that is essentially the defacto Mayor? I can't remember his name right off hand but I do remember the EW article from last summer about his policy influence and how Morrison played his hand every chance she got..

[ginnyinWI]

2. I do believe this is evidence of our future wins in November.

I only wish all of the states had Vote-by-Mail like you do.

The Republican voters are really and truly turned off.
They're not going to start believing again, as long as this prez is around.

[yellowcanine]

3. I don't think you can predict national trends from a county commissioner's

race, no matter where it occured. County commissioner races are all about personalities and local issues like sewage and school taxes.

[central scrutinizer]

4. I agree, but

when a conservative district like this that would normally vote for whoever said they would lower taxes the most goes against form, it possibly, just possibly means that people are waking up to the fact that if you want roads, schools, and bridges not to fall down, you may have to help pay for them. A lot of this district is on the Oregon Coast and they saw how an apathetic government left New Orleans to fend for themselves. It could happen here, as well.