OPINION
A Tale of Two Senators How the light-rail campaign reveals the character of Oregon's leading elected officials. The most underreported story in Oregon about the 1998 elections has to be the surprising roles our two United States senators played in the campaign to pass the light-rail measure. Both men said they supported the measure, but only one showed he did. And it was not the urban Democrat; it was the rural Republican. Both had plenty of time to help out. Republican Gordon Smith was not up for reelection. Democrat Ron Wyden faced only token opposition from state Sen. John Lim, whom he eventually beat by 300,000 votes. Smith "was great," says Patricia McCaig, manager of the light-rail campaign. "Whenever it was possible for him to do something, he did," she says. "We asked to use his name in a radio ad, to put his name on a brochure--whatever we asked of him, he tried." The light-rail campaign also asked Ron Wyden for help--with a Voters' Pamphlet page, the use of his name on a broadcast spot and his signature on a direct-mail piece. To each request he said no. The $475 million measure lost by fewer than 7,000 votes out of almost 290,000 cast. No individual can be blamed for the narrow loss; the measure was controversial from the start, attracting opposition from long-time public transit foes and those who questioned the route. But one could argue that, had he so desired, Wyden could have made the difference in the campaign. When the votes were first tallied, the measure was ahead, but it lost after absentee ballots were counted. Some believe that senior citizens, who are most likely to vote absentee and most conservative when it comes to money measures, played the key role in the bond's defeat. It's worth pointing out that from 1974 to 1980, Wyden was director of Oregon Gray Panthers, a senior-citizens activist group. The publicity he gained from his work on behalf of the elderly propelled him into Congress. It's fair to say that no elected official in Oregon has the sway with seniors that Wyden does. But Wyden chose to stay on the sidelines. McCaig says his staff told her that Wyden felt uncomfortable taking positions on ballot measures. In fact, in his 18 years in Congress, Wyden has only campaigned on behalf of an initiative twice. As Carol Butler, Wyden's campaign manager, told WW, "It's not his job to get involved and tell Oregonians how to vote." "I guess it's how you define leadership...if you believe that it's better not to take positions," says McCaig. "I don't know if that is how I would define it myself." However you define it, Wyden's style of leadership will be an expensive one for Oregon as the state wrestles with land-use, growth and transit issues. It's certainly different from Smith's. When asked about taking positions on measures, Dan Lavey, who ran Smith's campaigns for the Senate and runs his PAC, says, "Gordon is willing to speak out on most issues. He's a United States senator." Exactly.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
|
