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By the time you read this, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) will have won Oregon.
But we didn't know that when we wrote this. Election results arrived after WW press deadlines.
But we do know this: Sanders' run against Hillary Rodham Clinton has forced the Democratic Party to remember its core values—a wake-up call that will echo long after his campaign concedes.
"Even if he doesn't win, he's still the Goldwater of the Left," says Portland City Commissioner Steve Novick, "which means that his ideas will take over the party, and in 16 years we will have a democratic socialist president, just as the right got Reagan 16 years after Goldwater."
On May 15, WW spoke by telephone with Sanders. His comments—insistently on-message—pressed six ideals that Democrats can carry forward into the November election and beyond.
Reform campaign finance laws.
"We have a corrupt campaign finance system in which billionaires are able to buy elections. And that is not what American democracy is about. Billionaires should not buy elections."
End cannabis prohibition.
"When you talk about reforming the criminal justice system, we also have to talk about taking marijuana out of the federal Controlled Substance Act, where it's now considered a Schedule I drug."
End spying on U.S. citizens.
"I voted against the U.S. Patriot Act, and I voted against the reauthorization of the U.S. Patriot Act. And I think we need public policy to keep up with the incredible changes in technology which now give both the government and private corporations significant ability to know much more about us. We have got to be vigorous in protecting our privacy rights."
Raise the minimum wage.
"The biggest difference [from Clinton] is that I believe we should raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. She thinks it should be raised to $12 an hour."
Trust that liberal ideas can win votes.
"If we tell the people of Oregon what we believe in—raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, making public colleges and universities tuition-free, pay equity for women, making sure the wealthiest people and large corporations start paying their fair share of taxes, rebuilding our infrastructure—I think those are issues that resonate in Oregon."
Remember the majesty of birds.
"If under duress I had to get a tattoo, what would it be? A bird. A Portland bird."
Willamette Week