Party Aside

Often, it is the voters who have a better understanding of what is happening on the streets and farms in their areas. We choose a Political Party to align with and each Party creates a platform, something that states their values. Sometimes people focus on one part of the platform - maybe the one thing that drew them to that Party and ignore the others or give them less attention.

The following chart has items that are consistent across at least three party platforms. Some stances are more clearly addressed on the Party websites than others and I tried to present them honestly.

I believe that when we get past the Party label there is much that we, as individual voters, have in common. Here is a list of actionable items, common ground, that we can work on:

1. Support local economies
2. Living wages
3. Support Public Education
   1. Get more resources to schools
   2. Create different paths for students such as vocational training
4. Affordable housing
5. Protect the environment
6. Healthcare- either a buy-in option to Medicare or Single Payer
7. Equality for All
8. Campaign Finance Reform, get big money out of OUR elections
9. Create a Non-partisan redistricting committee

These are issues we agree on. Let’s work together and get these done and then we can tackle more issues when we have built a little trust. Trust is the thing that is lacking in politics. We seem to have forgotten that we need to honor each other, our community, Oregon and the United States as much as the individual.
We are all in this together. And no person can stand alone for long. Community is what sustains us. In this day in age it is support from the larger community that allows us the freedom to live as individuals.

Party aside, I am reaching out to you as individuals and asking for your Vote so we can Grow Together this Nov 3rd.