The Most Meaningful Week

I probably should start out by saying that i wrote this first part the day that this actually happened (8/4/08):

Today’s morning discussion may have been one of the most meaningful experiences of my time here in Portland.
Jefferson Smith started the Bus Project, and he is now a presumptive Representative elect for the Oregon House of Representative. He won both the Democratic and Republican nomination in his district’s primary several months ago.
This morning Jeff comes in to talk to us about Multi-Issue Politics (we barely spoke about this). He started out by posing a scenario where we were supposed to decide whether or not a candidate should take PAC (Political Action Committee) money. I know a lot more about PACs after being here than i did before.

I write this in hindsight:

PACs are not always the evil slimy things that i previously considered them to be. There are plenty of PACs that support good causes and good candidates. In fact, this is one way in which people with little room for financial expenditures pool together resources and have a positive effect on the political process. The Bus Project has its own PAC.

Okay, all of that said, we had a discussion about this scenario. First we were given a set of conditions, then allowed to ask questions about the potential PAC donations, and finally, we were told advice that was given by different people (i.e. the only person in the House to not take PAC money, a former governor, and the campaign staff).  

As we were having our discussion with Jeff, it became more and more obvious that we were talking about him and his campaign. It then became one of the most meaningful discussions that we've had all summer. I argued against taking the PAC money. Ben Cannon (the only person in the House to not take the cash) suggested taking it because he felt like it damaged his credibility within the caucus and his ability to pay his caucus dues. My point was that if Jeff didn't take the money then there would be two instead of one, and that maybe opens the door for number three and four to do so sooner than later. We voted on the idea and the tally was 17-7 in favor of taking the money and using it to establish a "Robin Hood" PAC that redistributes the money. Jeff seemed to really be making the decision with us and our opinions seemed to really matter to him. It was great. It's very likely he's going to take the PAC scratch, but he told us that he would continue to fight for campaign finance reform and do his best to help Ben and his marginalized status.

This is how our entire week went. The following day (Tuesday, 8/5) we met with Kate Brown who is the presumptive Secretary of State elect and she had a very interesting conversation with us about electoral reform and how we would try and increase youth voter turnout as well as the likelihood that young people would actually run for office. The recurring theme that kept coming up was creating citizenry through service. Some people suggested student loan repayment, but i was rather partial to the idea of mandatory terms of service in the military or some other citizen building organization like AmeriCorps or the PeaceCorps.

It has been a very good week and i'm happy to say that i reached my goal of registering 100 voters, and i have already knocked on more than 500 doors for several candidates this summer. 

I'm starting to prepare myself for my return to Kansas. I need to get a few more ducks in a row, but the summer is quickly coming to an end. I'm kind of sad that i have to leave, but i'm excited about seeing everyone in Manhattan.