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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 12, 2004)
r^\ u ox rim <xxi Edixy^ Oregon Daily Emerald Friday, November 12,2004 NEWS STAFF (541)346-5511 JEN SUD1CK EDITOR IN CHIEF STEVEN R. NEUMAN MANAGING EDITOR JARED PABEN AYISUA YAHYA NEWS EDITORS PARKER HOWELL SENIOR NEWS REPORTER MORIAH BALINGIT MEGHANN CUNIFF KARA HANSEN ANTHONY LUCERO CANELAWOOD NEWS REPORTERS CLAYTON JONES SPORTS EDITOR JON ROETMAN SENIOR SPORTS REPORTER STEPHEN MILLER BRIAN SMITH SPORTS REPORTERS RYAN NYBURG PULSE EDITOR NATASHA CHILINGERIAN SENIOR PULSE REPORTER DAHVI FISCHER AMY UCHTY RYAN MURPHY PULSE REPORTERS DAVID JAGERNAUTH EDITORIAL EDITOR JENNIFER MCBRIDE AILEE SLATER CHUCK SLOTHOWER TRAVIS WILLSE COLUMNISTS ASHLEY GRIFFIN SUPPLEMENT FREELANCE EDITOR GABE BRADLEY NEWS FREELANCE EDITOR/ DIRECTOR OF RECRUITMENT DANIELLE HICKEY PHOTO EDITOR LAUREN WIMER SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER ITM BOBOSKY PHOTOGRAPHER NICOLE BARKER PART-TIME PHOTOGRAPHER ERIK B1SHOFF PART-TIME PHOTOGRAPHER BRET FURTWANGLER GRAPHICS EDITOR KIRA PARK DESIGN EDITOR ELLIOTT ASBURY CHARLIE CALDWELL DUSTIN REESE BRIANNE SHOLIAN DESIGNERS SHADRA BEESLEY JEANN1E EVERS COPV CHIEFS KIMBERLY BLACKF1E1.D PAUL THOMPSON SPORTS COPY EDITORS AMANDA EVRARD AMBER LINDROS NEWS COPY EDITORS LINDSAY BURT PULSE COPY EDITOR ADRIENNE NELSON ONLINE EDITOR SLADE LEESON WEBMASTER BUSINESS (541)346-5511 JUDY RIEDL GENERAL MANAGER KATHY CARBONE BUSINESS MANAGER REBECCA CRITCHETT RECEPTIONIST NATHAN FOSTER A1BING GUO ANDREW LEAHY JOHN LONG MALLORY MAHONEY HOLLY MISTELL DISTRIBUTION ADVERTISING (541)346-3712 MELISSA GUST ADVERTISING DIRECTOR TYLER MACK SALES MANAGER ALEX AMES MATT BETZ HERON CAUSCFI-DOLEN MEGAN HAMLIN KATE HIRONAKA MAEGAN KASER-LEE MIA LEIDELMEYER EMILY PHILBIN SHANNON ROGERS SALES REPRESENTATIVES KELLEE KAUFTHEIL AD ASSISTANT CLASSIFIED (541)3464343_ TRINA SHANAMAN CLASSIFIED MANAGER KATY GAGNON SABRINA GOWETTE LESUE STRAIGHT KER1 SPANGLER KATIE STRINGER CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING ASSOCIATES PRODUCTION (541) 346-4381 MICHELE ROSS PRODUCTION MANAGER TAPA <il HAW PRODUCTION COORDINATOR JEN CRAMLET KRISTEN DICHARRY CAMERON GAUT ANDY HOLLAND DESIGNERS The Oregon Dally Emerald Is pub lished daily Monday through Fri day during the school year by the Oregon Dally Emerald Publishing Co. Inc., at the University of Ore gon, Eugene, Ore. The Emerald operates independently of the University with offices in Suite 300 of the Erb Memorial Union. The Emerald is private property. Unlawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable by law Bret Furtwangler | Graphic artist ■ In my opinion Aprogressive movement wake-up call, part two Given the realities of the Ameri can electorate — outlined in last Friday’s column — will our pro gressive vision ever take hold amongst the majority of the citi zens of this country? I say, yes it can; and, if progressives get their act together, it absolutely will. What we need to do is exactly the opposite of what the Democrats are currently doing. In the wake of their humiliating defeat, the blue party is mapping out a strategy for 2006 that would make them more appealing to the red state “values voters” (read: “Christians”). This means the DNC platform will move even further away from our progressive ideals, much as it did after Walter Mon dale’s defeat in the ’80s. If this strikes you as an asinine strategy, given that the number one criticism of the Democratic Party is that they don’t stand for anything, then congratulations — you just might be an ex-Democrat. Before they destroy what little in tegrity the party has left, the Demo cratic leadership would be wise to look at the “values voters” already under their tent. White Protestants might vote overwhelmingly Repub lican, but black Protestants vote overwhelmingly Democratic. It is one of the more interesting partisan divides in the country: Same basic religion, same problems with ho mophobia and sexism, same evan gelical tendencies and yet vastly different politics. Sure, historical eccentricities play a large role in this, but there is a progressive streak underlying black religiosity, speaking in general terms, that the Democrats and pro gressives have all but ignored. The black community proves that DAVID JAGERNAUTH CRITICAL MASS Christianity doesn’t have to be dis tilled down to little more than a list of behaviors that we should or should not do (as the right-wingers have done). Christianity can also trumpet our progressive values of serving the poor, spreading equality and fighting repressive institutions in order to maximize individual freedoms; after all, these are the same progressive values expressed in the story of Jesus. We needn’t start bashing gays, banning abortion, ridiculing the separation of church and state, legislating school prayer and hang ing the Ten Commandments in public areas in order to connect with religious-minded voters. Ours is already a values message; we just need to start talking about it as such. The second bloc of voters that should be receptive to our progres sive message are Libertarians and libertarian-leaning secular Republi cans who are not happy with the Biblical agenda of those now in control of the Republican Party. These two groups, more than any thing, fear the influence of big gov ernment in their lives, and rightful ly so, as we have witnessed during the last four years. Some progressives forget that a healthy capitalist system is an im portant and necessary counterforce to the government’s tendency to over-regulate our lives. In turn, some libertarians forget that the op posite is also true: Big business, like big government, can limit our freedoms in the marketplace when it seizes too much power. The one institution protects us from the oth er and vice versa. When in balance, the system works. Sometimes regu lation is the answer and sometimes deregulation is the answer. We might not always agree on the specifics, but at the heart of the matter, libertarians and progres sives share a common goal: to max imize our individual freedoms, in cluding the freedom to “sin.” The Democratic Party will be dis tancing itself even further from its base in the next few years, so now is the perfect time for the Democra tic base to distance itself from the Party. We can build a strong pro gressive movement if we work to bring secular libertarians and liber al religionists into our fold. In addi tion, we should continue to work to solidify the youth vote, not by re lentlessly selling the ridiculous be lief that voting will change the world, but by giving young people a candidate worth voting for and believing in. If we take these steps, not only will we force the momentum of the Democratic Party back to the left, but we will begin to force the pub lic conversation back to the issues that matter most to us: taking Big Brother out of both big government and big business, fostering fiscal re sponsibility, adhering to a less hap hazard foreign policy and maximiz ing our individual freedoms. dauidjagemauth® daily emerald, com OREGON DAILY EMERALD LETTERS POLICY Letters to the editor and guest commentaries are encouraged, and should be sent to letters@dailyemerala.com or submitted at the Oregon Daily Emerald office, EMU Suite 300. Electronic submissions are preferred. Letters are limited to 250 words, and guest commentaries to 550 words. Authors are limited to one submission per calendar month. Submissions should include phone number and address for verification. The Emerald reserves the right to edit for space, grammar and style, Guest submissions are published at the discretion of the Emerald! INBOX Marriage initiative supporters displace their own inadequacies To the surprise of many pollsters, moral values played a crucial role in the 2004 election. Millions of Americans turned out in support of marriage initiatives that restrict the definition of marriage to heterosexual couples. Apparently, they hoped to solidify the place of the “traditional” family in American society. But many betrayed their own frustration in bringing about those values by re sorting to a most immature tactic: shifting atten tion from their own failings toward homosexuals. This political finger pointing — now loudly and shamefully amended to the Oregon Consti tution — is a distraction. To erroneously claim that same-sex partners might make poor parents or that same-sex unions are not worthy of the marriage title rests on the dangerous assumption that traditional familial structures automatically inherit a kind of mystical sanctity. In reality, the dignities associated with the family extend only to those who provide nurturing and loving com munities for their spouses and children — char acteristics that describe many kinds of families. Unable or unwilling to create family values, those who came out to vote for the marriage initiatives have consoled themselves with the belief that, should they themselves not meas ure up to the ideal, no one else should have the chance to succeed either. Jose Bernal Eugene America's youth vote mistakenly underestimated While it may seem senseless to drone on about this year’s election, especially a week and a half after the fact, there is one point which bears repeating: Young people voted, and they voted in record numbers. The youth vote naysaying began even before the election was decided. Major news outlets ran stories citing disappointing turnout among the nation’s young people. Most of these accounts were misleading, if not wholly inaccurate. More young people age 18 to 29 voted than four years ago (around 4.6 million more) and it was the first time since 1972 that a majority of eligible young people voted. Youth voter turnout isn’t an isolated, kooky liberal Eugene phenomenon. A record number of young people nationwide made it to the polls, in red states just as in blue. Perhaps with just a bit of gentle prodding from the more civic-minded among us, our generation will de mand greater accountability from the officials we’ve just elected, and the issues that concern us most will begin to be more fairly addressed. Dan Platt League of Conservation Voters Education Fund/Pmject Democracy ONLINE POLL THIS WEEK'S RESULTS Now that the election is over, and George W. Bush has been elected to a second term, what are you planning to do? 1. I’m happy Bush won. I plan to sit back and enjoy four more years of Bush's leadership -17.9% 2.1 can't believe Kerry didn’t win. I’m moving to Canada -19.4% 3.1'm happy that Bush won, but this is not time to rest on laurels - the next four years are the time to step up my political activism -13.4% 4.1 can't believe Kerry didn't win, but this is not the time to run away - the next four years are the time to step up my political activism - 47.8% 5. Election? What election? Politics are not for me -1.5% Total votes: 67