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NORTH COAST TIMES E A G L E, JULY 2001
DAVID AMBROSE
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(He is an Astoria resident and KM UN celebrity )
Like every other election, the 2000 election did not
really express the will of the voters because the methods of
the advertising industry as they are used to sway people to buy
consumer items come into play in elections to convince voters
that these are the candidates we should vote for It all has to do
with money.
Although some of the public is discerning, there is a
large segment that is swayed by advertising and elects people
who do not really represent their interests.
Did the person I think should have been elected Presi
dent get elected? No I didn't vote for a major party candidate
Until the two-party system is changed so that minor party
candidates and issues are taken seriously, we will be plagued
by the big money method of choosing candidates
I think the Presidency has been weakened considerably
by the caliber of our current President — and more of the
direction of the country will be in the hands of the legislature
the next four years because Bush is inadequate as President.
He doesn't understand his opposition, he's listening only his
cronies around him, he's learning on the job, and whatever
positions he takes are being usurped by the legislature. So
I think it's safe to say that Bush's only legacy will be his ill-
advised tax cut.
He is being a total ostrich about global warming. The
problem is that an ostrich has a lot of anterior plumage to
protect it even though its head is in the sand
MIKE STARK & KAREN MOCKLER
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between rich and poor, are appalling. We have a high rate of
hunger and the lowest support for the arts in the nation, which
is an issue that is important to me
Bush in the White House is business as usual. Many
good things are threatened. Women's rights in particular are
in jeopardy. Bush is thinking of appointing an anti-choice judge,
Carol yi^Kuty Jo the
9 th Circuit Court, which covers the
nine western states including Oregon. She wants to overturn
Roe v. Wade and all other choice issues.
And environmental issues are threatened.
We could talk a long time about these issues. I am
optimistic. I think people can still make a difference.
What I have done is get involved in the North Coast
Women's Political Caucus. We try to find women candidates
for political office who support women's issues. What we hope
to do is raise awareness among women (and also men) of what
is happening for women in politics in our area and statewide.
We can say women got the right to vote on August 26,
1920 — the 19th Amendment. At this point, 81 years later, only
13.5% women are in Congress, the House of Representatives;
only 13% are in the Senate. In Oregon, only 27% women are in
statewide elective offices, and only 22% women are state legis
lators nationwide.
We on the North Coast Women's Political Caucus
are supporting Beverly Stein for Governor of Oregon. She is a
candidate whose position I can personally agree with on every
issue — on women's issues, health care and the environment
It is very rare when you can support a candidate on every
issue. She has formed a strong grassroots organization that
has been involved in every county in Oregon.
And if I have to make one statement over and over
again, my own mantra — it is:
Beverly Stein is electable!
Beverly Stein is elect able!
Beverly Stein is elect able!
When people say enough times that someone is not
electable it becomes an issue that creates a self-fulfilling
prophecy. People are electable because they get the votes.
Beverly Stein is electable!
CALEN UHLIG
(He is 22 years old, a 24-hour musician and manager of
a music store in downtown Astoria.)
It goes without saying it makes a complete farce of the
system with that guy (George Bush) in the White House.
Real leadership is absent. Leadership seems only to be
the almighty dollar.
We've got an indomitable position in the world but I
don't think it's going to last much longer. It's like Rome - It's
peaking out.
I think much of the world is sickened by us and will get
sick of us
One out of five people on the planet is Chinese. If you
think about it, the Chinese and the Japanese are much more
homogenized and determined than we are to impose their wll
on the world
All we are about are accommodation and convenience.
(They are both writers and reporters, both winners of
journalism awards while working at the Daily Astorian; Mike
was most recently news director of KMUN radio. They were
briefly back in Astoria while on a continuing odyssey of the
American West, and have so far traveled through the states
of Arizona, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Colorado and Nevada.)
MIKE: I think the 2000 election really peeled back the
whole democratic process and revealed how potentially fallible
it is and how divided the country is.
The consequences can go twa ways — serious question
ing of how we elect our leaders; and it could also hopefully get
people to vote in higher numbers and become more involved
and take greater interest in the process.
KAREN: At the same time I wander if people might
become more cynical and convinced this is not a represent
ational democracy — instead it has become more entrenched
in partisan politics. The people talk about their political parties
like they are football teams.
SUSAN MARIE NELSON
(She is a retired teacher after 30 years in public schools
She is an artist and also a travel agent)
What I don't like about the new President is he wants to
abandon public schools and support private schools. I think that
will be the downfall of this country. The rich will get richer and
send their children to private schools; the poor will get poorer
and public schools will be filled with only poor people.
The President wants to make a two class society, and
the rich will get vouchers to put their children in private schools
while the people with little money will end up in public schools
that are being allowed to deteriorate because most of the
money for education will go to private schools
I hope the public will not let this happen. I think people
shouid have more say about education than they really do.
My husband John* and I voted for Ralph Nader rather
than the so-called Republicrats.
(‘John Nelson was interviewed in the Marpril 2001 issue
of the NOTE.)
ELIZABETH MENETREY
(She is the program director of KMUN-FM and the
mother of 4 year old Alia, aka Radio Girl'.)
The morning after I thought George Bush was elected
President I did a radio show and I played Bob Dylan's Not Dark
Yet, in which he sings "It's not dark yet but it's getting there."
(That was when we were all up in the air: we kept hearing "He's
won!" "He hasn't won!") The song summed up my entire mood
and the mood of several callers to KMUN who said they felt
the same way I really let all my emotions out on that program,
feeling genuine grief
I've never felt Bush to be legitimate. In a way it's been
like a nightmare you can't wake up from, although the Jefford's
incident cheered me immensely.
TONY S TAVERN
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