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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 8, 2005)
BY KERA ABRAHAM camp, called PolitiCorps, whose instructors last summer included former Oregon Govs. John Kitzhaber and Barbara Roberts. The to Lane County. Lane Bus Project will offer intern- ships to college and high school stu- started selling a T-shirt that dents beginning winter term. whined, “Voting is for Old Petkun said that the local pro- People,” the Bus Project gressive community has welcomed retorted on a T-shirt of its the Bus Project to Lane County. own: “Vote, F*cker.” Allied nonprofits include the Sounds clowny, but the Oregon League of Conservation results are huge. In just Voters, FOOD for Lane County, four years, the Bus Project Centro Latino, Sierra Club, 1000 may have tilted the bal- Friends of Oregon, Stand for ance of power in the state Adam Petkun and Courtney Anglin outside the new Children, NARAL Pro-Choice Legislature; nine of the 10 Bus Project of Lane County office America and several labor unions. state Senate candidates And while the Bus Project avoids that the Bus Project sup- identifying with any political party, the local “There is no acid test for what we’re ported in the last two elections won, result- Dems are thrilled to have them around. looking for,” Petkun said, deadpan. He may ing in a solidly Democrat-controlled Senate. “We’re really excited that they have an office have meant “litmus test,” but the Kesey Also victorious were six of the seven House down here,” said Val Hoyle, chair of the connection — freaky young people in a candidates and nine of the 10 Lane County Democratic Party of Lane County. “We think bus, trying to engage a lethargic populace candidates that the Bus Project supported they do fantastic work.” — is hard to avoid. last election. In the coming year, the local Bus Project In a typical Bus Project canvass, about 100 The Lane County office has only two will try to stir up sassy political dialogue people work for four to five hours, knocking paid staffers: UO student Courtney Anglin, across the county. Organizers will host on several thousand doors and asking resi- 23, and recent UO grad Adam Petkun, 22. monthly live events, beginning with a “Ballot dents what matters to them. According to local But they don’t work alone — they are guid- Measure Peep Show” at 8pm next Tuesday, Bus Project board chair James Mattiace, can- ed by a steering board of 16 and buttressed Dec. 13 at Cozmic Pizza, where local political vassing can increase voter turnout by up to 10 by a local volunteer base of more than leaders will introduce a range of progressive percent, whereas phone banking tends to have 1,000 people, about a third of them stu- ballot measures for the November elections. a minimal effect. dents. Together, they run positive cam- But wait — don’t yawn. This is the Bus The Bus Project also aims to reach paigns for candidates who value what they Project. “We’re guaranteeing scandal and beyond short-term elections by nurturing call “the six e’s”: education, equal rights, debauchery for that event,” Anglin said. “It’s new leaders. Both Anglin and Petkun are environment, electoral reform, economic not your father’s politics.” graduates of the Bus Project’s new training fairness and ’ealth care. ew The Bus Project comes F orget the negative TV commercials, bone-dry voters’ pamphlets and shady corporate contributions. If you want to get young people engaged in politics, you gotta speak to them. You gotta be hip, down, fun, weird. That’s the message from the Oregon Bus Project, arguably the hottest new political engine in the state. The organization breaks from traditional campaign activism, avoiding a partisan label (though it has yet to support a Republican candidate) and using slogans such as “Not left, not right, but forward.” The Bus Project works for progressive political change over the long term, operating on the notion that volunteerism is the most effective way to battle big corporate money in elec- tions. The movement started four years ago in Portland, and this month the Bus Project opened a permanent Lane County field office on 6th Avenue and Lawrence. While politics-as-usual sails over the heads of many 18- to 35-year-olds, typically the age group with the lowest voter turnout, Bus Project volunteers seem to get it. They registered more than 6,000 youth at Portland hip hop shows last year, dared more than 30,000 candy-givers to “Trick or Vote” last Halloween, and drew a crowd of more than 2,000 at their “Candidates Gone Wild” debates in Portland. When Urban Outfitters KERA ABRAHAM Politics Gone Wild DECEMBER 8, 2005 13
