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J. Ashlee Albies ran for Oregon Attorney General to introduce the Working Families Party (WFP) to the people of Oregon and 154,000 voters liked what they heard.
What could have persuaded over 10 percent of voters to choose an unknown candidate from an unknown party? I think it was the no-nonsense WFP platform: “Our Working Families Party stands for good jobs, especially creating green family-wage jobs, healthcare for all without private profits, debt free higher education and technical training, affordable housing and an end to predatory lending, and strengthening worker rights to organize and negotiate with employers.”
Equally surprising was where the votes came from. Rural counties took the lead in voting for Albies. In Douglas County, over 14 percent voted WFP, Jackson and Josephine Counties voted 12.9 percent and 14.6 percent respectively, and Klamath County voted 17.54 percent.
Urban areas were less receptive to the WFP message. Multnomah County voted 7.52 percent, Washington and Clackamas voted 8.8 percent and 9.63 percent respectively, and Lane County 9.6 percent.
What’s going on? Why would “blue” counties be less supportive of a working families party than “red” counties? A few provocative possibilities come to mind. Urban areas are satisfied with the way things are, and rural areas are not. Urban areas are less affected by NAFTA (lower crop prices), automation (fewer mill jobs), globalization (log exports) and the seemingly overzealous environmental and land use regulations. Is it too outrageous to suggest that lower wages in rural counties subsidize lower costs goods for the urban counties?
For more information about the Working Families Party you can visit their web site at http://oregonwfp.org.
Bruce Cronk,
Roseburg
What could have persuaded over 10 percent of voters to choose an unknown candidate from an unknown party? I think it was the no-nonsense WFP platform: “Our Working Families Party stands for good jobs, especially creating green family-wage jobs, healthcare for all without private profits, debt free higher education and technical training, affordable housing and an end to predatory lending, and strengthening worker rights to organize and negotiate with employers.”
Equally surprising was where the votes came from. Rural counties took the lead in voting for Albies. In Douglas County, over 14 percent voted WFP, Jackson and Josephine Counties voted 12.9 percent and 14.6 percent respectively, and Klamath County voted 17.54 percent.
Urban areas were less receptive to the WFP message. Multnomah County voted 7.52 percent, Washington and Clackamas voted 8.8 percent and 9.63 percent respectively, and Lane County 9.6 percent.
What’s going on? Why would “blue” counties be less supportive of a working families party than “red” counties? A few provocative possibilities come to mind. Urban areas are satisfied with the way things are, and rural areas are not. Urban areas are less affected by NAFTA (lower crop prices), automation (fewer mill jobs), globalization (log exports) and the seemingly overzealous environmental and land use regulations. Is it too outrageous to suggest that lower wages in rural counties subsidize lower costs goods for the urban counties?
For more information about the Working Families Party you can visit their web site at http://oregonwfp.org.
Bruce Cronk,
Roseburg
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