Real Change in the 5th Congressional District

The beauty of democracy is that we always have an opportunity to bring about real change by electing quality candidates to office. Politics isn't perfect - you will never agree 100% with someone - but finding a candidate much closer to your core beliefs is usually do-able. You have to get involved, though. How, you ask? The short answer - money and time.

Salem sits in the 5th Congressional District and is currently represented by a first term Democrat, Kurt Schrader. Mr. Schrader is a veterinarian, a former Clackamas County planning commissioner, and a doctrinaire liberal who has pretty much voted for everything the Obama Administration and Nancy Pelosi have wanted. It's time to send him back to his veterinary practice. He is vulnerable because the 5th District is historically more moderate than Portland, he's a first-termer and a staunch Obama-Pelosi liberal at a time when there is much of the same angst here as in the rest of the country over what is happening in D.C.

There are two Republican candidates lined up against him: Scott Bruun and Fred Thompson. I have included information about both below. Both are from the private sector and know something about business. Both seem like decent people. It's unfortunate that they are both running in the primary because it diverts their time and resources from targeting Schrader.

My best judgment is that Bruun is more electable. He is younger, has more political experience and frankly shows better on television and video. Malcolm Gladwell's book Blink says that people make up their minds in the first 5 seconds as to whether they like something. This includes politicians, so to be a viable candidate you have to get past this first threshold. Scott Brown did it in Massachusetts. Voters decided they liked him because of his looks and demeanor and then as they got to know him, they decided he was a regular guy and could be trusted to represent them. The Oregon City/Milwaukie area is the big voter treasure trove in the 5th District followed by Salem. Bruun will probably appeal to suburban voters in these areas for the same reasons as Brown, at least on the initial "blink." Whether he has Brown's touch to follow up and seal the the deal remains to be seen.

We get what we deserve if we don't work to make things better. It won't be perfect, but better is possible. Start supporting a candidate now with dollars and get ready to work for him this summer by telling friends, going door-to-door, etc. Our forefathers took on the British Empire; we can certainly take on the SEIU and the Big Government crowd.

www.joinscott.com/

www.votesmart.org/summary.php?can_id=506

www.fredthompsonforcongress.com/about/