OPINION: Portland Gray Panthers push election education and voting campaign

A recent op-ed by Tom Busso ("Third party votes not wasted," Tribune, June 26, 2024) is simply not true. Here's why:

In 2024, the presidential election presents a clear, binary choice between the Biden-Harris ticket, and the Donald Trump Republicans. Any so-called 'third party' votes (including votes for vaccine denier RFK Jr.) are, de facto, votes for Trump and his ilk. The close margins in the six or seven swing states will determine the winner.

This is also true here in Portland, Oregon, with our new Ranked Choice Voting system in place for both the mayor and city council elections. Portland Gray Panthers holds twice-monthly candidate-community forums at Portland State University. Panthers recently added our own small but feisty PAC, Political Action Committee.

On Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings, Panthers have heard from over 80 candidates for Congress, the state Legislature, county commission, for mayor and city council offices.

Unlike libertarians, Portland Gray Panthers does not believe in the so-called "invisible hand" of Adam Smith or free market economics championed by Milton Friedman. Panthers have organized over time for both tenant rights and housing, and in support of the Walmart Boycott to End Gun Violence.

BUMP STOCKS AND ADAM SMITH

The recent libertarian op-ed did happen to mention this faction's opposition to gun reforms. The 6-3 vote by the Trump majority U.S. Supreme Court to re-legalize bump stocks personifies this "free market" ideology. Putting gun retailer profits ahead of the lives of people is simply wrong.

The biggest mass shooting in U.S. history used firearms fitted with bump stocks at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, where 58 people were shot and killed, and as many as 500 people were wounded.

We need more regulations, not less, to focus on harm reduction. Panthers in Portland helped pass petitions in support of IP17 and IP18, and when Measure 114 was passed by voters in an election, organizers for reform have been dismayed to see that law frozen in limbo in Oregon courts.

Many local organizers, including Measure 114 chief petitioner Pastor Mark Knudsen, have endorsed the Walmart Boycott to End Gun Violence. Mark reports he has worked 30 years for gun reform, but free market acolytes are prevailing in today's political climate.

Other endorsers for the Walmart Boycott include: Oregon City Mayor Denyse McGriff, CeaseFire Oregon, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, Drs. Sharon Meieran and Lisa Reynolds, Congress candidate Dr. Maxine Dexter, Metro reps Duncan Hwang and Ashton Simpson, city council candidates Angelita Morillo, Jennifer Park and Jeremy Smith, Portland mayor candidates Liv Othos and Keith Wilson, and many others.

The U.S. Surgeon General recently stated that gun violence is a public health epidemic in this country, a uniquely American problem. The leading cause of death among school children is gun violence. Over 50,000 people in the U.S. died of gun violence in the last year.

Demands of the Walmart Boycott include: stop selling guns, ammo and scopes by Walmart; setting up a reparations fund for victims and families of gun violence; and that Walmart use the corporate power it has to successfully lobby Congress to ban assault weapons and ban high capacity magazines.

SOLUTIONS NOT DRAMA

In the Northwest, housing and houselessness is likewise an emergency. In the Gray Panthers Election Forums, candidates meet with voters on housing, on harm reduction measures, and the future using polite dialogue, civic responsibility, and with a focus on solutions not drama.

What are the names of some of these Election Forum speakers? Here is a partial list (and it is important to acknowledge people who think discussion and thoughtfulness have value):

Angelita Morillo, Steph Routh, Jennifer Park, Cayle Tern, Shannon Singleton, Meagan Morel, Carmen Rubio, Simone Rede, Ted Wheeler, Nick Kristof, Betsy Johnson, Rene Gonzalez, Mingus Mapps, JoAnn Hardesty, Vadim Mozyrsky, Sam Adams, Steve Novick, Eric Zimmerman, Marshall Runkel ...and, Mike Schmidt, Nathan Vasquez, Ellen Rosenblum, Tobias Read, Elizabeth Steiner, Kim Thatcher, Bud Pierce, Maxine Dexter, Susheela Jayapal, Loretta Smith, Lew Frederick, Nicole O'Donnell, Christina Stephenson, Jessica Vega Pederson, Lori Stegman, Lynn Pederson, Mary Nolan, Travis Nelson ...and, Dacia Grayber, Khanh Pham, Thuy Tran, Penny Okamoto, Sandy Chung, Susannah Morgan, Laura Lovato, Rob Nosse, Jamie McLeod-Skinner, Mary Heinrich, Willy Chotzen, Mariah Hudson, Olivia Clark, Chad Lykins, Mitch Green, Tiffany Lane, Tiffani Penson, Lisa Freeman, Michelle DePass, Debbie Kitchin, Sarah Silkie, Chris Flanary, Eli Arnold, Jesse Cornett, among others.

Why do these folks matter? Portland Gray Panthers believes community and problem-solving are central to a functioning democracy. A place where regular folks can ask questions and discuss fixes through the brambles and cross-talk of traditional 'politics' is vital. There have been no Jerry Springer chair-tossing events at our Community Forums.

Before his assassination by gunfire in June, 1968, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy insisted the U.S. "is a good country, a great country." Portland Gray Panthers absolutely believes this has been true at times in the past and can be true again, locally and globally.

Meaghan Wilkinson, Brooklyn Sherman and Lew Church are organizers for Portland Gray Panthers, which can be found on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.