Tag Archives: Republican

local news

No such thing as ‘Democrat mayor’

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I have heard enough of this continual mislabeling of politicians in my hometown of Portland, Ore. by Donald J. Trump.

I want to et the record straight on a small, but still significant point.

Trump keeps yapping about “Democrat mayor” Ted Wheeler needing to take control of the city he governs, which has seen a spike in violent protests in the wake of the George Floyd murder in Minneapolis by police in that city.

Wheeler was not elected as a Democrat in Portland. Nor were any of the city council members elected as Democrat or Republican. They run as non-partisan candidates for mayor and city council member.

Thus, for Trump to ascribe the violence in Portland and other major cities as byproducts of “Democrat” politicians’ policies is wrong. Dare I say that it is yet another lie.

Granted, Portland’s voting population is decidedly more progressive than Trump would prefer. Portland voters and those in Multnomah County voted overwhelmingly for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and will do again this time for Joe Biden. They endorsed Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, John Kerry in 2004 and Al Gore in 2000.

However, the folks who govern the city of 675,000 residents aren’t elected as partisans. Indeed, few municipal governing bodies are run by partisan politicians in the United States. Most of them, just like those in Portland, are elected as non-partisan. I mean, there’s no Democratic or Republican way to pay for garbage pickup, or water service, or police and fire protection.

So, my strongest possible advice for Donald Trump is this: Do your homework — for once — when talking about who runs local governments.

local news, State news

Time to put country ahead of party

This is no great flash, but I want to share with you a conversation I had recently with a prominent West Texas politician.

I won’t divulge his name because he doesn’t know I am going public with this exchange. So, bear with me.

My friend is a Republican through and through. He also happens to believe that Donald J. “Republican In Name Only in Chief” Trump needs to lose the November presidential election.

Trump is a disaster, according to my friend. He has led the country since the very beginning of his time as president down the wrong path. I didn’t ask my friend this, but I should have asked him whether he considers Trump to be a real Republican or just someone who wears a partisan political label for reasons only he knows.

I told my friend that he was “preaching to the choir” in expressing his view of Donald Trump. What I didn’t tell him — but wish I would have done so — was that he needs to take his concerns to the public. He needs to say what he told me out loud, in the proverbial public square.

My friend needs to speak from the heart, tell his West Texas constituents — who likely are going to vote one more time for the carnival barker — that they would make the gravest mistake possible. They shouldn’t endorse Trump’s re-election.

Does this individual need to serve in the office he now serves? Oh, probably not. He is a man of means who doesn’t need the publicly funded salary he draws. Thus, this is my way of saying he shouldn’t care whether he angers his constituents enough for them to vote him out of office.

My friend is far from the only Republican officeholder who carries that belief about Donald Trump. I haven’t spoken to many of them. I just know that others are out there who share my friend’s belief that we cannot afford another four years of Donald Trump.

My friend is a patriot. He loves this country. It’s time for him to demonstrate his love of country by telling the world what he told me.