By editorial board • 

Vote Biden, Merkley, Bonamici

Let’s get something straight at the outset. Our endorsement for president of the United States goes to Joe Biden of Delaware, who has prepared himself for the highest office in the land with 36 years of service as a U.S. senator and eight as the nation’s 47th vice president.

We have made our views clear on the incumbent, real estate mogul and television personality Donald Trump, on multiple previous occasions.

We regard him as unfit for public office, particularly the presidency. Enough said on that score.

Joe Biden is an honest and honorable man. He is compassionate, empathetic, earnest and decent. He puts America’s interests first, not his own. He’s a uniter, not a divider.

Biden takes thoughtful, reasonable approaches to the issues of the day, surrounding himself with distinguished advisers and carefully weighing their counsel. He would never stoop to bombarding us on an almost hourly basis with attack tweets.

Our decisions are equally easy at the top of the home ticket. We have no hesitation in recommending U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley and U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici for re-election.

Merkley and Bonamici are both products of the Oregon Legislature. And both have honored our state by going on to distinguish themselves in Washington, D.C.

Merkley has grown into a national figure in the Senate, to the point he was widely supported as a potential 2020 presidential candidate. Bonamici has compiled an exemplary record of her own in the House, and ably looked out for the interests of Oregon’s 1st District in the bargain.

That view is widely shared. As evidence, one need look no further than the challengers the GOP has put forward. 

The party’s Senate standard-bearer is QAnon conspiracy theory advocate Jo Rae Perkins of Albany, whose background is in banking, real estate and insurance. She has never held elective office, but ran losing campaigns for House and Senate nominations in 2014, 2016 and 2018.

Her chances rate little better than those of Libertarian Gary Dye or Progressive and Pacific Green Ibrahim Taher. And given her extraordinary fringe views, Oregonians can take solace.

The opposition to Bonamici is being carried by Christopher Christensen of Beaverton, who makes his living as a lobbyist and real estate consultant.

He has no record of previous electoral involvement, either as a candidate or office-holder. He portrays himself as a free-market constitutionalist.

Christensen seems well-intended. But we think he might be better advised to start somewhere other than the U.S. House, where we expect candidates to have met the test at lower levels.

Comments

Finch

Really? Biden doesn't know what day it is or what town he's in. He is nothing more than a placeholder for the democrat party and their true intentions of further tearing this country apart. He can't even correctly hear what they're telling him in his earpiece and has great difficulty reading the teleprompter. At this point it is cruel to have him out there. He had 50 years to make some of these changes and he didn't. He's got plenty of skeletons in his closet. Ridiculous and Obama's behind so much of what is going on right now. It's only going to get worse.

Bill B

Interesting that your logic for recommendation seems to be mainly based on political experience. If we have learned anything, it's that we should not depend on career politicians to lead us. Their interests are solely on being reelected.

madmacs

Finch, I see you have succumbed to DJT's "Herd Mentality"

Finch

Actually, I'm fully capable of thinking for myself.

tagup

Evidently not....Biden is an honorable man. You may not like his political policy and that’s fine, but your characterization of him as unable to hear or read or not knowing the day or time are clearly thoughts that are not your own.....unfortunate that all you have is personal attacks instead of a thoughtful criticism of his policies...

Hibb

While I do not advocate for voting the party ticket in an election, the Oregon races are pretty much no-brainers. As for President... there is more to weigh than the antics of a man seemingly unhinged, but also to take into consideration what results were generated over the last four years that could be claimed as uniquely Trump and his administration's verses that of anyone else in the same time period. It might just come down to the old Pro & Con worksheet to see if we can afford another four years with you know who or if it is time in midstream to switch horses and and ride out another four years...?

Finch

tagup - your opinion. A lot of shady business deals in his family on how they all became so wealthy especially with the drug addicted Hunter. He may have been honorable at one time but he is clearly not all there. When he reads the teleprompter with the anger in his voice with his accusations he is reading words that are not his. His news conferences are ridiculous where he has pre-planned and staged questions calling on news media by name to answer the questions written for him. It's sad to watch him stammering and trying to find words that aren't there. He even reads the stuff he's not supposed to read. Wait until the debates and see what happens. Perhaps you have not seen the dozens of clips of his struggles and it's almost painful and clearly not right. It's not Joe Biden I fear -- it's all the ones propping him up. Kamala Harris is a horrible choice as well.

tagup

Again, no policy discussion, only personal attacks that are subjective at best....aren’t there some real issues that you can articulate?
Your concern with shady business deals is hilarious considering the current administration’s record.

Hibb

While I did not want to get on the "old uncle Joe" soapbox, I think it is fair to point out that what is being touted as the choice to right the ship is in fact taking on water as well. The USS Biden has been in some unsavory ports of the years, had questionable financial dealings, and has failed to articulate a comprehensive plan for America. Why? Because the guy cannot get two words out of his mouth before going off on some sort of stuttering scat routine that is not only incomprehensible, but incoherent. It is difficult to speak of substantive things when it comes to Biden, as his handlers have tried very diligently to keep him muzzled during the past few months so that he would not spoil their parade. Does that mean I won't vote for him? Not so fast there chico...

Both Trump and Biden have baggage that sours the stomach of decent Americans that still give a damn and hold its government up to the light of accountability. Neither is transparent and both are wheelers-n-dealers.

That said, I would welcome tagup to school us on those substantive issues he would prefer discussed rather than what average Americans toss around over a cup of coffee. I am open-minded and am sure that others will give you an audience. So please do...

tagup

I don’t need an audience hibb....I just get tired of political analysis being based on rumor or sound bites that have little basis in fact.....Biden has an agenda that is available...Trump can’t say the same....one of my important issues is health care... and the trump administration has spent the entire term attempting to dismantle the Affordable care act with absolutely no plan to replace it. There are north of 30 million unemployed Americans and an estimated 50 million that are food insecure in this country. The pandemic has killed 200,000 and the current administration wants to just ignore it and lie about it. These are some of the issues that have meaning to Americans....but if we need to discuss someone’s hair style, spray tan or false business acumen as credentials for leading the country, then count me out....

Bill B

Let's face it Tagup. Both of these guys are too old to be leading us.

RobsNewsRegister

There is no mention of Harris in this opinion. To fully evaluate Biden, you must consider who will actually be running things like Kamala Harris, their advisors, and the bureaucratic establishment. That is how some in economic modelling view the scenario (see below). Notice how he bashes both sides - that's why I like to the views of economic forecasters - they aren't so partisan.

https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/international-news/politics/who-will-really-be-running-the-government-behind-biden/

treefarmer


In the face of several baseless accusations of “liberal bias” against this publication, I am grateful to read these endorsements. It took courage of conviction and an obvious genuine concern for the future of our beleaguered nation to do so. This forum affords dissenting opinions a voice in the discussion – I respect and appreciate that too. Unfortunately some of those voices choose to echo the lies and propaganda cranked out by extremist “news” outlets. Social media pages have finally started labeling lies and “alternative facts” and taking them down or identifying them as such. It's a start. (and there are a couple of comments above that beg some serious fact-checking.)

Even though I judge him to be a decent capable person, Joe Biden was not my first choice in the primary. However, the choice we have NOW makes him the only rational option on the ballot. By systematically putting big donors, (whose only qualifications are the ability to buy in and/or suck up) in charge of such vital services as national security, the CDC, and the Post Office, Trump has PROVED that neither American values nor democracy as we know it will likely survive another four years under his reign of chaos. Spreading lies and demonizing Biden will not change that chilling reality.

I have made an effort to understand why my fellow Americans can still support such an unstable and obviously unwell person. The Trump loyalists with whom I am acquainted (and in one case - related) would NEVER tolerate such cruelty, lying, and corruption from a spouse, or a child, or a friend, or a boss. And yet they see what he does, hear what he says, live with the ongoing consequences of a crisis proudly mismanaged even as it has killed 200,000 American citizens so far……. and still they continue to defend him. Many even put their lives on the line to rally for him. Bewildering.

May the election emphatically reflect the will of the people and pull us back from the brink.



RobsNewsRegister

What brought Trump to power in 2016 is the same thing that allowed a 29 year-old bartender in NY to primary the presumed next Speaker of the House, Joe Crowley (see below); contempt for establishment politicians. The body politic was tired of being ignored by the those in power and chose outsiders. 'Fly-over' country turned to Trump because Hillary was the embodiment of the establishment. Biden has been in Washington for almost 50 years (elected senator in 1972) so we'll see what happens.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandria_Ocasio-Cortez

treefarmer


Indeed Rob, the electorate was sick and tired of feeling ignored and unable to get anyone’s attention. What a tragedy that some chose to jump blindly from the frying pan and set the whole house on fire for revenge. Surely there was a more productive, less destructive avenue for change? There is much that is fundamentally unfair and inhumane about putting an incompetent ego-driven power-hungry conman in charge of MY health and safety too. I am encouraged to see so many honorable REAL Republicans (Thank you Cindy McCain!! Thank you Lincoln Project!! Thank you John Kasich!!) putting country ahead of the fully corrupted Trumplican party. There is hope for the future for ALL of us - disgruntled and horrified alike.

I do think you are right in that Ms. Harris is no shrinking violet. I will just keep the faith that she believes in science, will not shame us on the world stage, and is not likely to help Putin continue to undermine America. I did read your link, but where you see non-partisan, I see conspiracy theorist. (Potato/ po-tah-to??)

One link deserves another - here is some food for thought for you:
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/09/andrew-weissmann-mueller-book-where-law-ends/616395/

RobsNewsRegister

One of the reasons I follow him is his insanely accurate AI (artificial intelligence) computer model that's been making uncanny predictions for decades [unfortunately I didn't follow back then]. I studied AI in graduate school and find what his program does fascinating. FYI - it monitors thousands upon thousands of inputs and outputs the reports - no human involvement to bias results.

Regarding the Mueller team, I want to know why 27 of them, including Weismann, turned in wiped phones to Durham/DOJ - if any one associated with Trump did that they'd be charged with obstruction of justice.

https://news.yahoo.com/least-27-phones-special-counsel-212933558.html

treefarmer


Rob - What an interesting report. Hadn’t read about that before. I too am very curious about the backstory (just too darn many cases of “accidental” erasures, and amnesia re passwords.) but we both know the likelihood of that being revealed, so I guess we will have to rely on our imaginations? :-}


RobsNewsRegister

Treefarmer - thanks for sharing but its frustrating these days that we can't count on getting the full story anymore. I followed the Atlantic article until it failed to mention Kilimnik was a State Department asset (see link). That is materially relevant to the Weismann's assertion. This happens all the time now - even from the NYT. I don't know what's happened to journalism but it'd be nice if they got back to the old ways.

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/447394-key-figure-that-mueller-report-linked-to-russia-was-a-state-department

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