With the M66/67 election over (and won) and the February special session in progress (and that will end sooner than anyone thinks, or it will feel that way), the primaries will soon be on us. Even though few incumbents in the Oregon Legislature face a primary challenge, candidates will be thinking about how they are going to campaign this year. They will be wondering how they should respond to the permanent anti-incumbent anger, the volatility of Oregon’s “independent” voters and what impact, if any, the effed-up politics within the Beltway will have on state campaigns.

I have a simple suggestion, one that has proven its worth both in tough campaigns and in moving Oregon forward boldly; it’s something I say a lot, but I continue to believe it’s the smartest political advice any would-be progressive could take. It’s not my advice, but I see the wisdom in it and so I continue to repeat it:

Get on the Bus.

For some potential 2010 context, I give you a post from NW Republican (I refuse to assist them with a link because a, they refuse to use their real names, which is pure chickenshit cowardice, b, they don’t bother to link to their data source, which is akin to lying, and c, if you visit them via Google, you’ll see I am using their words correctly and in context). Here’s what they have to say about a poll from Moore Information:

Democrats (and a couple of Republicans like Bob Jenson) are in a heep of trouble. According to the poll, 52% of Oregonians want House Bill 3508 repealed altogether.

But even worse for the Democratics, 61% of Oregonians would not support a legislator up for re-election who supported HB 3508.

Democratics have a big, big problem in November.

First, they not only do not link to the Moore poll, I cannot find such a critter on Moore’s site (if it's there and I missed it, please let me know). No doubt it’s not for web publication; that’s understandable. Moore does work for Republicans, so the questions they ask will be constructed to bring support to Republican issues (they ain’t gonna make money if they deliver nothing but bad news, a danger of trying to help the GOP in Oregon). However, “big, big problem” is the conclusion of the blog’s cowardly anonymous writer (who needs to learn to spell the tough words like “heap”). As for trouble, it’s along way from early February until ballots are mailed in mid-October. With the economy struggling and Oregonians looking for rays of hope, I am fairly confident that the limited early release of non-violent offenders is not going to swing any elections.

It may cost a Republican incumber if a tea-partier chooses to challenge them, however, but the Republicans are in the middle of an internecine battle that will leave many good Rs on the sidelines. Especially because they certainly won’t heed the advice I give to progressives:

Get on the Bus.

Only a few short years ago, the GOP owned the Oregon Legislature. Karen Minnis and Wayne Scott ruled with iron fists, refusing to let any legislation pass through without their approval. And then the Democrats began to assert themselves, taking back the Oregon House and, in 2008, consolidating their majorities in both chambers substantially. This turnaround reflected national politics, of course, as Democrats advanced big in the Congress in 2006 and 2008, but there was more to this than trend-following. Oregonians were electing a new breed of Democrat, and behind these new leaders were two organizations: Future PAC and The Bus Project.

Future PAC, sponsored by the Oregon House Democrats and led by Jon Isaacs, helped find and develop many of the young candidates who have now not only become part of the Legislature but have begun moving into leadership roles, led by Sara Gelser (Corvallis-Philomath). But while Future PAC did the kind of traditional political work necessary to win a campaign, it was the Bus that truly transformed the House.

Candidates who won with the support of The Bus saw progressive politics in action, and they saw that it worked. Nick Kahl is a prime example. He was not the choice of local Democratic “powers”, such as they were, who had drafted a standard D to run for the seat being vacated by Karen Minnis. But Kahl attacked the 2008 primary armed with his desire to win — and volunteers from The Bus. Their tireless work, canvassing and phoning, helped the voters in the May 2008 primary see that they had the chance to elect a young man with extraordinary potential and not just another standard candidate. Kahl won, and, when faced with a Republican opponent backed by money and a series of dirty campaign ads, again turned to The Bus — and won. In 2008, of ten campaigns backed by the Bus, many of them with multiple visits to the district, nine were victorious.

But that’s just the start of the story. Winning an election is nice, but, as we see in Washington, DC, it’s what you do with your victory that matters. And what the Oregon Legislature did, backed by the new young members and others who had been elected with the help of the Bus Project and their partners (I would call the Multnomah County Dems such a partner, proven in large part by the party campaigning almost exactly as did the Bus: door-to-door, person-to-person, tirelessly), was take bold steps forward. And no piece of legislation was more telling than the vote that led to Measure 67.

Everyone knew that the increase to the corporate minimum tax and related tax modifications would be referred to the ballot; that was the easiest part of the scenario. If they had raised the corporate minimum by a nickel and done nothing more, it would have been referred. That’s how the game works in Oregon. But the Dems in the Oregon Leg pushed forward, knowing they’d have to defend their work before the voters — and knowing that the odds were big against them winning. Oregonians do not vote for tax increases, even when they are levied on other people.

But pass the bill they did, and among the reasons I believe they were able to do so was the presence of members who knew that the referral could be won at the ballot. When a state representative has to fight simply to get into office the way Nick Kahl did, or Greg Matthews, or Suzanne Van Orman (not one of the young leaders, but a beneficiary of a Bus partnership with women leaders and activists), then they know how a ballot measure can be won.

Just as Future PAC provided the infrastructure (money, campaign advice, etc) and the Bus provided the feet-on-the-street activism, for M66/67 saw the unions provide infrastructure and thousands of volunteers across the state replicate the work the Bus does: door-to-door, person-to-person, tirelessly. The Bus did its part, too, of course, registering (and often re-registering) thousands of young voters — and then getting them to vote). But across the state, including in counties that were sure to vote against the measures, volunteers did what Bus volunteers do every election: they hit the streets, they grabbed the phone banks, and they campaigned to their neighbors, their community.

This is what it means to get on the Bus: not to ask 50 or 60 young people to ride a decorated Bus from Portland but to engage the energy and activism of ordinary citizens in an extraordinary venture. The more Democrats who figure this out, the fewer races will be in doubt come November. We know that voters’ interests are far more closely aligned to the Democratic Party than the Republican, especially the extremist party that has been growing in Oregon. Hiding what the party stands for, as too many in Congress seem to be doing, is a recipe for disaster. Being honest and bold, as Nick Kahl was, is a path to surprising the hell out of everybody.

Get on the Bus: stand strong for what you believe; engage supporters to carry your message directly to voters; work the doors. Once you are in office, remain bold. Stare down the lobbyists and don’t try to defend your votes — trumpet them! Hell, dude, that’s why you ran, isn’t it? A Bus roaring down the road at 65 mph isn’t going to lose many confrontations, but someone timidly trying to tiptoe across the freeway is asking to become roadkill.