Robin's Commentary
Some might say that Senator Jason Atkinson is the new kid on the block and considering his age, that in some respects is true. Senator Atkinson is definitely not your father's politician believing in the same old same old method of politics.
Several months ago, I had the honor to have coffee with the senator along with a few other bloggers in town. I am not a reporter; I'm just an average citizen who is tired of the news media not asking questions that the public [or at least my circle of friends] feels are important.
For example, who really cared who President Clinton was sleeping with today? That is an issue between him and his wife Hillary. However that was what the media focused on versus the other important stuff going on around the world at the time.
So you're left thinking, how does this affect me? Why is this important to me?
The questions that I asked were more pertinent, I felt to what is happening now in Oregon and that affect me and my family. Questions such as how do you feel about ODOT installing a GPS system in your car to charge you a random per mile road tax?
"Politicians promise anything that the public wants to hear in order to get into office, then once elected, it is a free-for-all and the public no longer matters. What about you?"
I know that this was not a pardon the pun, "politically correct" question to ask somebody who is running for office, but I will say that I was very impressed with his answer.
"I'm an honest person and I'm not going to lie to get into office." Was Senator Atkinson's response to my question. I truly believe that came from his heart and I did not pick up anything that led me to believe that it was a bunch of BS.
I am running because I believe in the common sense, good will and sound judgment of real Oregonians whose voices are too often silenced by entrenched special interests in the Oregon Legislature.
If you feel as I do, that we have to change the way we do business in Salem; if politicians make you feel like you don't matter and special interests seem like an overwhelming force against the voice of the voter, don't give up. Join me. We can restore honor to public service. We can rebuild trust with Oregonians. We can hear the voices of Oregonians in the halls of government again.{source}
The power of bloggers
If you been on the Internet for any length of time, you have heard of blogging. Blogging has become such an important medium in our society that the central media now regularly considers bloggers opinions to be important. And just like the rule of thumb, that bad news travels faster then good news, Senator Atkinson took a chance.
Wanting to reach the people, Senator Atkinson did something that to my knowledge no politician has ever done before. He drove over an hour on the freeway to go out of his way to meet a handful of bloggers.
WOW.
"I met with a handful of bloggers, and out of that organically an Atkinson for Governor blogger network was started," he said. "I was told we now have 20 blog sites on the Net."
Such unconventional means "have been extremely well received," said Atkinson. World Net Daily
Senator Atkinson does not believe in mudslinging and I feel that he is very sincere when he says that he wants to help fix what is wrong with the State of Oregon.
He has proven his sincerity to me at least that he wants to be in touch with the people and stay in touch with the people even after he is elected.
Oregon can no longer afford the "business as usual" politicians and leadership. We desperately need someone in the governor's office who is responsive to the people, not someone who feels that the solution to everything is to throw more money at it and that the people of Oregon are only a revenue source just waiting to be tapped.
Keep an eye on the new kid on the block [Senator Atkinson], I think he's going places.
2 comments:
Meet Senator Atkinson Thursday, January 26, 7PM at the Portland Republican Meetup. Details at republican.meetup.com/225
you hit the nail on the head.
The politicians and government are constantly showing just how out of touch and that they are with the public.
But that is also mainly our fault.
our political system is out of date.
It lacks the checks and balances that are needed to be in place to make it more responsive to people.
To the politicians, the public is a joke or nuisance that is constantly getting in the way. They know that all they have to do is keep throwing buzzwords at us such as "think of our children" or "cut public safety" and my favorite, "it is only a temporary tax" to try and con us in to voting for what ever measure they want more money for and are relying on our apathy and short memories to get there.
A talk show host in California said something a long time ago which I thought I really hit home. That we should borrow from other countries methods of government which work. Such as the parts of the parliamentary system where the politicians have to go before the Senate to promote their bills themselves and with a vote of no-confidence can get those politicians voted out of office.
That is the key right there. They know that once they are elected, that they can do anything they wish to do and there's not much anybody can do about it.
[Robin getting down off her soapbox now]
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