PIE Recommendations

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm, good PIE Convention! This was a wild weekend and as always there were surprises in store both for the candidates and for the delegates.

The Salem Convention Center provided an excellent backdrop for our festivities with a red carpet to greet us and a location close to the state capitol building to remind us about the task at hand. As always the OEA staff did a fantastic job of preparing delegates and taking care of all the details.

President Wolf started the convention on Friday night without a color guard as they were delayed due to an accident on I-5 (not in it, but caught behind it) but we continued with the Pledge of Allegiance and the Star-Spangled Banner anyway. The reception to my singing was warm and once again it was gratifying to make a musical offering for the members of OEA. I was also very glad to have a voice healthy enough to sing after an extremely busy few weeks of campaigning and teaching.

Hearing the Congressional Candidates speak is always a thrill. David Wu, Earl Blumenauer and Peter DeFazio know how to light up a room and "preach to the choir" in terms of education issues. Steve Marks and Kurt Schrader, candidates for Darlene Hooley's District 5 Seat, also made impressive speeches. Delegates recommended Kurt Schrader overwhelmingly in this contest.

On Friday night there were a record 12 hospitality suites for candidates! There was lively conversation between the candidates and delegates and tough questions were asked as well. Of course food and drink was plentiful and old friends enjoyed visiting together in between candidates' rooms. I was happy to have a room on the top floor; it allowed for a strategy of partying my way from the bottom to the top and then calling it a night! The hospitality suites are my favorite part of the convention, not because of the refreshments (which were exceptionally tasty in Salem) but because of the informal conversations they allow. More than once I've seen a candidate squirm or stick foot-in-mouth because someone asked a hard question that forced the candidate to show his/her true colors.

Saturday was scheduled to end at 5:20 but lasted past 7:00 because of a run-off election and the addition of a fourth Senate Candidate, David Loera, who was allowed to participate because he collected 25 signatures. OEA is truly a democratic organization!

I was surprised at the outcome of several races. For US Senate we recommended Steve Novick. I was amazed by this, not because he's a great candidate (his speech was by far the most passionate, IMO) but because he isn't the traditional politician. I'm thrilled as in my heart of hearts I was pulling for him despite the fact that Jeff Merkley, also an excellent candidate, seems more electable. We will find out how electable they both are in May. In the Secretary of State race the run-off was not between Vicki Walker and Kate Brown as I'd predicted (and been debating heavily in my own mind) but Kate Brown and Brad Avakian. The final total was separated by a mere 812 votes (of 84,585 possible). In PIE Convention terms that is a CLOSE race! Avakian is an impressive candidate as is Senator Rick Metsger. For us it was almost an embarrassment of riches when it came to the Secretary of State candidates. Each of them would do well in the office.

The State Treasurer's race was easy to call as Ben Westlund was the only candidate who had filled out his questionnaire and his opponent had only been announced the day before the convention. The Attorney General's race was a blow-out with John Kroger handily defeating Greg MacPherson. In terms of the PIE Convention the race for U.S. President is more of a "miss congeniality" title since OEA cannot contribute to the presidential race because of campaign finance laws. This year, as predicted, was a close call between Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama with a substantial amount of votes for No Recommendation (my personal choice because of the amount of passion for one or the other and the fact that it is the NEA-RA who will officially make the recommendation for NEA). OEA recommended Obama. It will be interesting to see what Oregon says about these two candidates on our May 20 primary!

All in all it was a great conference and a testament to democracy. Congratulations, candidates! Delegates, well done!