It’s this notion that is once again becoming central to local politics in the Pacific north-west. Throughout the region, people whose ideas about land management broadly align with [Joseph] Rice and the now infamous Bundy clan are aiming for elected office in cities, counties and even the state houses. Taking notice of the trend, progressive watchdog group Political Research Associates even pointed to “a wave of Patriot-affiliated candidates in Oregon”…. Gradually, these ideas are taking hold in local Republican parties. While the nation has been transfixed by the Trump tilt in presidential politics, at the grassroots level in Oregon, candidates who have sympathies and connections with the Patriot movement have already successfully sought office under the GOP banner.
There’s a very common and widely-held misconception about Oregon, my adopted home state. It’s generally considered to be home to tree-hugging, granola-eating, weed-smoking, same-sex-marrying, live-and-let-live bleeding-heart Liberals. While that perception largely holds true here in Portland and to a lesser extent through the Willamette Valley (the most populous areas of the Beaver State), most of the rest of Oregon could fairly be called “West Idaho.” Idaho proper has a well-deserved reputation for being a rabidly red state often openly hostile to the federal government. Generally speaking, Idahoans want federal money…but not the strings they feel come with it. They hate the federal bureaucracy when they feel it impinges upon their freedom and liberty. Head east of the Cascades in Oregon, and you’ll find large numbers of like-minded folks in central and eastern Oregon. Ever since the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge outside Burns earlier this year, members of the Patriot movement have been working to use the notoriety created by the stand-off to their advantage. Tomorrow’s primary election presents the first opportunity to gauge what the impact on Oregon politics will be.
Given that the majority of Oregon’s population is centered in Portland and the far northwest part of the state, it’s unlikely that, whatever the election results may be, there will be any noticeable impact on state government. What it might do is widen the already considerable gap between east and west. The Oregon/West Idaho division is very real and a significant bone of contention for those who live in far less populated central and eastern Oregon. There has long been a perception that Oregon state government simply isn’t responsive to the needs of those east of the Cascades, and that what Portland wants, Portland gets. It’s what political scientists like to call “majority rules,” but when you’re in the majority and feel that your concerns are widely and routinely ignored, the result can be some serious bitterness.
With a number of “Patriot” candidates, many of whom openly supported Ammon Bundy’s Gang That Forgot to Bring Snacks ©, running for local office in central and eastern Oregon, the end result could be elected officials working to destroy or at least hobble the power of government. The results of primaries east of the Cascades will be viewed as being of little import or significance in Portland and the Willamette Valley, but it may well mean the divide between Oregon and West Idaho will be impossible to bridge. The real impact will be felt in small towns like Burns and John Day, places where the Patriot movement has some traction. If Patriot sympathizers succeed in getting elected, the malevolence which existed in Burns prior to and during the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge may become a permanent feature of everyday life. The future may be “democracy” enforced from the barrel of a gun by angry, poor-educated Whites who feel it’s time to “take their country back.” History may show the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife refuge to be merely the beginning of a battle against the authority (and perceived tyrannical nature) of the federal government.
Tomorrow may be just another primary election for most Oregonians…but in central and eastern Oregon, it may not be melodramatic to believe the future of democracy hangs in the balance.
