The mid-Way (Feb. 17)

Don't miss posts on rural innovation, bipartisanship in the time of Zoom, and what it really means to "vote your conscience."

"Sunrise -- Oregon Mountain Pass" by Beyond the Trail is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Welcome!

The Oregon Way has nearly eclipsed 500 subscribers — welcome to all the new folks. My name is Kevin Frazier, I have the great pleasure of editing this blog. We had too much good content early this week, so I had to send a quick update. Stay safe out there! Be sure to practice being “Oregon Nice.” Talk to you on Saturday.

To a better Oregon,

Kevin

What to do

• Share this blog with three friends — Oregonians could use some good things to read these days.

• Send your feedback to Kevin Frazier (kfraz@berkeley.edu).

• Leave a comment with your favorite post.

What to read

Brenda Smith, High Desert Partnership

• “60 miles from nothing, there's innovation”

David Frank, University of Oregon:

• “Kristof’s Lament: A Friendly Quarrel with Eric Ward”

Tim Nesbitt, former Chief of Staff to Gov. Kulongoski:

• “What the ‘vote your conscience’ meme tells us about the need to change our party power structures”

Mark Owens, State Representative:

• “Building Personal Relationships in an Impersonal World”

Eric Ward, Western States Center

• “A BIPOC Vision for Oregon That Benefits Everyone”

What to look forward to

Pieces from:

• *Elden Rosenthal

• John Horvick

• Peter Laufer

• Bill Bradbury

• Kevin Frazier

• *Hunter Spence

*New contributors.

Oregon Trivia — Who said this?

Tweet the answer and your favorite line to @the_oregon_way

I am offering an experiment in politics, a program of principle above politics.

I am going to Washington without a string around a single finger. I am going there without any commitments to any group except the commitment I made to all groups: namely, that I will devote myself to furthering the best interests of our state and of our nation as the special representative of no group but as the public representative of all.

I will exercise an independence of judgment based on the evidence of each issue. I will weigh the views of my constituents and party, but cast my vote free of political pressure and unmoved by threats of loss of political support .