An evening of politics.

Yesterday evening I attended a town hall meeting conducted by the office of Patty Murray. Well, it was a phone in town hall meeting, which I am perfectly comfortable with since those tend to stay free of threats and things like that. All of the inquiries (even the one from the angry constituent who must watch a lot of fox news) were good ones about things on the minds of most voters (jobs, veterans’ benefits, issues facing small business, the credit crunch that faces everybody). The senator discussed how she is working on legislation to help. I’ve always been the type to write her office when I have issues or questions, but it was a really great learning experience and I look forward to participating in more in the future.

I concluded the evening with the Republican gubernatorial debate for my neighboring state of Oregon. Although I won’t be able to vote in that election, I will be affected. One of the most ironic things I heard from the candidates was the fact that they are so concerned that healthcare is an unfunded mandate. Well, maybe it is not ironic because this party DID bring us No Child Left Behind, which was a HUGE unfunded mandate. There were lots of good questions, and few good answers and lots of dancing around by the candidates. I hope that the next time these candidates debate that they are less afraid to speak their minds on the issues.