WUI (Writing under the influence)

The Oregonian asks how could people who voted so overwhelmingly for Oregon Democrats also vote for such conservative (PBS calls them "red") measures as 35 and 37 and vote against 34. I could ask a similar question but in reverse: why would nice conservative folks vote for Democrats?

I can't answer this question with any degree of certainty. But I can make an attempt.

I have a friend who goes to my church, whose children go to a Catholic school with my children. So I'm assuming that he agrees with most of the teachings of the Catholic church. I suspect he was one of the many who voted for the Measure 36. Yet, he always votes Democrats.

Why?

Very often the answer is: my grandfather voted Democrat, my father voted Democrat, I vote Democrat. The folly of this answer is that the party his grandfather voted for wasn't for the so called right to abortion until the last day of pregnancy. The party his father voted for wasn't for so called gay marriage. The party he votes for will never give him school choice for his children.

At some point one has to recognize a label is not enough. Chrysler in the 80s was a pretty shitty brand and it almost went under.

There is also another explanation. When a conservative is faced with a relatively simple measure like 36, the choice is easy. But when he has to choose between parties, he chooses between many issues and his priorities could simply be different than mine.

I know many people like my friend.

By asking why would Democrats vote for Measure 37, the Oregonian assumes that Democrats are thieves and don't care about property rights. We may disagree about the level of taxation or level of land use regulations but whether my property is mine or it belongs to the government shouldn't be very controversial.