Oregon is the same way. Most of the state is normal, but the Portland loonies control everything, and so the whole state has gone to doo-doo. I grew up in rural Oregon, but I've lived in the Portland area on-and-off for the last 30 years. Even Portland was a little weird, but not too bad until 20-25 years ago or so, and it got really bad…
Oregon is the same way. Most of the state is normal, but the Portland loonies control everything, and so the whole state has gone to doo-doo. I grew up in rural Oregon, but I've lived in the Portland area on-and-off for the last 30 years. Even Portland was a little weird, but not too bad until 20-25 years ago or so, and it got really bad in the last 10 years.
Coincidentally (ha!), Oregon has had vote-by-mail ONLY elections my entire adult life. I voted in person once, in 1988 in my very first election. But they passed vote by mail right around then, and it has been state-wide mail voting only since the very early 90s.
Putting on my tinfoil chapeau, we used to have some checks and balances in the state, but since they went to mail in only, one side has grown to have a perpetual super majority. And one side (I don't care which) having unfettered power always results in chaos, decline, and eventually what we have now in Portland. The once-beautiful city looks like they have just quit. They don't clean off the graffiti, they don't pick up the litter everywhere, and periodically we have gangs of roving brown coats try to burn down the courthouse for months on end.
On a positive note, the main county (Multnomah) that the city is found in just voted out their Soros DA, and voted in an "independent" who was a Republican (he changed to independent to run, lol).
We're moving (finally), but I'm an Oregon girl at heart, and my heart breaks for my beautiful home state.
I lived in WA for 15 years, and you are absolutely right about mail-in voting. I finally gave up on voting there, because the D's would just re-do votes until they got the result they wanted. I loved Portland (and Seattle, but never Olympia) until ten years ago or so. WA is another mostly-normal state, except for Seattle and Olympia. (And, sadly, increasingly Tacoma, which used to have some working and middle class normal thinking.)
Oregon is the same way. Most of the state is normal, but the Portland loonies control everything, and so the whole state has gone to doo-doo. I grew up in rural Oregon, but I've lived in the Portland area on-and-off for the last 30 years. Even Portland was a little weird, but not too bad until 20-25 years ago or so, and it got really bad in the last 10 years.
Coincidentally (ha!), Oregon has had vote-by-mail ONLY elections my entire adult life. I voted in person once, in 1988 in my very first election. But they passed vote by mail right around then, and it has been state-wide mail voting only since the very early 90s.
Putting on my tinfoil chapeau, we used to have some checks and balances in the state, but since they went to mail in only, one side has grown to have a perpetual super majority. And one side (I don't care which) having unfettered power always results in chaos, decline, and eventually what we have now in Portland. The once-beautiful city looks like they have just quit. They don't clean off the graffiti, they don't pick up the litter everywhere, and periodically we have gangs of roving brown coats try to burn down the courthouse for months on end.
On a positive note, the main county (Multnomah) that the city is found in just voted out their Soros DA, and voted in an "independent" who was a Republican (he changed to independent to run, lol).
We're moving (finally), but I'm an Oregon girl at heart, and my heart breaks for my beautiful home state.
I wonder if the Pilgrims felt the same about England and Europe.
I lived in WA for 15 years, and you are absolutely right about mail-in voting. I finally gave up on voting there, because the D's would just re-do votes until they got the result they wanted. I loved Portland (and Seattle, but never Olympia) until ten years ago or so. WA is another mostly-normal state, except for Seattle and Olympia. (And, sadly, increasingly Tacoma, which used to have some working and middle class normal thinking.)
Same, but for California (So/Cal born & raised!