[April 30th, 2008]

Rep. Earl Blumenauer

Tattoo he’d get: Refused, citing Hawkeye’s advice to Radar O’Reilly in M*A*S*H episode No. 55: “Why would you put art on your body that you’d never put on your wall at home?”

According to The Almanac of American Politics, Earl Blumenauer has one of Congress’ safest seats. The obvious explanation: Democrats have a 2-to-1 registration advantage over Republicans on his turf.

But fair is fair—Blumenauer has done a good job in his six terms of representing his district.

That district is somewhere between liberal and Black Block anarchist; Blumenauer is an inch to the right of Rep. Dennis Kucinich. The district likes public broadcasting; Blumenauer is the go-to guy in the House for NPR and PBS. The district likes bikes; Blumenauer founded the Congressional Bike Caucus (though we couldn’t help but notice that, despite a convenient nearby streetcar stop, he drove to our endorsement interview).

Blumenauer—who’s held elected office in the state Legislature, Portland City Council or Congress for 36 of his 59 years on earth—is right on the big issues, like opposing the war, protecting civil liberties and reducing use of fossil fuels. And he’s willing to take on obscure but important fights, like limiting federal farm subsidies.

With little fanfare, he pushed to bring more Iraqi refugees—especially those who risked their lives to work with U.S. forces—to safety in the United States. If Blumenauer had done nothing else last year, he would’ve won our vote by taking that one moral stand.

There’s another reason Blumenauer is so secure: Portland stopped paying attention. His token opposition is typified by John Sweeney, who likens the “war on terror” to the Moorish threat to the Spanish crown. Oooh-kay—thanks, John, see you next election. Then there’s Joe Walsh, a feisty Vietnam vet who embodies the hopes of the KBOO set. He’s spent a good part of the past year protesting outside Blumenauer’s offices in a bright red “IMPEACH” T-shirt.

Look, we’d like to see Blumenauer sweat a bit. Congressional seats aren’t entitlements, and after 12 years, Blumenauer is plenty damn comfortable. On the other hand, he’s probably headed for a leadership role in the House—and that would be a good thing for Oregon.

Video of WW endorsement interview (thanks to Portland Community Media)