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Oregon will witness a campaign cycle of Santa-size proportion next year: races for Congress, Portland City Hall and governor. Campaigns for the Bureau of Labor and Industries commissioner, state schools superintendent and Metro Council. State House and Senate seats. Multnomah County Commission posts. You get the picture. We're fans of the democratic process, but there is something about the promise of the 1998 campaign season that we find troubling: a palpable inertia among many of those who are running. In conversations with many candidates, we find a remarkable absence of animating ideas. A decided lack of passion. An almost overpowering sense that too many of these people are simply planning to go through the motions of a well-worn drill: Raise money, stay uncontroversial, run a safe campaign. Admittedly, there are some candidates we have not yet met and others we have not seen or heard from in some months. But it is our general sense that many people running for office are doing so less out of a sense of passion or duty than because it's something to do. Compare that to the election cycle just one year ago. In the two open seats for Portland City Council alone, candidates Erik Sten, Jim Francesconi and Chuck Duffy generated more ideas and enthusiasm about the future of this city than all the candidates currently preparing to run for Oregon offices combined. This malaise among the current heap of candidates almost certainly is a consequence of our times. A robust economy and a nation at peace have helped create a sense of comfort that even the currency crisis in Asia is unlikely to shake. A recent Wall Street Journal poll found a nation that is virtually euphoric: 71 percent of Americans are happy with their personal situation. That said, we ache for a candidate who will rise above the current torpor. Who will actually do something, rather than just talk, about campaign finance reform. Who will take a leadership role in the battle for tax reform and stable school support. Who shows imagination in wrestling with the complexity of telecommunications policy and the lack of consumer protections at health maintenance organizations. Who will figure out what kind of a transportation policy this state really needs. Who will see to it that our economic and environmental future is secure as we race toward energy deregulation. Candidates who need more challenges should read this issue of WW. Maureen O'Hagan's cover story paints a grotesque picture of urban kids failed by a costly juvenile bureaucracy. Elizabeth Manning's piece on brownfields identifies serious environmental issues within the city limits. And Bob Young's article on the explosive growth in Clark County makes a strong case that our urban growth boundary ain't what it's cracked up to be. There is no shortage of issues. Why, then, the lack of candidates willing to get engaged? |
