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Last week’s cover story examined how Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, whose six years in office have featured substantial liberal victories, could rank as the least popular governor in all 50 states (“A Very Kate Brown Christmas,” Dec. 8, 2021). Her low polling figures have made Democratic office-seekers wary of being associated with her. We examined three reasons Oregonians might resent Brown: her COVID rulemaking, her lax oversight of key responsibilities, and voter sexism. Here’s what readers had to say.
Rose Treasure, via wweek.com: “You know what I hate the most about this article, and there’s a lot to hate. What I hate the most is that her unpopularity is blamed on anything but her. It’s blamed on misogyny, which is what women always blame their failure on these days. “It is ENTIRELY Kate Brown’s fault we all don’t like her. Why don’t you put the blame where it actually belongs, WW?”
Cindy Weaver Schaufenbuel, via Facebook: “I’m glad you listed as a reason that Governor Brown is female.…An awful lot of Oregonians get triggered by the notion that Mommy is telling them what to do, and that’s on them, not on the governor.”
S. Patrick, via wweek.com: “Lots of governors are dealing with COVID-19, and of course putting restrictions on people and businesses and schools are not going to make them very popular, but their numbers are nowhere near as bad as Brown’s are. Her ratings would probably be in the mid- to upper 40s if it wasn’t for her AWOL behavior on Portland. [Andrew] Hoan is right, it is inexplicable. There’s just no leadership there. If I’m Ted Wheeler, I spit on the ground every time her name gets mentioned, to coin a song lyric.”
frazzledcats, via Reddit: “She’s just a wet blanket. Not the villain, but like a cardboard cut-out governor. Kinda like Ted as mayor.”
SarahMaywalt, via wweek.com: “She babied the red counties through COVID while locking down the cities. When she gives metrics on lifting restrictions, she doesn’t stick to them. She was asleep at the wheel at the start of the pandemic but kept in place an outdoor mask mandate this year that had no basis in science or common sense. We now have an indoor mask mandate that we want to keep indefinitely (TO SAVE LIVES!) but no mandate to reduce in-person dining capacity at restaurants (TO SAVE JOBS!). Which is it? Is the disease so deadly that we all have to strap crap to our face, or can we start gathering in a packed restaurant maskless again? She absolutely refuses to make a vaccine passport that might allow for some relaxation of restrictions on the responsible people in our state.”
SwingNinja, via wweek.com: “I’m not sure why people put much beef in her popularity. I don’t think Kate herself cares. She’ll be out in 2022 due to term limits. The way I see it, she’s just happy to take all the brunt from any direction. Business and school boards were reluctant to enforce mandates of anything during COVID. So she did it for them all. Very unpopular move, but everyone can just shift the blame to her, ‘Kate made me do it!’ and Kate is just, ‘Yeah, whatever.’”
LETTERS to the editor must include the author’s street address and phone number for verification. Letters must be 250 or fewer words. Submit to: PO Box 10770, Portland, OR 97296. Email: mzusman@wweek.com.