Kevin's Weblog

I’m almost disturbed by this, but I went 13 for 14 on the ballot measures for this election. And, the one that didn’t go my way was 47, which I’m pretty sure will have to be thrown out because 46 didn’t pass. (I have to wonder, how did a substantial fraction of voters fail to realize that 46 passing was a prerequisite for 47.)

I actually ended up abstaining on all the offices except the US House. (Oregon didn’t vote on a senator this year.) The governor’s race seemed to basically be a referendum on how the incumbent has done over the last 4 years, and I’m not really qualified to judge that. I was briefly swayed by the Libertarian candidate’s statement in the voters’ guide, but his web site convinced me that he was neither qualified, nor as centrist as he claims. Also, what self-respecting libertarian can claim to support Oregon’s full-service-only gas station laws? Other than those two races, I didn’t have any chance to research candidates.

On the larger scale, I’m happy about the shift in Congress. The new democratic majorities aren’t big enough to realistically hope to reverse all the damage of the last 4 or 5 years, or to seriously bring any individuals to task for abuses of power; but at least things shouldn’t get worse. Honestly, if the Clinton administration is anything to go by, an opposed Congress and President might not be that bad.