If you were facing open heart surgery, would you want an experienced surgeon who has been doing this operation for over 20 years or would you choose someone who has never done any operations and isn’t even sure where the operating room is located?
Peter DeFazio would be my choice if I wanted to be well-represented in Congress as he has been my representative for a long period and prior to that was a Lane County commissioner. This is no time for someone to do on-the-job training given all the problems this country is facing.
If we assume, and most experts do assume, that the Democrats will retake the House of Representatives, Peter will have the seniority to be given the chair of some committees in the House that are vital to Lane County. His opponent, on the other hand, would be a freshman in a minority party. Which would you rather have represent Lane County’s interests in Washington, D.C.?
Besides, if Peter were to lose, who would push the wheelbarrow in next year’s Eugene Celebration Parade?
G. Dennis Shine is a resident of Springfield