Gov. Ted Kulongoski, Sen. Ron Wyden, Rep. Peter DeFazio and several other prominent Oregon Democrats stressed the importance of funding education and the need to take back state and national legislatures during speeches in the EMU Amphitheater Monday afternoon as part of a voter rally.
The rally, sponsored by the College Democrats and the Democratic Party of Lane County, also included speeches from state senators Floyd Prozanski and Vicki Walker, state Rep. Paul Holvey and state House candidate Chris Edwards, who is challenging Republican Rep. Debi Farr.
DeFazio said voter rallies raise enthusiasm before elections, but another purpose is to recruit students for volunteering and canvassing for Democratic candidates.
“As Democrats, we know that we’ll always be outspent, so the more young people we can get out there, the better,” DeFazio said.
The rally was also intended to gain student support for Kulongoski, who is facing Republican candidate Ron Saxton in a close race for the governor’s office.
Wyden introduced Kulongoski as a champion of the party’s causes for healthcare, education and energy policies.
Kulongoski was greeted with calls of “four more years” from the crowd, while members of the University’s College Republicans chanted “nine more days.”
Kulongoski said the upcoming election is about the future of Oregon and the United States. He said students are “very important to the outcome of this election in Oregon and across America.”
Kulongoski criticized Saxton for his stances on global warming and alternative and renewable energy, as well as for his support of timber logging in the wilderness areas.
“The truth of it is any governor that wants to be the governor of this state has to have an environmental value that believes that in fact our future and our quality of life depend upon the investment that we make in our environment,” Kulongoski said.
Kulongoski said he proposed increasing the Oregon Opportunity Grant program by 75 percent because of his belief that the state’s greatest investment is in education.
DeFazio said once the Democrats retake the U.S. House, the party is going to “roll up our sleeves and get to work turning things around in this country.”
He said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told him that on the first day, the Democrats were going to “drain the ethics swamp in Washington.” On the second day, the Democrats will reduce the costs of student financial aid and loan, increase Pell grants and give a straight-up increase in the federal minimum wage, he said.
“This is going to be the most important midterm election in a very, very long time in this state and in this country,” DeFazio said.
Some students used the rally as a time to voice their criticisms of the candidates and the Democratic Party.
Eric Eiden, a sociology alumnus, hung an orange sign behind the podium saying that Democrats should stop funding the war through tax money for nanotechnology weapons.
Kulongoski and DeFazio have helped to bring money and U.S. Department of Defense contracts to the University for weapons research, even though both have spoken against war, he said.
Eiden said he would probably vote for DeFazio, but his intention was to get DeFazio to be more honest about his stance on supporting the research and to get people to discuss the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute (ONAMI).
College Republicans Chairman Andrew “Shadow” Hill said he thought the rally was well organized but that the candidates’ messages were all hype.
Hill said he thought it was funny that the Democrats complained that the Republicans have controlled the Oregon House for the past 15 years, while the Democrats have controlled both the Senate and governorship.
“They keep talking about needing and spending more money for education, but the Democrats control the Senate and Kulongoski has been governor for the past four years,” Hill said. “What have they done?”
College Democrats President Ben Lenet, also a columnist for the Emerald, said the rally was a success. He estimated that roughly 200 people attended.
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