We all fall down.
For those not in the know, certified crazy person Art Robinson is seeking to outseat long-time Democrat Peter DeFazio in the race for Oregon’s 4th congressional district representative. The man sells and markets his own home-school system, in order to “Teach your children to teach themselves and to acquire superior knowledge as did many of America’s most outstanding citizens in the days before socialism in education.” He also founded the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, an organization known for promoting Robinson’s crazy home-school curriculum, and this:
Several members of the Institute’s staff are also well known for their work on the Petition Project, an undertaking that has obtained the signatures of more than 31,000 American scientists opposed, on scientific grounds, to the hypothesis of “human-caused global warming” and to concomitant proposals for world-wide energy taxation and rationing.
Totally. Nuts.
But according to internal polling, Robinson is not doing all that bad.* According to the Center for Responsive Politics (totally amazing organization, for the record), he has raised $947,640 to DeFazio’s $904,883. (Data as of September 30, 2010.) Not a big leap up, but $43,000 is nothing to scoff at.
Oh, and this doesn’t include television ads attacking Congressman DeFazio, which were bankrolled by the formerly-mysterious Concerned Taxpayers of America. As part of the decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the funders of the PAC did not need to reveal themselves — until this last Friday. It was then discovered that the Concerned Taxpayers of America could only technically refer to themselves in the plural — there are only two of them, and Robinson has since revealed that he only kinda sorta knows one of them.
Ultimately, the attack ads likely have nothing to do with getting Robinson elected. The Washington Post article linked to above states that DeFazio has a feeling his congressional decisions on hedge-fund legislation have something to do with it:
“I have been one of the most prominent critics of Wall Street and tried to call them to account,” DeFazio said. “I’ve obviously made some powerful enemies.”
Robert Mercer, one of the two “concerned taxpayers” who has also donated to the Robinson campaign, is the executive of Renaissance Technologies, a Wall Street hedge-fund that has the potential to suffer in the face of harsher hedge-fund legislation.
Basically, it’s a big mess. Special interests on top of special interests, money flying from hand to hand, television ads that have little semblance of truth . . . how do you navigate through the sea of propaganda and controversy?
Friends, you have the World Wide Web at your disposal. Before sending in your ballot, go and read election endorsements (specifically ours, which will be online this Sunday), research the candidates and the ballot measures, and make your own decisions. Your television is going to lie to you every time.
*I was one of the 300 likely voters called for this Art Robinson poll. “If you knew that Peter DeFazio eats babies, would you still vote for him? Push one for yes, two for no, three if you are unsure.” I’m being hyperbolic, but that was basically the name of the game.
