What Really Happens: A Field Report on a staple of politics in America.
Governor Kate Brown comes to speak at a Rotary meeting in a small city.
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| I introduced Gov. Brown |
Oregon Governor Kate Brown spoke at a Rotary meeting in Medford, Oregon yesterday. This is a bedrock element of political life in America. I have been to well over a hundred of such events, but every one is a little different and not every politician handles them the same way. Here is what happened at this one.
Arrangements: Rotary is an international organization set up as a collection of local clubs. The Medford Rogue Rotary Club has about 200 active members, of which about 90 attend a typical weekly meeting, set for noon on Wednesday. The meetings start at 12:10 and end promptly at 1:15--an hour and five minutes. The club consists of business and professional people who are "civic minded". It provides an opportunity for service projects (help nonprofit groups, improve playgrounds, clean up drinking water in Central America, eradicate polio). It provides fellowship for its members. It is a kind of secular church congregation.
Kate Brown's office arranged a speaking date because she was in town on other matters. Because she had a flight to catch she needed to leave the meeting at 12:55 so the club accommodated that schedule by having her speech be early on the agenda as opposed to the normal meeting format.
There was a packed house. I counted 210 people in attendance. Rotary members are aware of the upcoming program speaker. Governor Brown drew a crowd.
Cameras from three local television stations were there to film the event, for use on their evening news shows.
Greetings and photos: Governor Brown was gracious and friendly. This is common but not universal among politicians. (Hillary Clinton, for example, is friendly and appropriate, but not noticeably warm. Rand Paul is decidedly cool. Bill Clinton is deeply and penetratingly engaging, even in a ten second encounter.) Kate Brown made close eye contact. She smiled warmly. She wasn't just happy to and willing to be in photographs, she leaned into it and appears to love it.
She was introduced briefly by a Rotarian: I introduced her. (The club president called to ask me if I would do it. He knew that I knew Kate Brown and would enjoy the opportunity.)
He forwarded to me a suggested introduction, sent to him by Brown's staff. The introduction would have been embarrassing to the Governor had I read it verbatim because it read like campaign grandstanding. It began, "Kate Brown, Oregon's 38th Governor, has over 25 years of experience in standing up for working families and making government more accountable. As Governor, she's signed legislation improving the state's education system. . . ." I ignored the recommended speech and listed her previous jobs: State Senator, Senate President, Secretary of State, now Governor, noted humorously that she had graduated from a PAC 12 rival, the U of Colorado, that she lived in public housing (the Governor's mansion) and that I had tossed her staff's recommended speech.
She spoke for 20 minutes, listing policy achievements. Her speech began with an example of her taking some personal initiative that allowed a state regulation to be met which allowed a disrupted family in foster care to stay together.
The Dias setup: A head table with six people. A lectern set on the table. Screens for power point on either side. The head table is elevated about 24 inches. The crowd is seated at round tables of ten. There are Rotary flags and insignia behind the head table. There are no surprises here if one is familiar with a Rotary or Kiwanis type event. This is the standard setup world-wide.
Surprise Event: As people stood to applaud at the end of her speech a group of a dozen people holding signs quietly entered the room. These were activists opposing a proposed natural gas pipeline which would connect a major north-south natural gas line located about 75 miles east to the Oregon coast port of Coos Bay. It would run through Jackson County. I used this group as an example of the activist and uncompromising environmentalist who are an important--possibly essential--part of the Democratic activist base.
I wrote yesterday that these activists are both a benefit and a challenge because their ethic is to "hold their feet to the fire" to make certain Democrats meet their wishes. Their tactics are to be visible and mildly disruptive. After entering the room silently one of their members began shouting out to the Governor: "We want a meeting! We want to meet with you. We are citizens and we want to discuss the pipeline with you." Brown said, "Of course, I am happy to meet with you." The protester said, "We want a meeting." There was a moment of growing tension. The club president called out that this was a private meeting and that they were not invited, that we had a meeting in progress.
TV cameras focused on them.
One of their members called out to the crowd, "All of you, please stand if you oppose the Jordon Cove pipeline!" One or two people in the audience near them stood. The rest remained seated.
They began filing out. They were there about 3 minutes.
They were a surprise, their entry into the meeting was disruptive, but only briefly so. They stayed on the side of the large room. It could have been worse. They could have brought drums or other noise makers and fully disrupted the meeting. They could have started loud chants. They did not. But their appearance, with the brief disruption and their signs, would dominate the local TV news because people moving with signs are visually more interesting than a speaker behind a lectern. The local newspaper story mentioned the disruption, but it was low in the story.
This kind of visible disruption has become a pattern for moving their agenda.
Anti-pipeline strategy: push vulnerable Democrats. There were sign-carrying people at the Town Halls of Senator Wyden and Congressman Walden. Demonstrators with anti-pipeline signs picketed in the street in front of a fundraiser for Brown that I hosted at a winery during her campaign last summer. A smaller group, but with a giant sign, picketed my house last summer when I hosted a fundraiser for Senator Jeff Merkley, who opposes the pipeline. Their pickets said that Merkley was friends with a Colorado Senator who supported fracking. Kate Brown's Republican opponent was an outspoken supporter of the pipeline, while Brown, like fellow Democrat Wyden, is staying neutral.) The anti-pipeline strategy is clear: disrupt events for Democrats to try to push them into open, enthusiastic total opposition to the pipeline. Republicans are a lost cause, but Democrats are vulnerable to losing environmentalist support if they are not sufficiently on board, so Democrats are susceptible to political pressure.
Summary: A good day for Kate Brown. She communicated that she was confident, a strong speaker, that she was willing to meet warmly her constituents, and that she could draw a crowd. There were widespread comments after the meeting that the group had a full house, that it was great to see every table filled, etc.
The fact that she drew and held the attention of the crowd will strengthen her reputation.
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| Gov. Brown stepped right up for photos. |
Kate Brown's office arranged a speaking date because she was in town on other matters. Because she had a flight to catch she needed to leave the meeting at 12:55 so the club accommodated that schedule by having her speech be early on the agenda as opposed to the normal meeting format.
 |
| Warm, good eye contact. Lots of these photos. |
Cameras from three local television stations were there to film the event, for use on their evening news shows.
Greetings and photos: Governor Brown was gracious and friendly. This is common but not universal among politicians. (Hillary Clinton, for example, is friendly and appropriate, but not noticeably warm. Rand Paul is decidedly cool. Bill Clinton is deeply and penetratingly engaging, even in a ten second encounter.) Kate Brown made close eye contact. She smiled warmly. She wasn't just happy to and willing to be in photographs, she leaned into it and appears to love it.
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| The Governor and Michelle Blum Atkinson |
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| The Governor and Kevin Stine |
She spoke for 20 minutes, listing policy achievements. Her speech began with an example of her taking some personal initiative that allowed a state regulation to be met which allowed a disrupted family in foster care to stay together.
The Dias setup: A head table with six people. A lectern set on the table. Screens for power point on either side. The head table is elevated about 24 inches. The crowd is seated at round tables of ten. There are Rotary flags and insignia behind the head table. There are no surprises here if one is familiar with a Rotary or Kiwanis type event. This is the standard setup world-wide.Surprise Event: As people stood to applaud at the end of her speech a group of a dozen people holding signs quietly entered the room. These were activists opposing a proposed natural gas pipeline which would connect a major north-south natural gas line located about 75 miles east to the Oregon coast port of Coos Bay. It would run through Jackson County. I used this group as an example of the activist and uncompromising environmentalist who are an important--possibly essential--part of the Democratic activist base.
I wrote yesterday that these activists are both a benefit and a challenge because their ethic is to "hold their feet to the fire" to make certain Democrats meet their wishes. Their tactics are to be visible and mildly disruptive. After entering the room silently one of their members began shouting out to the Governor: "We want a meeting! We want to meet with you. We are citizens and we want to discuss the pipeline with you." Brown said, "Of course, I am happy to meet with you." The protester said, "We want a meeting." There was a moment of growing tension. The club president called out that this was a private meeting and that they were not invited, that we had a meeting in progress.
 |
| Protesters on the side entered as her speech ended |
TV cameras focused on them.
One of their members called out to the crowd, "All of you, please stand if you oppose the Jordon Cove pipeline!" One or two people in the audience near them stood. The rest remained seated.
They began filing out. They were there about 3 minutes.
They were a surprise, their entry into the meeting was disruptive, but only briefly so. They stayed on the side of the large room. It could have been worse. They could have brought drums or other noise makers and fully disrupted the meeting. They could have started loud chants. They did not. But their appearance, with the brief disruption and their signs, would dominate the local TV news because people moving with signs are visually more interesting than a speaker behind a lectern. The local newspaper story mentioned the disruption, but it was low in the story.
 |
| Signs |
This kind of visible disruption has become a pattern for moving their agenda.
Anti-pipeline strategy: push vulnerable Democrats. There were sign-carrying people at the Town Halls of Senator Wyden and Congressman Walden. Demonstrators with anti-pipeline signs picketed in the street in front of a fundraiser for Brown that I hosted at a winery during her campaign last summer. A smaller group, but with a giant sign, picketed my house last summer when I hosted a fundraiser for Senator Jeff Merkley, who opposes the pipeline. Their pickets said that Merkley was friends with a Colorado Senator who supported fracking. Kate Brown's Republican opponent was an outspoken supporter of the pipeline, while Brown, like fellow Democrat Wyden, is staying neutral.) The anti-pipeline strategy is clear: disrupt events for Democrats to try to push them into open, enthusiastic total opposition to the pipeline. Republicans are a lost cause, but Democrats are vulnerable to losing environmentalist support if they are not sufficiently on board, so Democrats are susceptible to political pressure.
 |
| Outside my home. Protests at your friends, too. |
Summary: A good day for Kate Brown. She communicated that she was confident, a strong speaker, that she was willing to meet warmly her constituents, and that she could draw a crowd. There were widespread comments after the meeting that the group had a full house, that it was great to see every table filled, etc.
The fact that she drew and held the attention of the crowd will strengthen her reputation.
2 comments:
Thanks for the report. As someone new to the sate I'm still getting up to speed about the issues and the politicians. It would seem that Oregon is at a crossroads where development and the environment are at odds. In every society there are those whose greed and drive push them to build and profit, no matter what the cost or damage and this state is no exception. So far I don't see the general benefit of the LNG pipeline project to the overall economy of the state, and it certainly is a symbol of environmental indifference.
The politicians are waiting to see how much opposition develops while keeping their distance, likely hoping to get some cover so they can comfortably oppose what could become an environmental disaster.
Must read.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-election-exclusive-idUSKBN17L2N3
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