Athena Goldberg knows who her friends are.
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| Goldberg: Collecting a coalition |
She is a member of the tribe of politically engaged, women, unions, tenants, Democrats, liberals, pro-DACA, anti-racist, progressive activists.
She is with them.
Athena Goldberg has a web page and a Facebook page. The web page is just a token space, giving a brief biography, plus links to help people contact her campaign to donate or volunteer.
Her real web presence in in her Facebook page, Click: Facebook. It is here that she takes positions, allying herself with progressive activist groups and causes.
Her sole video is pinned to the top of the Facebook page. The video documents one big message, that she is with them. Video: Click Here. There isn't one word of policy. Policy is inferred by her association.
That is the pattern of the Goldberg campaign. Neither her web page nor her Facebook pages spell out policy in any detail They simply say whose side she is on--and that is the side of the traditional Democratic/progressive interest groups and positions. She adds her voice.
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| Video viewed 9,300 times |
The video is dead simple and any ten year old with access to an i-pad could have produced it or a better one in a few minutes using free movie-making software. It is soundless. It strings together bright, colorful photos: Goldberg at the woman's march in Medford, close-up of a sign with her name, Athena with a cute young girl, a smiling old man with an Goldberg button, the "I'm with her" sign, Goldberg being interviewed by a TV reporter, Goldberg hugging her husband, a scene of the Woman's march with a sea of pink hats.
Yet it is effective. It positions Goldberg the sole woman in the center of that vast body of Democratic voters who--it is assumed--will vote their gender--or at least vote for the person who shares their views on gender issues. There she is, visible in the center of it.
She is letting people know she is like them and with them. Yesterday, for some reason I don't understand, I kept getting an Calendar notice that informed me that Goldberg would be participating in a 5k and 10 mile fun run. Runners are a tribe. They get together, run together, know each other, and share stories of race times and knee injuries.
Her Facebook page shows photos of a house party at the home of a career social worker.
Tight with the liberal/progressive tribe. Goldberg's Facebook posts work through the common positions of people who dislike Trump and Fox News, i.e. Democratic voters. She condemns Wells Fargo for having created fraudulent accounts, she supports the Democratic plan on "Cap and Invest" on energy, she condemns high priced drugs and drug companies, she supports net neutrality. No surprises. You don't like bank fraud? Neither does she.
She solicits union support and says she is one of them. She is the candidate most likely to get union endorsement and financial support:
"I grew up in a union house. Without the nurses union fighting for her, my mom wouldn't have been able to put food on our table.
Our firefighters, police officers, and nurses need their unions to ensure they can continue their work. If they are able to succeed, then so will the rest of us."
She allies herself with the rising activity of tenants groups, people newly visible and active:
"The Oregon Legislature needs to pass a Tenants Bill of Rights to guarantee renters fair leasing contracts and to prevent them from being evicted from their homes without cause.
An Oregon family should never be kicked out of their home because of the unreasonable whims of their landlord."
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| House Party: Animated. Engaging. |
Athena Goldberg is a people person, not a policy person. Her web page has a one sentence description of her positions, and then a button. When a person clicks on the button, instead of getting detail, the reader is brought back to her biography. Her position statements are one sentence long!
But no matter. The people she allies herself with have detailed positions. If she is elected she will work with them.
But no matter. The people she allies herself with have detailed positions. If she is elected she will work with them.
Being a people person may be enough. She has charisma. She is likable. I watched he closely at a house party. Her knowledge of issues was shallow--she seemed quite unaware of how the decennial census worked--but it did not seem to matter. She communicated that she liked and cared about the people in the room and that she was on their side.
Can she win with a strategy of likability and affiliation? It may be the only winning strategy. An ongoing theme of this blog is that what voters care about is who the candidate really is, and whether the candidate is on your side. She is picking groups and positions with widespread appeal in a Democratic primary.
Can she win with a strategy of likability and affiliation? It may be the only winning strategy. An ongoing theme of this blog is that what voters care about is who the candidate really is, and whether the candidate is on your side. She is picking groups and positions with widespread appeal in a Democratic primary.
2 comments:
Energy, enthusiasm and lots of practical, working-class experience - 'Mr Smith Goes to Washington'?... Mrs Goldberg Goes to Salem?!
Interesting how may healthcare professionals are seeing this issue as an opener to public office.
She does state that healthcare is a right, which is a revolutionary idea that needs to be put into historical context, with other progress on civil rights. It's not necessarily a self-evident truth but with advocacy and persistence, like suffrage, it can be brought into the mainstream, which is the first step in changing the system. There are many practical reasons to argue for single payer, but the moral rationale is the one that leads the way.
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