Medford CD2 Democratic Candidate Forum

Описание: #medfordoregon #democracy #oregon #democrats #2026

Medford Democratic Congressional Candidate Forum

On Sunday, February 1st, there will be a candidate forum with Mary Doyle, Dawn Rasmussen, Rebecca Mueller, and Patty Snow at the Oakdale Middle School in Medford. It starts at 12:30 PM.

One of these individuals will be going up against Cliff Bentz later this year.

While I’m keen to find out as much as I can from these candidates and I do plan to attend, I am not a Democrat. I won’t be voting in the primary.

Therefor, I don’t honestly feel like it’s appropriate for me to ask questions — not with, what I assume, will be plenty of registered Democrats in attendance.

I’d like to encourage those registered with the party and planning to attend to consider asking questions about plans for independent voter engagement, plans to campaign out east, etc.

Basically, I want to know how they plan to reach voters like me. While i myself am certain to cast my ballot for the Democratic candidate, other independents — who, perhaps, don’t fully appreciate the gravity of the situation or are overwhelmed by it — may decide to stay home.

We can’t afford that. Not if we want to at least feel like we’ve done all we can do.

Those of us who want to try to oust Bentz this year, against all odds, have to work directly against the endemic instinct by voters to abstain from the midterms.

Fact: We have more independent voters in CD2 than either Republicans or Democrats. We also have exceptionally low voter turnout. We can all speculate as to why, but that’s the reality.

I’m going to be honest: I was kind of hoping these four candidates would already be “louder.” Press releases, speeches, videos on social media, community events — an absolute glut of them, choking my social media feed. And not just asking for money.

I will acknowledge that someone working with Rebecca Mueller did take the time to read and craft an incredibly thoughtful reply to a recent Reddit post of mine. That’s not nothing. They think Mueller is worth the effort, even where it concerns an opinionated nobody like me.

I would also hope for some demonstrable sense of urgency. Not panic, but genuine and confident energy rising to meet the unbearable strain of the present moment. Not an immediate answer to every issue, but a clear unwillingness to stay quiet on the issues that matter as they explode on the local scene or national stage.

Seeing that would make me feel like they are actually ready to lead, and can really hit the ground running.

I guess, were I in the party, I would want these candidates to behave as though they were already in office — making statements on Pretti, on ICE funding, on The Dallas Watershed Act, etc. There’s not really any time to waste.

Maybe, Democrats and left-leaning independents like myself can agree that the stakes are truly that high. A handful of months to flip a decades-old red district and save American democracy.

Yeah, I mean it — the Democratic nominee this year might have their name printed on the last ballot ever cast in a free and fair American election.

We know the regime wants our voter rolls. They want to end mail-in ballots. They want to disenfranchise minority voters. They want to tamper with the machines, the election monitors. They have to.

Because if they don’t manage extinguish the Democratic Party first, the Republican Party will collapse on its own.