The issues we’re fighting for
We support bold efforts aligned with our mission that we can meaningfully impact through local actions. Typically, this means local issues and campaigns that ladder up to national or global efforts. Endorsed candidates and campaigns will be democratically decided upon by members. We’re starting with backing the following efforts:
Transition Oregon to a single-payer healthcare system
Just like Oregon was the first state to vote by mail and decriminalize drugs, we can be the first state to implement a single-payer healthcare system, aka “Medicare for All”. Doing so would address equity issues on countless levels and be amazing for our economy. A constitutional amendment defining healthcare as a human right will be on the Oregon Ballot in 2022, so this is a very winnable effort in the next 2-3 years. Rural communities stand to benefit hugely from this, so it’s a uniting issue geographically.
Elect aligned congressional representatives and hold them accountable
While our focus is local, there are global issues like climate change that must be dealt with effectively at the federal level. Our most impactful way to do that is to influence the multiple congressional elections in 2022, including in the Democratic primaries for the 4th, 5th and 6th congressional districts in May.
Combat white supremacist movements on the rise
The economic establishment has used race to divide working people since the dawn of this nation. It’s increasingly happening in rural parts of Oregon. We must understand and on some level sympathize with economically marginalized rural white people in order to effectively inoculate them against white supremacist tactics. Doing this will help channel their angst towards solutions that actually benefit working people, not just their employers.
Credibly advocate for criminal justice reform
In 2020, Rhythm Nation organized to help Oregon pass a history-making drug treatment and decriminalization bill. It’s going to mean 9,000 fewer people, most of whom are minorities, from being arrested each year. If our state sets a positive example for the nation, that could mean around a million fewer arrests a year. For this to have a positive outcome statistically, we must ensure that people in our community know their rights and drug treatment options. We must also counter forces who wish to roll back this reform and prevent other much-needed criminal justice reforms.