This seems like a helluva good reason to stand up and do a slow clap for Commissioner Dan Saltzman’s re-election campaign. Because they’ve got a damned fine sense of humor over there.
As you well remember, the Mercury has decided not to endorse the four-term commissioner’s bid for a fifth term—backing his main challenger, Nick Caleb, instead. Seems they may have expected it, what with our early and in-depth coverage of Caleb’s signature issue, raising Portland’s minimum wage to $15 an hour.
But rather than let our snub bother them, Saltzman’s campaign clearly decided to have some fun at our expense. Because look which paper is featured SUPER PROMINENTLY saying something SUPER GLOWING in campaign literature mailed out this month:
It’s a glowing statement! It’s quoted accurately! It’s also not quite the whole story.
Though it looks like it maybe came from an endorsement writeup (the campaign implies it without saying so), it was a cherry-picked quote from an April story revealing Saltzman’s surprising failure, this year, to win the endorsement of the Portland Association of Teachers. It was among the only nice things we said in that story, and it served to set up the disconnect in a self-styled children’s champion enduring rejection from teachers.
Which isn’t something most people reading that quote on Saltzman’s mailer would necessarily realize or figure out. And that makes it look like we gave him our blessing—brilliantly using our own words to cancel out our non-endorsement—when, in fact, we didn’t.
I’ve called Saltzman’s campaign twice in hopes of getting some kind of explanation—first leaving a message with his campaign manager last week after a tipster sent us photos. So far, they haven’t replied.
Maybe they’d say it was a fluke. But I’ve got to believe it was on purpose, done with a wink and laugh. And I think I kind of respect them for it, too.
Done with a wink and laugh and middle finger, maybe. Not sure why you’d respect them for it.
Everyone wants in on that hot Merc action.
This is why you don’t bother saying nice things about the person you aren’t endorsing.
When Dan Saltzman says he’s for children and women, and then supports tax breaks for Nike and other big corporations, he is not for children.
Caleb is a 15 an hour person and I voted for him? I want min. wage to raise but not that high. This is Portland, not San Francisco. And we had really high unemployment for a couple years and kept bringing in more people with dubious skill. I worry about that metric. I mean, I won’t knock it if it works, believe me.
seanpdx, Nick Caleb has been talking openly about a $15 minimum wage all along. Nobody pulled the wool over your eyes here.
Moreover, your fears are not well founded. Although I’m not in favor of the version of $15 an hour that Mayor Ed Murray in Seattle is proposing, preferring the ballot measure that is kicking off there, this article does a good job of debunking the fear-mongering which has been going around.
http://www.salon.com/2014/05/07/worst_slate_take_ever_why_theres_nothing_ugly_about_a_15_minimum_wage/
Yeah, I read that Salon article, I think it mentioned standard of living as well. It makes me very nervous to think Portland will try this before seeing how it plays out elsewhere and I don’t understand why we don’t go for a happy medium. I have a two bedroom in a good neighborhood for a thousand bucks. Portland is not crazily expensive and most people here are not raising children. As for Caleb, in this race I went off the WW and Mercury endorsements, as I wasn’t too familiar with the candidates and none had solicited my vote.
I’m still going with the Cornell and MIT educated Saltzman.
I heard he was spotted holding his own lawn sign on the end of the Burnside Bridge today!
somebody is shook!
Your problem getting a reply from Saltzman’s campaign sounds like the problem I had getting a reply from his office when I asked for help last year. I called with a neighborhood zoning issue and got the sounds of silence from Dan Saltzman.
I’ll be impressed if caleb even gets 20 percent of the vote. We’re not all gibbering, unethical idiots like up in Seattle. I bet even most liberals understand the reckless lunacy of a 15 dollar minimum wage.
Jeez, I wish I could find a 2 bedroom house in a nice neighborhood for a grand. During my recent search I couldn’t find anything remotely reasonable this side of I-205 for under 1400, which according to the 30% rule, means that anyone who wants to live in a house should be making at least 56k a year. Even with your quaint $1000 house, you should be making 40k. The per capita income of the city is 22k, which, for me, says that yes Portland is an expensive place to live these days and a raise in the minimum wage is probably pretty damn warranted.
Google “Mark Weiner” and the term “total assfucker” and it might go some distance to explaining why the campaign isn’t returning calls about it’s direct mail efforts 🙂
This article’s dopey. The quote was accurate, so what’s your gripe exactly?
The Mercury ought to be flattered that somebody thinks your opinions are worth quoting.
Isn’t Caleb from Roseburg or Klamath Falls? Why doesn’t he try his grand 15 Now experiment down there first? I may be skeptical, as it is my understanding that at no time ever has such an increase, percentage-wise, in the minumum wage ever been attempted; but if his theory is right, it would work just fine in a smaller economy too.
euphonius, good point. At least Mercury is treating candidates better then WW. You are taking this well Denis, how come you are not having a tantrum and then showing people you are in charge and smarter than everyone else? 🙂