Fixing Oregon's Blind Spot

What's next for the Oregon Roundup

Dear Oregon Roundup reader/listener:

Oregon has a political blind spot caused by the ideological, partisan and cultural allegiance between the Democrats who run our state and the progressives - and they are nearly all progressives - in the media who cover them. The blind spot results in a massive disconnect between what voters actually care about - homelessness, crime, affordability, good jobs, drugs, honest governance - and what our elected officials do about it.

I believe, and polling supports this belief, that most Oregonians from all over the political spectrum know things are going poorly here. They know it in their gut. But the blind spot leaves them unable to turn what they know into action to change the course of our state. The blind spot deprives them of a complete view of what’s happening in Oregon, why it’s happening, and who’s responsible. The blind spot is a big part of why Oregon voters are enormously unhappy with the leadership of our state, but keep electing the same people to lead our state. Elected Democrats and their allies in the media willfully blur or distract from reality when reality departs from a narrative consistent with their political and ideological preferences.

The Oregon Roundup is going to help fix the blind spot. Since the inception of the current iteration of the Roundup in January 2021, I’ve tried to shed light on what I see as reality: the mismatch between facts and Kate Brown’s Covid response; the counterproductivity of Oregon’s approach to homelessness; the central role Oregon’s land use system has in the unaffordability of our state; and the state-wrecking spiral of tax-and-fund-public-sector-unions that drives every facet of our state government.

The Oregon Roundup is going to do more. Going forward, we will focus more on how the broader themes above are reflected in and affected by what’s happening right now. We will help fix the blind spot by showing how the bills that are moving in the upcoming legislature will make things worse, rather than better (because most of them will), and how members of the cabal that governs us protects their own at Oregonians’ expense.

This new focus is evident in the series on Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan, which began earlier this week. It is also evident in the hiring of new Roundup correspondent Joseph Gomez, who wrote a great piece about Kate Brown leaving a wake of prison releases on her way out the door. The Roundup Podcast now incorporates interviews with people who bring a unique perspective to Oregon politics, policy and the economy. (Don’t miss the episode that comes out later this morning - it’ll leave an impression, I promise).

This and much more (I have big plans) will be done in a way that honors what I think is the Oregon Roundup’s brand: opinionated but thorough, logical, accurate and accessible to a broad ideological array of readers. To cure the blind spot, we cannot preach only to the choir.

Don’t fret. The Roundup’s new focus will supplement, not replace, whatever one calls the mixture of stuff I write about weekly. The new Roundup will still have the (attempted) humor and quirky stuff and national items from time to time, but it will also carry a bigger institutional punch.

All of this takes resources. The Oregon Roundup is far from a money-making endeavor for me, and I do not intend or need it to be. But continuing to grow the Roundup’s capability to fix the blind spot takes bringing more people and more resources into the fold, which takes money. The Roundup needs to be a functioning, sustainable business to have the kind of effect it needs to have.

You’re already helping by reading and listening to the Oregon Roundup’s offerings. Thank you for that. If you’d like to do more to help us expand our impact, here are three ways to do it.

First, you can join the distinguished ranks of paid Oregon Roundup subscribers simply by clicking below. MANY of you have told me you need to subscribe at some point. If you’re one of those people, or if you’re one of those people who thinks it but has not told me, now’s the time to get off the fence. Subscription plans start at just $5 per month or $50 per year. Every dollar we receive will go into expanding Oregon Roundup’s reach and impact.

Second, you can share this or other Roundup posts on social media or simply forward them to people you know, and suggest they become free or paid subscribers. The more people who see Oregon Roundup stuff, the bigger an impact we have.

Finally, if you have any questions about the Oregon Roundup, our plans, how you can help, or anything else on your mind, you can respond to this email, which results in an email directly to me, or email me at jeff@eagerlawpc.com.

Thank you again for being an indispensable part of the Oregon Roundup community. I couldn’t do any of this without you. My work on the Roundup has deepened my passion for writing and disseminating news and opinion. We have something special here, and I look forward to doing more, much more, to improve the state and country we love.

Jeff