If Tina Kotek’s Record Was Working, She’d Be Running on It

In Ben’s Viewpoint there is something revealing about Tina Kotek’s reelection advertisements.

For an incumbent governor asking Oregonians for four more years, remarkably little of her message talks about the results of the four years she has already had.

Instead, we get Donald Trump.

Trump and abortion. Trump and healthcare. Trump and vote-by-mail. Trump, Trump, Trump.

Rather than defend her own record, Kotek’s campaign has worked relentlessly to turn Christine Drazan into a stand-in for Donald Trump. Now former President Barack Obama has been brought in to warn Oregonians that their healthcare, reproductive rights and “ability to vote by mail” are on the line.

It is powerful advertising.

It is also remarkably misleading.

Christine Drazan is pro-life. That is no secret. She has supported abortion restrictions, and voters are free to disagree with her.

But saying Drazan has different views on abortion is very different from suggesting that electing her means abortion suddenly becomes illegal in Oregon.

A governor does not write Oregon statutes. Abortion protections are established in state law, and changing them requires legislative action. Drazan has also said plainly that, as governor, she would follow Oregon law.

Could she advocate for different policies? Certainly. Could she sign legislation passed by a future Legislature? Yes.

But that is a long way from the campaign message that your “reproductive rights are on the line” simply because Christine Drazan becomes governor.

Then there is vote-by-mail.

Drazan sponsored HB 3872, which would have given voters a choice to reinstate in-person Election Day voting while preserving mail ballots for voters unable to vote in person, military and overseas voters and others.

You may dislike that proposal, but it did not ban vote-by-mail.

And the part conveniently missing from these ominous campaign ads? The proposal would have been referred to Oregon voters for approval.

Apparently, letting Oregonians vote on how Oregon votes is now described as threatening democracy.

Even Obama’s carefully chosen warning that your “ability to vote by mail” is at stake goes further than the legislation itself. A famous messenger does not make an exaggerated claim more accurate.

”Hey Oregon, you know what’s on the line in this election? Your healthcare, your reproductive rights, your ability to vote by mail.”

“Obama isn’t here because Tina Kotek is strong. He’s here because somebody looked at the numbers and decided Tina needed a lifeline.”

Disagreement over how Medicaid should be funded quickly becomes campaign language claiming Drazan wants to “gut healthcare.”

I believe Oregon should protect a strong safety net for those who need it. But when roughly one out of every three Oregonians depends on the Oregon Health Plan, we should also be asking how we create more prosperity, better-paying jobs and greater private-sector opportunity so fewer families need government assistance in the first place.

That is the argument Drazan is actually making.

Her agenda focuses on jobs, housing, lower costs, economic competitiveness, government accountability and private investment. Kotek would apparently prefer to debate Donald Trump.

Which brings me to the question her advertising keeps raising:

What is Tina Kotek so afraid of?

Why must an incumbent governor spend so much of her campaign trying to convince voters that her opponent is secretly Trump in an Oregon pantsuit?

Maybe because fear is easier to sell than results.

Kotek has been governor for four years. Oregonians already know the problems facing this state. They live with them every day. There is no need to recite the list again.

The relevant question is much simpler:

Is Oregon working for you?

If Tina Kotek believes the answer is yes, she should be running on her record.

Instead, her closing argument appears to be that Christine Drazan is dangerous because Trump is dangerous, therefore Oregon must stay the course.

That isn’t much of a case for four more years.

Negative advertising works. Political consultants know it. Fear works. Famous surrogates work.

But Oregon’s future deserves something more substantial than guilt by association and carefully worded insinuations about things a governor cannot simply do by decree.

This election should be about Oregon — about results, about whether the direction we are traveling is working, and about whether we are willing to try something different.

I am supporting Christine Drazan because I believe Oregon needs that change in direction.

If Tina Kotek’s record were working, she would be running on it.

Instead, she’s running against Donald Trump.

That’s my viewpoint, leave yours in the comments, and if you agree, share.

We have one day left to get Oregon back on track. VOTE.