Bend’s Telfer running for treasurer as an Independent →

Taylor W. Anderson writing for The Bulletin:

Chris Telfer, a former Republican state senator and accountant from Bend, told The Bulletin on Thursday she plans to run for treasurer as a newly registered member of the Independent Party of Oregon.

This election season is going to be important since it will create a baseline for Independent Party candidates for the next five years or so. The quality of candidates chosen will affect the quality of candidates available to Independents for a while.

Welcome to Election HQ →

Election news and data is not hard to find. What's missing is one place to organize it all. I'm trying to fix that.

I originally built Election HQ for myself. I grew tired of constantly re-researching information about Oregon elections. I want an easy place to keep tabs on who is running (or not running) for what offices, voter registration numbers, and the latest polling.

I've spent a few weeks polishing Election HQ and I now feel that it's good enough to release to the rest of the political nerds. I will post important election coverage as I see it and update the HQ on a weekly basis (if not more often). I have plans to expand Election HQ as we get closer to the election. I hope you like it.

Nothing Is More “Conservative” Than Birthright Citizenship → →

Make no mistake, eliminating birthright citizenship would require an overthrow of established traditions. It implies a reckless urge to break down ancient legal principles without inquiring why those traditions existed in the first place. In short, it requires precisely the sort of thing conservatives are supposed to be against.

I am a fan of birthright citizenship. America is the greatest country in the history of the world. Birthright citizenship is a reminder to all who are born here of that. Birthright citizenship reminds us that we can be great simply because we were born in America. While you might disagree, I believe it's that kind of confidence that inspires American greatness.

AT&T Helped U.S. Spy on Internet on a Vast Scale →

While it has been long known that American telecommunications companies worked closely with the spy agency, newly disclosed N.S.A. documents show that the relationship with AT&T has been considered unique and especially productive. One document described it as “highly collaborative,” while another lauded the company’s “extreme willingness to help.”

All telecomm companies are bad. AT&T is worse.

Poll shows Oregonians back “clean fuels” →

Saul Hubbard at The Register-Guard:

Oregonians strongly back the state’s soon-to-be-implemented low-carbon fuel standard and are unlikely to support efforts underway to repeal or weaken it, according to a new poll released this morning by supporters.

This is the poll mentioned in the article. I'm working on a bigger piece explaining different kinds of polling. For now just take note of two thing: 1) the poll is paid for by supporters of the clean fuels program 2) the poll doesn't have crosstabs showing the underlying data.