Suzanne Bonamici makes my choice easy

I got a mailer today for Suzanne Bonamici, the Democrat running for state house District 34. Over the course of roughly 20 endorsements in this mailer, Ms. Bonamici convinced me I should support her opponent, Joan Draper.

Let's run down the list, shall we?

• Suzanne Bonamici is an attorney. The last thing we need is another attorney in Salem.
• Suzanne Bonamici is endorsed by four members of the Beaverton School Board. This is the same school board that found it didn't need the second and third years of money from a three-year local option levy in year two, but only declined the last year of income. (Yes, that's better than taking all three, but this voter has a long memory.)
• Suzanne Bonamici is endorsed by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) -- you know, the people who are paid by our tax dollars. Why would this union endorse her unless they expected her to perpetuate the Democratic Party's long-running spending spree for public programs?
• Suzanne Bonamici is endorsed by the Oregon Education Association, the Oregon Nurses Association and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) -- all of them unions with a vested interest in extracting a high amount of spending from the legislature.
• Suzanne Bonamici is endorsed by Planned Parenthood -- do I even need to explain why this is a problem? PP has a vested interest in a pro-abortion legislature, one that won't impose any limitations whatsoever on PP's income stream, regardless of whether the public wants such common-sense provisions as a ban on pulling babies out by their feet and sucking their brains out with a vacuum.
• Suzanne Bonamici is endorsed by State School Superintendent Susan Castillo, who, I just saw, wants Al Gore to be the next president. What does that say about her judgment?

Now, Bonamici does have some interesting endorsements on the list, including the Oregon Business Association, the Oregon State Fire Fighters Council and the Credit Union Association of Oregon. After all, who could argue with business leaders, fire fighters or credit unions?

Well, in the case of the OBA, its executive director is Lynn Lundquist. Mr. Lundquist served in the state house of representatives, but if memory serves me right, he was not exactly known for his conservatism or for supporting his caucus despite the R next to his name.

The OSFFC turns out to be another union, which endorsed exactly one Republican in the state senate (Salem's Jackie Winters) and only six members of the GOP for the house -- not exactly bipartisan.

I find the CUAO endorsement interesting because Draper worked in the banking industry for years and I (having little knowledge about said industry) would think her background would make her a likely target of support by the CUAO. The information on the CUAO's endorsements is locked up behind a password, so I couldn't find out who else they endorsed, or why. But regardless, that hardly makes up for the long string of union hands stuck out in Bonamici's direction, expecting a handout upon election.

I'm voting for Joan Draper.