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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Politics One Question Interview with Oregon's New Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici

Posted by Sarah Mirk on Tue, Jan 31, 2012 at 10:10 PM

With 54 percent of the vote (so far), say hello to your new Congresswoman, Oregon!

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Suzanne Bonamici has long been projected to win this race against Rob Cornilles, taking over the Congressional seat stretching from West Portland to Astoria that David Wu vacated mid-term last year.

The hustle and bustle of the campaign party after the results were called at 8pm tonight was pretty insane—as media swarmed the new Congresswoman, each reporter got the chance for only one question. Bonamici is only the state's fourth sixth female Congressional representative and tomorrow is a big celebration of women winning the right to vote in Oregon, so I asked her about WOMANHOOD.

One question interview:
MERCURY: How do you feel like being a woman has affected your political perspective?
SUZANNE BONAMICI: "I'm excited about the opportunity to represent this district. Being a woman doesn't have much to do with it, I didn't have any say in the matter. I think there are certainly a lot of young women who have this night as quite an accomplishment, because they want women around the table in leadership. But I've always said, I don't want people to vote for me because I'm a woman, I want them to vote for me because I'm qualified and because of the priorities we share."

Interesting!

That's a bit different than Governor Barbara Roberts' perspective, when I talked to her earlier in the evening about her thoughts on having a female representative for Oregon.

One question interview:
MERCURY: Do you think there will be an impact to having a woman, specifically, in our delegation?
GOV BARBARA ROBERTS: "It's been embarrassing to me to have an entire congressional delegation, no matter how good they were, without a single woman representing the gender that I belong to. This is a really important step for Oregon, to give us a better sense of representation for more than half of our population."

That's all! Goodnight!

 

Comments (14) RSS

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1
Wuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
Posted by Sūṕër Ḉḩüñdŷ on January 31, 2012 at 10:13 PM · Report
2
Suzy Wu is going to make David Wu look like Thomas Jefferson.
Posted by Andy from Beaverton on January 31, 2012 at 10:16 PM · Report
3
Correction: Suzanne Bonamici is the SIXTH woman to represent Oregon in Congress.

* Nan Wood Honeyman
* Maurine Neuberger
* Edith Green
* Elizabeth Furse
* Darlene Hooley
*Suzanne Bonamici
Posted by karichisholm on February 1, 2012 at 12:06 AM · Report
4
You have one question and you ask something about being a woman?

Posted by Wubbles on February 1, 2012 at 8:52 AM · Report
5
Too bad you couldn't have thought up a better question Sarah, but her reply was great anyway.
Posted by frankieb on February 1, 2012 at 9:02 AM · Report
6
@4 and 5..Bingo. No disrespect to you Ms Mirk, but really? I am not saying the question is irrelevant( it is not), but a little more would have nice.
Posted by The Showstopper on February 1, 2012 at 9:06 AM · Report
7
What's an "only question."?
Posted by # on February 1, 2012 at 9:36 AM · Report
8
All due respect to the kind readers of Blogtown, but if you've been paying any attention to the writing style of Ms. Mirk; this question should not surprise you at all.

If you’re looking for a newspaper with a different voice, or a different perspective, I can think of a few other local papers that may better suit your needs.

Thanks Mirk, I think that’s an interesting question. I also thought her answer was both interesting and a bit of a political dodge. A good clue to what we can expect from our new Representative.
Posted by Fruit Cup on February 1, 2012 at 9:56 AM · Report
9
We complain about traditional media not asking the right questions, but then the "alternative" media asks a question that really has nothing to do with the job/task at hand, which is *representation for all Oregonians within a district*, regardless of race or creed. I tend to side on the opinion that we should be asking our representatives for SPECIFIC implementations of their terms, and hold them accountable to those attempts.

Electing people of color or gender is a question for the *voters*, not the elected. Society elects colors and genders.
Posted by ₧ on February 1, 2012 at 10:10 AM · Report
10
I wanted to ask a question I haven't heard anyone ask yet—gender hasn't been an issue at all in this race, so I was interested in what her perspective was on it. I think her reply is telling about how she sees herself as a politician... definitely more telling than the boring soundbite answers you get to most questions on election night. It's difficult to get a politician to say anything on election night other than, "I'm excited to get to work and create jobs! Thanks to my supporters!" Besides, we already know all about her policy issues and priorities from the campaign and her voting record.

What would you guys have asked? I'm curious and always looking for good questions.

(confidential to Kari - thanks for the correction! I updated.)
Posted by s.mirk on February 1, 2012 at 11:21 AM · Report
11
What Committees she wants to get on?
Any ideas for legeslation she wants to pass?
Questions concerning representing the State of Oregon.
etc etc...
I met Barbara Roberts in a pub down in Sellwood once - she likes video poker. She had interesting stories about running for office while her father was dying, as well as being a woman Guv. She was damn near to tears telling me of her father.
One heck of a woman.
Posted by frankieb on February 1, 2012 at 11:36 AM · Report
12
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE MEEENNNNNNNNSSSSSSSSSS?!? WILL BONAMINCICNICI BE ABLE TO ACCURATELY REPRESENT MY NEEDS AS A MAN IN CONGRESS?!? IT DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER THAT I DON'T LIVE IN HER DISTRICT.
Posted by Graham on February 1, 2012 at 11:38 AM · Report
13
If gender hadn't been an issue at all in this race, why make it one?
Posted by Suburban Porn King on February 1, 2012 at 12:16 PM · Report
14
@Sarah, good point. I might have asked about Occupy Portland because it is a hot button topic, but as I posted early, yours was a valid question.
Posted by The Showstopper on February 2, 2012 at 12:25 PM · Report

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