Together

Is there more that unites Oregonians than divides them? The simple answer is surely yes, though Oregonians may need a reminder.

“We hear especially in the media about how polarized we are — we are just kind of in camps and there are the liberals and the conservatives, the Democrats and the Republicans, the reds and the blues,” Adam Davis, the executive director of the Oregon Values and Beliefs Center, told a “What’s Brewing” meeting of Bend Chamber of Commerce Wednesday night.

Davis said a key takeaway from a statewide analysis by the nonprofit with more than 2,600 respondents is that there is a range of people’s values and beliefs, regardless of many demographic factors, such as where they live and their gender. There is common ground on issues such as campaign spending limitations, abortion, same gender marriages, government mostly being wasteful and inefficient and more, the center’s analysis shows.

“We need to shine a light on this, because we hear all about the things that divide us, but we don’t hear often about the things that unite us,” he said.

It means it is possible to formulate solutions to the state’s many challenges. If you were to represent all Oregonians and not just listen to those with the control of the political parties or those who can effectively project their voices, the state can make progress, Davis argued.

It smarted when Davis made a sweeping characterization that the media makes sweeping characterizations of Oregonians. Treating the media as monolithic makes Davis guilty of the same sort of generalizing about the media that he argues the media does when it generalizes about Oregonians. But, of course, his criticism cuts like a scimitar to a journalist, because he is nearly 100% correct.

There is much more detail about the Oregon Values and Beliefs Center analysis available here tinyurl.com/Oregonunited.