Oregon Rocks!

by Pa Rock
Proud Grandpa

* * * * *   Election Dispatch #7   * * * * *

My daughter and her family lives in Oregon.  Normally I make two trips to Oregon each year to see Molly and her family, but with the emergence of the pandemic, it has now been just over a year since I have been able to make that trip.

I worry about them.  Not only have they had to deal with the pandemic, this year there was also a long season of forest fires - some of which got uncomfortably close to their home.  A couple of days ago I read an article that said five states are at high risk for militia activity during this election season, and one of those was Oregon.  (The other four were Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin.)

Oregon has a lot of "progressive" individuals and is often in the forefront of progressive legislation.  The state has been reliably "blue" in presidential elections,   But a lot of that left wing thought and action comes out of Portland, the state's largest city.  Beyond Portland, the state has lots of small towns and big expanses of rural areas - and the attitude out there is decidedly more conservative.

Molly said that she had voted for Biden.  (I didn't ask, but she volunteered that and said that it was fine to mention it here.)   She also said that her oldest, Sebastian (age 13), had gotten very vocal on this election.  He has studied the candidates and has come to his own determination that Trump has some big character flaws.  Sebastian questions how people could vote for someone like Trump.  (His Missouri grandfather  wonders about that also!)

Molly said that she asked her eight-year-old daughter, Willow, who she thought would win the election, Willow quickly responded  "Oh Biden will.  He's in the lead.  He has a 63% chance and Trump has a 37% chance."   Molly, who was probably incredulous, asked Willow how she knew that, and my very bright granddaughter replied that she had just asked Alexa!

We could probably save a lot of time and money if we did away with elections and just let Alexa choose our leaders - and she could not possibly screw it up as badly as American voters did four years ago!

Stay safe, kids.  Pa Rock will see you soon!