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I disagree. A minimal majority overrides all others. Nothing to stir up. A state with the Whizbang majority will give all its electors to Whizbang in the election. Nothing ever gets stirred up. The Whizbangs will always be on top.

posted 4 years ago
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I think the current system can discourage us from voting, as it does in any state that is heavily favored for one party.

If I am a member of the Whizbang party, which is a large majority in my state, I might feel that I don't need to vote because I know my state's electoral votes will go for the Whizbang candidate regardless.

posted 4 years ago
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When 98% of the campaigning goes on in those same 11 states every 4 years, that's a huge economic boost for only those states. When little campaigning goes on in the other 39 states, including Oregon, the rest of us lose out.

I'm not very interested in subsidizing other states unfairly (especially in the case where the candidate campaigns with federal matching funds).

posted 4 years ago
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That system was invented when there was no way for a rural voter to know the candidates. The intention of that system was that you would vote for your local elector, whom you trusted to make a decision in line with your interests.

It was a good system then. It's a terrible system now.

posted 4 years ago
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I think your argument is fighting against your own stance. Yes, if one baseball game in the World Series is 10-0, that's still only one win. But points aren't votes, and home runs can't feel disenfranchised.

The fact that the majority of the people in the US can vote for a person and that person can lose disenfranchises the majority. That is the bottom line, no matter what other arguments we may make.

posted 4 years ago
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Props to you, Tom. Well said.

posted 4 years, 1 month ago
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Harvey's is the largest standup club in town.

For improv, ComedySportz, The Brody Theater, and Curious Comedy Theater.

For sketch, Curious Comedy Theater.

For less "regular" sketch comedy, there are many community theaters that feature sketch show runs.

posted 4 years, 1 month ago
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As a member of the improv comedy scene here in Portland, I agree with the studio guests. The media here refuses to cover comedy. Did you know that the ComedySportz World Championships were held here last summer? If you did, you are either a regular follower of ComedySportz or you may have seen one of the tiny blurbs that were printed in the local papers.

Improv comedy thrives here with 3 successful improv-centric theaters, but without the media support in the community, we depend on word-of-mouth. When they have covered comedy in the past, the Willamette Week and Mercury often have used critics who admit to hating improv or standup. Even when they do like a standup comedian, they seem to prefer comedians who have niche, rather than broad, appeal. As a former standup who did not succeed because I didn't use broad appeal, I think that these papers don't get it.

Portland has exported many excellent improvisors to Chicago, the improv Mecca (Second City, IO Theater and Annoyance Theater all reside there). These fine comedians do successfully represent the fact that Portland has a superb sense of humor.

-Bill Cernansky

posted 4 years, 1 month ago
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