Matt Wingard has been a bad boy.
The Republican candidate for the state legislature from Wilsonville conceived a child out of wedlock, broke with his girlfriend, and then struck his seven-year-old son on the head in a fit of anger. He pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charges filed against him, but then maneuvered to have the conviction "expunged" from the public record.
The incident surfaced after Wingard decided to run for office and some Republicans aren't happy about it. They've publicly withdrawn their support of his candidacy.
Me? I don't really care. We've all done bad things in our lives. And we all keep secrets. If an unblemished personal life becomes the standard by which we judge political candidates, our legislative chambers would go empty.
There are, however, compelling reasons to hope Matt Wingard is not elected to the Oregon House. And not just because he's a Republican.
Among those reasons is Wingard's involvement with the libertarian Cascade Policy Institute's School Choice Study Group, which launched a campaign to increase taxpayer-funded school choice for students throughout Oregon. Allied with such groups as the Black Alliance for Educational Options, which advocates for school vouchers and considers school choice for poor and black students a civil rights issue, the group has testified to the state legislature, so far unsuccessfully, for increased choice.
Putting Wingard in the legislature where he could lobby behind the scenes for the same school privatizing schemes he testified for openly seems to me a very bad idea.
Like Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, Wingard is libertarian at heart. That means he is fundamentally anti-government, anti-tax, and anti-public school. He ran charter school advocate Rob Kremer's failed bid for state Superintendent of Public Education. He also served as Executive Director of Oregonians for Jobs and Power which opposed the city of Portland's attempted takeover of Portland General Electric some four years ago.
In true libertarian fashion, Matt Wingard believes everything is better off in the hands of the private sector and away from the influence of government. That includes state regulated monopolies like PGE, with rates far higher than those paid by customers of public utilities.
It also includes public schools, which libertarians claim are a government monopoly. Thus the incessant clamor for charters, vouchers and other shifts, subtle and otherwise, toward the privatization of education.
So, no, I'm not concerned with Wingard's personal ethics. Neither is Rob Kremer. There we agree.
We disagree profoundly, however, on the policies Wingard would represent in the state legislature. And therefore I urge the good people of Wilsonville and environs to vote for whoever his opponent is in the upcoming election.
Really, you're not concerned about a pattern of abuse that may permanently damage another human life, his off-spring no less. Are you kidding me?! I appreciate that you bring up other legitimate reasons not to vote for him but some "indiscretions" are so serious that they definitely have to be considered in assessing a person's overall ability and suitability for a public position. He beat and routinely abused his child and then downplayed it. He lost his parental rights for several years for God's sake. I am a mother and I cannot possibly imagine ever assaulting or abusing my kids, mentally and/or physically. It's beyond sickening.
Posted by: Sally | November 02, 2008 at 07:41 PM
Just FYI, Matt Wingard is up to some pretty interesting tricks down in Salem. Might want to take note.
http://www.leg.state.or.us/press_releases/wingard032609.pdf
http://www.leg.state.or.us/09reg/measpdf/hb2700.dir/hb2754.intro.pdf
Wingard also details his role in Oregon Connections Academy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejtkn2lIVpM&feature=related
The Libertarian brand of equity.
And he'll show his views on global climate change here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2YDp3fMpkg&feature=related
"By simply believing in the power of choice..." -Wingard
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