Campaign Kickoff Day

Today is June 24, 2007. In a meeting that offered few surprises, 10 people made the ritual poll to the podium to be nominated for Tribal Council. They were, in no order, other than my memory, as follows:
Me (Chris Mercier)
Angie Blackwell
Wesley West
Dean Mercier
Andy Jenness
June Sell-Sherer
Bernadine Shriver
Steve Bobb
Loretta Knight
Michael Haller

Because the rumor mill tends to run rampant in Grand Ronde, I basically knew of all but two of these people as candidates. Even one of the surprises I figured was kind of a toss-up. Every year we can count on one or two new faces. So there you have it.
Because I used to log onto GrandRondeRezNews.com frequently, where many became familiar with one of the candidates in particular, I can’t help but brace for some serious mudslinging. But I’ve been wrong before. However, often the greatest indicator of future behavior is past behavior. Wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen a smear campaign (see poor Ed Pearsall in 2003). I just hope Tribal members can see past that.
I attended a barbeque later this afternoon, one in no way affiliated with the Tribe or elections. A friend who lives in Grand Ronde approached me and asked if we had by any chance began our elections yet. I told him yes, to which he chuckled.
"I was wondering why people were putting up signs along Grand Ronde road," he told me. "They were out there hammering away."
He said it with that sense of amusement which outsiders often regard our Tribal elections. Until now I had never considered how odd the whole election season must seem to non-Tribal community members who don't follow the politics. Every summer signs just pop up out of nowhere, with names new to most of them. It must feel like walking into a movie theater half-way through the film. You know there's a lot going on here, but unless you go back to the beginning, you're never going to trully understand what is happening. There are plots, and subplots, and agendas. For those who really care, which is a lot of locals, it's practically a summer right of passage, reaching a peak in late July at ballots go out, and losing steam after the last light goes out on the pow wow grounds. Summer isn't summer in Grand Ronde without an intense Tribal election.
As odd as this may sound, I really look forward to this year's Tribal Council election, my own incumbency notwithstanding.