The Rational Republican

James and Nick welcome Norman Turrill who is the President of the League of Women Voters Advocacy Fund and one of the chief petitioners for People Not Politicians which is a ballot measure designed to set up a bipartisan commission to redraw district lines after every census.

James and Nick welcome Martin Mederios, a local author, speaker and attorney who specializes in negotiation and persuasion. The goal was to talk about Martin's specialty but we ended up talking about vaccines, logging and autonomous vehicles.

In this episode James and Nick welcome Alexander Flores, 2018 Republican candidate for Oregon Senate District 15. We talk about issues that affect the Latino community in Oregon and how the GOP can be more friendly to Latino voters.

James and Nick welcome Karl Rohde, an openly gay local politician who also happens to be a Republican. We talk about how Karl became a Republican and why he has decided to stay in the era of Trump. We also touch on morality and how it plays a part in modern politics. Also, be sure to attend the Red Dress Party next year at Veterans Memorial Coliseum the third weekend in May.

James and Nick welcome back Xander Almeida and friend-of-the-pod Jacob Vandever to discuss the Democrats' priorities for the environment.

Nick couldn't make it, but James, Xander and Peter take a stab at Article 2 of the DPO Platform. We discuss a lot of issues on the topic of education and the government's role in educating our children.

James and Nick welcome back Xander and Peter, our guests from the ORP Platform Convention podcast to take on another important document: the Democrat Party of Oregon platform. This will end up being a series so stay tuned for several more podcasts, each dealing with an article of the platform.

James and Nick welcome Deputy Secretary of State and former State Representative Rich Vial. We talk about partisanship Oregon, priorities in the SoS office and how we can do better.

In the third and final episode of our trip to Bend, Nick and James welcome former Bend mayor Jeff Eager in what ends up being a pretty technical discussion about the state of the Party and what it takes to win.

The second of three podcasts recorded during our Bend trip, James and Nick welcome Frank Patka who runs a non-profit called Changing Patterns which helps to get former inmates integrated back into society through employment and support. We talk about what's wrong with the prison system in Oregon and what steps we can take to reduce recidivism and help people who have paid their debt to society.

James and Nick met each other through their work on the Knute Buehler gubernatorial campaign and it's been an unofficial goal of this podcast to one day interview Dr. Buehler. The opportunity finally presented itself so Nick and James took a trip to Bend and this is the result!

James and Nick welcome Brooke Gray, executive director of Embrace Oregon, a nonprofit that helps children in foster care and foster families in the state of Oregon.

James and Nick welcome the 2016 Republican candidate for State Treasurer, Jeff Gudman. We talk about the Treasurer position, what the race was like, and how Republicans can win elections in the future.

Have you been wondering about this Oregon Senate walkout that's been taking place the past few weeks? How is Oregon politics ending up on national and international news? Hear The Rational Republican's take along with our first repeat guest, Xander Almeida.

In this episode, James and Nick welcome author Jeff Reynolds to talk about HB3063 which would have limited parents' ability to decline vaccinations on behalf of their children. Jeff is the former chair of the Multnomah County Republican Party and is heavily involved in Oregon politics.

A preview of Rep. Daniel Bonham's podcast: Mainstreet Politics. Rep. Bonham has a talent for recruiting amazing guests to his podcast, I would highly encourage our listeners to subscribe if you're looking for even more Oregon politics.

James and Nick are honored to welcome our first sitting State Legislator, Rep. Daniel Bonham. We talk about what it's like to be in the super-minority and touch on a variety of topics that are impacting Oregon right now.

In the final episode of our Dorchester series, James and Nick talk with Allen Alley about his experience as the Oregon Republican Party chairman and everyone's favorite subject, PERS. Allen was 2-time candidate for Governor and has been involved in Oregon politics for decades.

In this episode, James and Nick welcome Robert Schwartz, former candidate for State Representative and requester of Senate Bill 801 which would have allowed schools to teach elementary students what to do if they encounter an unsecured firearm. We talk about problems with the current system and what we would do to prevent gun deaths without infringing upon the rights of law-abiding citizens to own...

In the third installment of the Dorchester series, James and Nick interview Julie Parrish and Larry Morgan. Julie is a 4-term State Representative who was in office from 2010 through 2018 and Larry is a former city counselor for the city of Troutdale and has worked on several high-profile Republican campaigns, despite being a Democrat.

James and Nick welcome Dr. Satya Chandragiri, a psychiatrist running for Salem-Keizer School Board. Dr. Satya shares his experiences treating mental health around the world as well as what he hopes to accomplish on the School Board.

In the second episode of our Dorchester series, James and Nick have a discussion with Gary Wilhelms, former Oregon legislator and one of the authors of the Oregon "kicker" and with Dr. Eric Fruits, a Professor of Economics at Portland State University and contributor at the Cascade Policy Institute.

American hero Alek Skarlatos joins Nick and James to talk about guns, forest management and what it's like to become an international celebrity overnight. Alek gained notoriety when he, along with 2 of his best friends, stopped a terrorist attack on a train bound for Paris in 2015. His actions were immortalized in the film "The 15:17 to Paris" where Alek played himself.

In this episode, James and Nick welcome Xander Almeida who was instrumental in removing anti-LGBT language from the Oregon Republican Party platform in 2009. We talk about what else we would change in the party platform and briefly discuss our favorite Democrat for president.

James and Nick welcome Russ Casler to discuss the Oregon public employee retirement system (PERS). We talk about the history of how PERS began, the current state of the program, what the problems are, and what can be done to fix it.