A Portland Odyssey

For my Portland Odyssey project for English, I had planned on interviewing homeless people at St. Francis dining hall in southeast, but I created a better idea while talking to my mother this afternoon. It is no secret that Portland proper falls very left of center on the political spectrum. I think the ratio of Kerry- to Bush-voters was about 3:1 in the city during the 2004 election. Everyone has also had experience with those pesky petitioners at Pioneer Square or in the Park Blocks. My idea is to gain a first-hand experience with the city's political psyche and its attitudes on political tolerance by pretending to petition for a radical conservative cause, like replacing evolution in schools with intelligent design, eliminating the property tax, eliminating welfare, etc. I'm not sure if this is entirely legal (a permit might be required), but I think I'm going to give it a go. It's an interesting way to examine the extent to which political tolerance is acceptable.