15 NOW PDX All Atwitter Over Bernie PDX Rally

The Pacific Northwest is as far off the beaten presidential Primary path as you can get, yet Bernie has chosen Seattle and Portland as his next stop. I believe that this move is part of Bernie's unique campaign for the presidency, trusting in the people and not a huge corporate war chest.

Bernie is revealing his positions on various issues with actual legislation, not position papers.  He has always been a hands-on kind of statesman who backs up his principles with real life solutions. No empty high flown rhetoric for him! In July, he introduced a bill to raise the Federal Minimum Wage to $15.

The PNW is ground zero in the grassroots effort for a $15 minimum wage. 15 NOW PDX is fighting the good fight and has introduced a state ballot measure to make a $15 minimum wage a statewide law after two bills in our Democratic legislature failed to pass.

I contacted someone with 15 NOW PDX. While not wanting to "toot their own horn", they share my excitement. If Bernie was to mention or even endorse the initiative 2016 ballot measure which at this point is on the brink of a ballot title, it could mean a tremendous boost to the state and national effort to end poverty wages.

Here is the latest word from 15 NOW PDX on the progress of this ballot measure:

With a mission to help end poverty wages in the State of Oregon, the $15 ballot measure is moving ahead at full-steam. On June 30, 2015 2,000 sponsoring signatures were submitted from all 36 counties across Oregon. With more than a 90% validity rate, the measure easily qualified for a ballot title and is currently awaiting any potential opposition challenges to the ballot title.

Once the ballot phase is over, volunteers from around the state will begin collecting the other 84,000 valid signatures needed to get on to Oregon's November 2016 ballot.

We couldn't be more pleased that Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced a bill to raise the federal minimum wage to $15, and we look forward to the added momentum his strong stance will add to the movement. We can win and make Oregon the first state to win $15, but we need your help!

There may be as many 15 NOW signs in the crowd as Bernie signs. Like all grassroots organizations, they could use a little love to make all those signs possible. You can contribute to their efforts here.

Judging from the response here locally where everyone is madly cadging rides, the venue may need to be moved to the Rose Garden which seats 20,000.