Flip the 6th (gameplay thread)

[If my soul was made of stone]

November 6, 2021 (Saturday): Activist Yuri Testikov begins his long-shot campaign for the Democratic nomination for Oregon's Sixth Congressional District with a rally at Oregon State, his alma mater, organized by left-wing student groups there with which he has maintained connections since his days as a student.

"I became passionate about environmental issues as a kid in Alaska when I noticed that the winters were getting warmer and less snowy every year. The polar regions have faced the brunt of climate disaster thus far, but soon enough the whole world will be feeling it. I came here to Oregon State a decade ago because I wanted to enter politics, make a difference for the dying world, and fight against the oil barons who've made a killing from raping my home state, and I emerged with the radical agenda that we need to fight back.

"We can only save ourselves and the rest of the biosphere through extreme, radical, imminent action that mainstream politicians bought out by corporate interests could never deliver. If you send me to Washington, I will immediately introduce legislation to outlaw fossil fuels within two years, invoke an immediate moratorium on the subsidies that keep that vampiric industry alive, and provide for massive investments in renewable energy paid for by massive cuts to the fascist forces of the military and law enforcement. The President's cancellation of the Keystone XL project was a step in the right direction and a deserved blow to Justin Trudeau, a feckless man with no principles or moral fiber who has devoted himself to deep-throating oil pipelines like a crack whore, but Joe Biden is too weak and afraid of corporate America to shepherd our nation through this pivotal moment in history and achieve a true fracturing of the Reaganite orthodoxy that has destroyed everything in its path in the name of enriching those most taken by avarice.

"A recovery from the destruction wrought by growth capitalism and imperialism on the world should be intersectional and emphasize the welfare of those most hurt by it. Growing up in the heavily Tlingit town of Hoonah, I witnessed firsthand the deprivation and vulnerability of Native communities amidst the great wealth brought by the state's ruthless exploitation of natural resources. I will fight to redistribute the blood money in which the most wicked people in this country are drowning to those who have been marginalized by those forces. I will lobby for greater federal assistance for Native reservations all across the country, including the Siletz Reservation here in our Sixth District, for students such as the lot of you who are growing up and preparing to face the death throes of supply-side capitalism and the biosphere, for Black communities brutalized by law enforcement (which I will aim to gradually abolish), and all people of this country who have been terrorized and live in fear of an uncertain future.

"It's true that we face a steep uphill climb to the nomination in this district, with both Republican fascism and Democratic neoliberalism ready to smear us at every opportunity. I have faith, however, that we can build a coalition of all those who have been left behind by this country by the time that primary season rolls around, a coalition that will show Washington that the people of the Beaver State are fed up with racism, fed up with poverty, and above all fed up with the wanton destruction of our planet by an elite class that refuses to take care of the rest of us.

"When Elon Musk takes off for Mars in thirty years, when Miami's underwater and all the redwoods on the Oregon coast have burned off, he won't be taking any of us with him. If y'all send me to Congress, though, we can tax the pants off of that sociopath, redistribute his wealth to restoring our most vulnerable communities, temper the worst excesses of climate disaster, and declare war on capitalism. None of the other Democrats running for this seat will do jack sh-t, and that's why they're so afraid of me. I alone represent the will to reclaim our future from the death spiral of capitalism. I alone represent the struggle of the people against the political and corporate overlords that have ruined everything they've touched in the name of enriching themselves. The forces of the crooked political establishment and their corporate masters are against us, but I believe that our movement could be the start of something transformative in this country and around the world. As much fear and trepidation and grief as I hold about the state of our country and this planet at large, I do believe that another world is possible, and that's why I'm running for Congress."

An ad is published in The Daily Barometer and the Corvallis Gazette-Times after the rally, clearly inspired by the campaigns of the Situationist International that Testikov is known to admire. It depicts the candidate in aviators and a sweatshirt, similar to the infamous FBI forensic sketch of Ted Kaczynski (perhaps aiming to capitalize on the recent online resurgence of interest in Kaczynski's philosophy). It bears the caption:

RECLAIM THE FUTURE
RECLAIM THE EARTH
RECLAIM LIFE

TESTIKOV FOR CONGRESS '22

[If my soul was made of stone]

November 14, 2021 (Sunday): Democratic candidate Yuri Testikov volunteers with Food Not Bombs Salem at Bush's Pasture Park, distributing campaign materials similar to the newspaper ads run in Corvallis to passers-by. Another ad is due to run in the Statesman Journal later this week. He greets minor police attention at the park with a raised middle finger and jeers. Some of the other volunteers are annoyed that he seems to be egging on the unwanted presence, but ultimately no police action is taken; some of the others, on the contrary, praise him for making his displeasure known. After the men in uniform dissipate, Testikov gives a short speech to passers-by on the park green:

"It is another of capitalism's daily unconscionable horrors that we must tolerate the same cops who take delight in brutalizing the poor and minority communities of this nation attempting to shut down a rare display of selflessness and aid to the disadvantaged. It is a dangerous myth that capitalism merely leaves alone those who fail by its merits; it also does all that it can to destroy them for daring to live outside of its standards. I am running for Congress to represent the new Sixth District because we should no longer have to bear living in a world where these abuses are accepted as facts of life. As we speak, I am writing a bill to implement nationwide police abolition that I will introduce on my first day in Washington if elected."

These words are met by a mixture of applause and abuse from the small audience.

"Ah, I see we have some chuds in the audience. Why don't the lot of you go back to skinhead country or the suburbs or wherever reactionary sh-thole you're from and stop impeding our vision for the future? I'm here to fight for an Oregon and an America where the petty atrocities that you take for granted are no longer weighing on our minds and destroying our most vulnerable, not one where you take delight in them."

[If my soul was made of stone]

Yuri Testikov's Schedule for December 2021

December 3 (Friday): Endorsement Interview with the Oregon League of Conservation Voters in Portland

December 6 (Monday): Interview with the editors of Willamette Week in Portland

December 9 (Thursday): Meeting with State Senator Peter Courtney in Salem

December 13 (Monday): Rally at Linn County Circuit Court in Albany

December 16 (Thursday): Meeting with State Representative Dan Rayfield in Corvallis

December 17 (Friday): Protest at Corvallis City Hall with Heart of the Valley DSA

December 20 (Monday): Meeting with the Tribal Council of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians in Siletz

December 22 (Wednesday): Rally at Newport City Hall

December 30 (Thursday): Meeting with State Representative David Gomberg in Neotsu

[If my soul was made of stone]

December 7, 2021 (Tuesday): Yuri Testikov airs a cryptic television ad for his long-shot candidacy for the Democratic nomination in Oregon's 6th Congressional District, on stations licensed to Portland and Eugene.

A line of oil pumpjacks is seen operating in front of a bold orange sunrise. Distorted aircraft sounds are heard in the background. After about twenty seconds, the footage suddenly cuts to black, replaced shortly thereafter by the following text on a pitch black background:

for radical ecological justice
testikov4congress.org

[If my soul was made of stone]

Janurary 8, 2022 (Saturday): Democratic candidate Yuri Testikov delivers an address in downtown Newport regarding his candidacy.

"I have sought the advice of some of the Sixth District's most notable politicians regarding my candidacy and they had two words for me: 'drop dead'. In my attempt to legitimize my candidacy in the eyes of Oregonians, show that I'm a politician who can deliver in Washington as well as a firebrand insurgent who can assemble a broad coalition of supporters, I only came once more to know the fundamental rot of the political establishment and their hostility to real change.

"A lesser man would've suspended his campaign after seeing all the pundits rake me over the coals for this, but I am not a lesser man. I have seen the grave need for true environmental, social, and economic justice in this country, and I will soldier on in my campaign to represent this district unfettered by the petty grievances of the political establishment. Over the next few months, I will devote myself to spreading my message all on my own, without any cronies seeking to advance moneyed interests in my name: a message of hope, that we can reclaim the future from greenhouse gases, open-pit mines, banks, and shareholders. A victory will be hard-fought, but it will be cathartic. Oregon is a vibrant and forward-thinking state, and I represent the concerns and values of a people who have grown tired of collapse, tired of big-tech utopianism trying to steal nature from us, tired of the coal and oil stooges in Washington who refuse to take action on the most pressing quandaries of our day.

"In my years in this state I have become the friend of so many grassroots organizations in this state, and it is on their strengths that I rest. Together, without the aid of a political establishment that has mocked and stepped on us, we can fight for something greater than our lot. I am proud to announce that my campaign is not over."

Testikov will appear at similar rallies in Corvallis, Salem, and Albany later in the month.

[If my soul was made of stone]

Schedule for February 2022:

2/9 (Wednesday): Rally at Oregon State in Corvallis
2/12 (Saturday): Rally at Willamette University in Salem
2/15 (Tuesday): Interview with the editors of the Newport News-Times in Newport
2/17 (Thursday) Rally at Yaquina Bay State Park in Newport
2/19 (Saturday): Attend Fisherman's Forum in Lincoln City
2/23 (Wednesday): Rally at Linn Benton Community College in Albany
2/28 (Monday): Meeting with Heart of the Valley DSA in Corvallis

Polling

6th District Generic Ballot
Democratic 44%
Republican 43%
Undecided/Other 13%

Republican Primary
Doyle Brooks 30%
Heather Cooper 25%
Dale Scott 24%
Ted Miller 5%
Undecided/Other 16%

Democratic Primary
Thomas Ryder 28%
Christine Jang 26%
Yuri Testikov 11%
Charlotte Adams 11%
Eric Talbot 5%
Undecided/Other 19%

Head-to-Head Matchups
Thomas Ryder (D) 46%
Doyle Brooks (R) 38%
Undecided/Other 16%

Christine Jang (D) 45%
Doyle Brooks (R) 40%
Undecided/Other 15%

Doyle Brooks (R) 41%
Yuri Testikov (D) 40%
Undecided/Other 19%


Thomas Ryder (D) 43%
Dale Scott (R) 42%
Undecided/Other 15%

Christine Jang (D) 42%
Dale Scott (R) 42%
Undecided/Other 16%

Thomas Ryder (D) 43%
Heather Cooper (R) 41%
Undecided/Other 16%

Christine Jang (D) 44%
Heather Cooper (R) 42%
Undecided/Other 14%

Statement published on Testikov's blog After Growth on February 7 (Monday):

"We have gained much momentum in the polls–so much for those writing off our candidacy as a hopeless long-shot. Polling against the leading Republican is within the margin of error, and we have plenty of room to gain among the Democratic base for the rest of primary season. Surely we can corral the Democratic coalition into line behind us if we win the nomination. Salem and Washington are about to see firsthand what a grassroots movement can do when united behind a true cause. The Alaskan upstart will teach this district, this state, and this country a lesson about the sanctity of what we so demeaningly call 'natural resources', as though they were ours alone."