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!

In this 90-minute double episode, Nick and James welcome two guests, return guest Xander Almeida and newcomer Peter Halajian to pick apart the Oregon Republican Platform over a full bottle of scotch and develop a strategy for influencing the upcoming ORP Platform Convention.

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.