This episode lands one week after Dr. Melissa Bird (drmelissabird.com), a Shivwits Band of Southern Paiutes descendant, social worker, lay preacher in the Episcopal Church, and first-time congressional candidate, lost her Oregon primary — and immediately committed to running again. Nick Paro, Walter Rhein, and Margaret Williams host. Bird ran in Oregon’s second-largest congressional district (six counties, nearly the full Oregon coast), pulled “almost 21,000 votes” and 21% of the vote against the incumbent, and raised over $75,000 from more than 800 donations while refusing corporate money. Her opening point is the one the rest of the conversation orbits: a working-class, Native, queer, openly bisexual woman married to a disabled veteran is not “unelectable” — that label is a capital structure, not a verdict from voters.
Bird argues the loss is not a verdict on her policy or her presence either — her team did “hundreds of events,” reached 40,000+ voters by phone or at the doors, plus another 5,000–7,000 at events they did not log — and she frames the result as a fear-of-change reflex inside a closed primary system. Roughly 43% of Oregon voters are unaffiliated via motor voter registration, she notes, and they were locked out of the Democratic ballot entirely; she ran into the same wall hundreds of times on the trail with people who told her, “I couldn’t vote for you,” after never registering with a party. Walter pulls the conversation into media capture: the only legacy coverage Bird got was a single late KLCC NPR spot and a pre-election mention, while the local “progressive” weeklies in Eugene and Corvallis endorsed the incumbent. Bird drops the receipt that frames the whole episode — Axios reported the incumbent received roughly $300,000 in independent expenditures from a Pro-AI PAC tied to OpenAI and Palantir alumni a week before the primary. Nick argues this is why independent media matters: the algorithm and the legacy outlets together protect the incumbent the corporate money has already chosen.
The closing stretch is the practical playbook. Bird tells listeners to register, read the voters’ pamphlet the day it arrives, treat endorsements as a measure of an organization’s willingness to talk to a candidate rather than the candidate’s worth, and Google the candidates themselves — every candidate should have a Ballotpedia page, and if they don’t, that absence is the story. She makes a structural argument on data centers — mobilize city and county officials to refuse permits the way the Cache Valley, Utah project and a proposed coastal Oregon ICE facility were stopped — and she draws a clear line on tribal sovereignty: 573 tribal nations in this country make their own decisions about treaty enforcement; the role of non-Native allies is to ask, listen, and not exploit. Margaret pushes Bird toward town halls and local business partnerships for the next run, and Bird closes on the timeline: this is a two-year House cycle for a reason, the seat is supposed to turn over, and the way to actually disrupt Citizens United is to insist every level of government — local, state, federal — engage in campaign finance reform now. Bird’s frame, repeated three times: push forward, breathe, get curious, and stop waiting for the perfect candidate. The next one is already running.
Register, read, and Google before the ballot lands. Bird’s plea on accessibility is specific: open the voters’ pamphlet the day it arrives, note who is missing as well as who is present, and check every candidate’s Ballotpedia page. If a candidate has no Ballotpedia profile, email their campaign and ask why — it is the lowest-cost free-media tool in a primary and a tell on operational seriousness.
Treat endorsements as a measure of access, not a measure of the candidate. Bird ran a PAC and a 501(c)(4) before running for office, and she names the mechanism plainly: union members and rank-and-file voters in most progressive endorsement organizations never get to meet, vet, or vote on candidates themselves. A missing endorsement from a “favorite progressive group” is often evidence that the group never returned the candidate’s calls — not that the candidate is unworthy.
Block data centers at the city and county level, before the federal seat changes hands. Bird points to the Cache Valley, Utah data center that was stalled by local pushback and the coastal Oregon ICE facility that was stopped by standing-room city council meetings. Show up at planning commission and county council meetings, demand environmental and impact studies, and force the permit fight onto the public record before construction starts.
Introduce yourself to every elected official the day you move. Bird recommends emailing your full chain — city to federal — with a subject line that reads “I am your constituent,” your top three issues, and an invitation to coffee. She used this exact tactic to get a state legislator to draft and pass a bill protecting students from social-media-driven bullying in her daughter’s school. Officials answer corporations because constituents only contact them when they are angry; change the ratio.
Read Ned Blackhawk’s The Rediscovery of America. Bird’s assigned reading for the audience, and the foundation for the episode’s framing on Doctrine of Discovery, Manifest Destiny, and the unhonored treaties. Order it from Birchbark Books, the Native-owned bookstore, and listen to the audiobook if you want the pronunciations correctly.
Fund and follow Bird directly while she rebuilds for the next cycle. Subscribe to her Substack via drmelissabird.com, follow @birdgirl1001 on social where she does her actual movement work, and pick up her new book Leading from the Heart. Annual Substack subscribers through May 31, 2026 receive a signed paperback copy and a 30-minute one-on-one session with her.
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~ Nick Paro, Walter Rhein, Margaret Williams
I’m Nick Paro, and I’m sick of the shit going on. So, I’m using poetry, podcasting, and lives to discuss the intersections of chronic illness and mental wellbeing, masculinity, veteran’s issues, politics, and so much more. I am only able to have these conversations, bring visibility to my communities, and fill the void through your support — this is a publication where engagement is encouraged, creativity is a cornerstone, and transparency is key — please consider becoming a paid subscriber today and grow the community!.