Oregon Voices Podcast: S01E11- Tammy Carpenter Democratic Candidate Oregon House District 27

Tammy Carpenter has lived the American myth from the inside and came out the other side knowing exactly what it costs. She grew up poor, folding paper lunch bags to reuse them, moving every year and a half as a military kid, never knowing a single doctor. She became one anyway, not because of bootstraps, but because of teachers who whispered in her ear, government programs that caught her family when they fell, and a stubbornness that never quit. Now she is running for Oregon House District 27 as a Democratic Socialist, backed by the DSA, with 50 volunteers, 10,000 doors knocked, and a clear-eyed vision for what Oregon could actually be if its leaders had the courage to go get the money that already exists. In this conversation, Tammy breaks down what universal healthcare in Oregon could look like and why means-testing it is the fastest way to eventually lose it. She talks about what it means to pit worker against worker, why the bootstrap myth is a political tool dressed up as wisdom, and what it feels like to watch a generation of young people stop believing their vote can change anything. She is not asking anyone to trust her. She is asking for the chance to go do the work.