A Better Life for All with Congressional Candidate Dr. Melissa Bird

In this episode of the Passionistas Project Podcast, Amy and Nancy Harrington interview Dr. Melissa Bird, a passionate advocate, social worker, and congressional candidate for Oregon’s District 4. Dr. Bird shares her journey from grassroots activism to running for Congress, discusses the challenges facing her district — including healthcare, housing, and representation — and emphasizes the importance of authentic advocacy and community engagement. The conversation covers her personal motivations, campaign experiences, and vision for a better, more inclusive future.

Listen to the full episode HERE.

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ON THE EPISODE

[00:49] Welcoming Dr. Bird and discussing her congressional campaign

[01:45] Dr. Bird’s passions: politics, reproductive justice, and advocacy for marginalized communities

[02:36] Insights from campaigning: voters feeling unheard, healthcare concerns, and district overview

[05:16] Community activism: ICE facility controversy and local advocacy efforts

[08:25] Economic struggles, housing crisis, and living the everyday challenges of constituents

[09:12] Dr. Bird’s background: lifelong interest in politics, family influences, and advocacy roots

[11:13] Why run for Congress now? The need for fierce advocates and policy change

[12:20] Running against an incumbent: challenges, classism, and grassroots campaigning

[15:00] Building coalitions, overcoming obstacles, and lessons from past advocacy

[16:30] Bridging divides: Dr. Bird’s diverse background and approach to uniting the district

[18:00] Homelessness, veterans, and the impact of housing insecurity in Oregon

[21:09] Policy priorities: healthcare, reproductive rights, disability advocacy, and more

[24:05] Fundraising realities and the importance of grassroots support

[26:46] Critique of the incumbent’s record and Dr. Bird’s legislative vision

[31:40] How listeners can support Dr. Bird’s campaign: donations, spreading the word, and endorsements

[36:50] Dr. Bird’s personal story: overcoming family tragedy, mental health advocacy, and resilience

[41:22] The meaning of the campaign: hope, democracy, and the power of choice

[44:45] Dr. Bird’s dreams for herself, women, and her future constituents

[45:45] Closing remarks, Passionistas Project Sisterhood, and how to join the community

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Passionistas: Hi, we're sisters Amy and Nancy Harrington, founders of the Fashionistas Project, where we believe every woman deserves to be seen, heard, and celebrated. Our mission is simple but powerful to give women a platform to tell their unfiltered stories, the stories that inspire challenge, and break the silence around what it really means to follow your Passionistas.

On each episode, we have conversations about courage. Authenticity and the messy, beautiful journey of living life unapologetically. And there is no one on this planet that embodies that more than Dr. Melissa Bird, and we are so thrilled to have her here for this very special episode of our podcast today.

Melissa: Thanks, Nance. Welcome, Dr. Thank you. Thank you for having me again. It's been too long since we did this. It's been really long. Way too long. Yeah.Yeah. Well, I'm happy to see you both. Yes.

Passionistas: We're so happy to see you. So we're here today mostly to talk to Dr. Melissa Bird about her. Campaign for Congress because yay.

Pretty soon we will not only be calling her Dr. Melissa Bird, we've call calling her congresswoman doc, uh, Congresswoman Dr. Melissa Bird. Is that what we're Congresswoman? Dr. Melissa Bird?

Melissa: Sounds really nice to me. PhD. I like that. PhD. We could add the PhD on the end.

Passionistas: Can we add the honorable at the beginning, the honorable conversation?

Melissa: Oh, I don't know if I get that yet. Oh, I don't know how you heard that.

Passionistas: Have to be a judge to be honorable. How does that work?

Melissa: I think you have to be a judge. I'm not doing that. You don't wanna be I've done enough school. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Passionistas: We'll get into your credentials as we dive into the conversation.

Melissa: Thank you.

Passionistas: But, but you know, us, we always like to ask, and maybe this is, you know, morphed for you since the last time we talked, but what are you most passionate about?

Melissa: Oh my gosh. So I love this question. Y'all know that I'm, I've always been passionate about politics. I've always been passionate about reproductive justice.

I mean, I started my career as the lobbyist for Planned Parenthood of Utah, and before that I was advocating for homeless LGBT youth in Utah, which is no small task. Um, especially in the early two thousands when no one was talking about those things. And so, um, but. Man, when I, as I've been working this campaign, so we are recording in December of 2025, but I started this campaign in July of 2025.

And so as I've been working this campaign for the last several months, one of the things that I have become increasingly passionate about is the fact that voters don't feel heard or seen at all, and. One of the things that I'm really enjoying is I'm getting out into the community and traveling through the district and, and talking to voters.

I'm on the phone all the time doing call time, and one of the things I've really discovered is how deeply, uh, voters feel like nobody is willing to talk to them or, or hear them out. And people are experiencing some really heavy. Heavy stuff. Like people are really worried about how they're going to pay the bills and get healthcare.

I cannot tell you the number of people who are terrified about their premiums going up next year. Yeah. Including you, right? Na like, like Yeah. It's really. Things are very intense right now, and I think the thing I have become the most passionate about is making sure that as people, as I am hearing about what people are experiencing in the community, I'm, I'm, I don't make assumptions about what they need.

I'm asking them what they need, what issues are most important to you? And, and boy, howdy. Is it harrowing?

Passionistas: Yeah. Yeah. So what are, what are their answers? What is, what are really the most important things to voters right now? What are you hearing?

Melissa: One of the biggest things I'm hearing is concern. I, there's like themes that have started weaving through all this, definitely concerned about healthcare.

Um, can I access it? Will I be able to access it here in the district in particular here. In Western Oregon. So, uh, for those of you who are listening and are curious, when I say the district, what I'm talking about, uh, the district starts at the border of Oregon and California moves all the way up the coast of Oregon.

So y'all pull out a map if you're feeling that geeky. Uh, but it's Curry County, half of Douglas County, COOs County, all of Lane County, Lincoln County, and Benton County. I live in Benton County, so I live at the top of the district. Um, and it's huge. I mean, it's huge. I have a map of it hanging on my wall and I'm just like, dang, that thing.

It's so big. Um, and, but across the board, throughout the whole district. Healthcare is the thing that people are really, really concerned about. Whether it's from a social justice aspect or whether it's from a personal aspect, or maybe it's both. Um, our care systems are being taken over by, uh, private equity and, um, you know, they're threatening to close.

The only, um. Uh, acute care, um, heart center in the hospital in COOs Bay. Um, so people won't be able to get acute care for heart attacks. Like there's things going on that are really scary and add on top of that, concerns about reproductive health. So here in Corvallis, our only OBGYN clinic is closing.

Whoa. Yeah, so like there are some heavy things happening in the district. Um, not to mention the fact that, um, I, I would say the second concern has to do with ICE and immigration. So, um. And this, this is where I'm really sort of nerding out on, on running for Congress because, um, in Newport, which is west of me on the coast, um, it's one of the biggest fishing hubs.

Uh, it's where my husband goes out. Um, he's a fisheries observer, so he goes out and counts fish on the boat, on the fishing boats, and, um, he goes outta there all the time. Well, unbeknownst to the community. The federal government decided to move the Coast Guard helicopter that the fishermen's wives is an advocacy group of fishermen's wives in Newport had advocated, like, had to sue the federal government to get a National Guard helicopter there to rescue, um, uh, folks in case of both sinking and time in the water.

That cold time is of the essence. Well, the federal government moved the helicopter 30 minutes south. And 30 minutes is the difference between a rescue mission and a recovery mission. And because then the city found out that someone was asking around about whether or not they could install septic systems that would be able to handle 10,000 gallons of human waste a day.

So you could imagine the, the, the size of the ice facility they're threatening to put in on the coast of Oregon. It's horrifying. So fortunately the community rose up, right? We all, and I was there at the city council meeting. Um, I think they, at final count they had between 800 and a thousand people between being in person and online, like the community showed up.

Part of it was to advocate for the helicopter coming back. Because crab season's starting and you know, they were terrified. And then part of it was that they don't want ice in their community because it's going to impact the tourism industry. It's going to impact the business industry, it's going to impact the housing.

You got all these ice agents moving in and taking over housing, and we're already in the middle of a housing crisis on the coast. Like, and this is what I'm loving about running for office is the, the. The level of learning that I'm doing about our communities and how underrepresented we are by our congressional delegation and how important it is to have a person running for Congress and in office in Congress, who is an advocate, who understands systems, who works in community-based advocacy and who also is living in this economy.

Experiencing what it's like to struggle with paying rent and buying groceries and paying bills and doing all these other things. Plus my business is not the same business it was four years ago. Like my business is also taking an economic impact. Those are the two things that come up really predominantly.

Passionistas: You are living the life of the everyday person in your district. You're not. You know, living in a fancy mansion somewhere, looking down at everybody and, and thinking, oh, I wonder what the challenges are. You are living those challenges. So what is it about your life that made you make the decision that this was the time for you to run for congress?

Melissa: For the first thing I have to say is I've always wanted to run for office, and when I was a little girl, I used to pretend I was the president. I always had a baby and I was the president, so I wanted to be a mom and the president. I do not, let's be very clear, I do not wanna be the president of the United States.

No thank you. Have you seen how gray their hair gets when they walk out so fast? So fast? I have enough gray hair. I'm sure Congress is gonna gimme more gray hair, but I do not want that job. But I always have been fascinated by politics. I grew up around, my grandmother and my aunt in particular were heavily involved with the League of Women voters.

My best friend, who's still my best friend, um, Margaret, her mother became paralyzed when we were six at 1981. Like. When did you know the a DA was nothing but a blip on a radar. And, um, I got to watch Susan from her wheelchair, like newly paralyzed advocate for herself. I listened to her phone calls advocating about the a DA, and I remember how deeply involved she was in Geraldine Ferraro's, VP Run and, and like, so I have been watching politics since I was a little girl and, and.

Really learning. Oh, if something's going on in your life, you, you talk about it like you advocate about it. Right. And, um, my grandpa was a social worker at the VA when he first came back from the war. He got his MSW 50 years to the day before I did. And, um, so he worked at the VA with the families. And so I always would listen to his stories about what that was like for him when he came back from the war.

And, and I've always wanted to run for office. And I've been asked to run for office many, many, many times, especially when I was in Utah and I was working as a lobbyist and you know, but it just never fell into place. And then last year I was like, this cannot, we need fighters and champions in Congress.

We cannot, we do not need people in Congress right now who are not willing to push up against. What the Republican Party is doing in, in Congress and in in the presidential administration, like we need outspoken, fierce advocates in Congress and. You know, I, I called early on, I got in touch with, uh, the National Association of Social Workers to, because they endorse candidates to let them know that I was running.

And they're like, well, we have a process, um, and we don't get involved in primaries. And I'm, I wanna get into that in a second. And, um, and, um, I said, but don't you think you need to be supporting the, a social worker who's got a 25 year career in macro policy and advocacy like. Now's the time y'all. And then a couple weeks later, they depro, professionalized, you know, thousand, you know, thousands of careers, including social workers and the common denominator.

They're mostly women, majority women careers, and they're mandatory reporters of abuse and violence. And the, the, the person that I'm primary didn't say a peep. That's. It's this. No. So I just, the the why now is because we have got to have fierce advocates in Congress, not just for this district, not just for CD four here in Oregon, but because people in Congress, when they drive policy, they drive it for the nation.

They don't just drive it for people in Oregon, [we have to pay. I used to, when I used to teach policy advocacy to my students, I'd be like, well, you know, you got the federal government and blah, blah, blah. And but where you can make a huge impact is at the state, city, and county level. Right. And school board level.

But I'm telling you, I think, uh, now I would not be saying that in my classroom now. I would be saying, you gotta fight. Like hell pay attention to who is in Congress right now. 'cause every decision that they are making is directly impacting our lives in a way that we've never seen in our lived history.

At least I would say since World War II, since the thirties.

Passionistas: So go back to what you were saying before about the primaries and not being supported in the primaries. Like what's, what's the freaking point like?

Melissa: Yeah. So I am running against the sitting incumbent Democrat in the Democratic primary here in Congressional District four.

And when I decided to run against her, I knew. Why I was running, uh, I knew what I would be up against. Uh, she takes APAC money. She takes corporate money. She's, um, heavily involved with the unions, and I knew that I would be raising grassroots dollars and that every dollar that I would be raising would be critical to the infrastructure of my campaign.

What I have learned about running in a primary against a sitting Democrat. Is that not only will you not get support, which I, I knew, but what I'm also figuring out is how terrified people are and how entrenched people are into protecting their proximity to power. And as, as a native person, as a woman, as a bisexual person, as.

Someone who is married to someone with disabilities, who's raising children in our education system, who is not considered high income. I'm looking at all of these factors and what, what has become astonishing to me, you guys, is the level of classism. Not even the sexism, not even the racism. The level of classism that I have experienced running this race has been stunning.

When I introduced myself as Dr. Melissa Bird to people I, there is a different conversation that has had, but when I start a conversation saying that my family's been on food stamps and we are on Medicaid, boy does that conversation get dumbed down. So the level of classism has just been really stunning.

And, and like, I never expected the Democratic, you know, the Oregon Democratic Party to like come out and support me, but I'm running as a Democrat. I'm just left of, you know, I'm a progressive Democrat. And, um, what is shocking to me is the amount of people who are just [like. Not willing to talk to me. So I'm going to the voters, right?

I'm going to the people. And boy, do the people have a completely different story than the parties. And, and quite frankly, uh, I, I've, it's been a rough couple weeks. I won't lie. People are like. It must be awful running for Congress, and I'm like, it's not. I love it. I'm having so much fun. I get to go out and meet people.

I get to connect with people I never would've met if I was not doing this. I get to advocate for people, you know, I testified at the Lane Community College Board meeting the other night because of some stuff that they're doing down in Eugene at Lane Community College and like, I love this. But it is, it is the politics and the, the fear of losing proximity to power that is driving our politics.

That is deeply problematic. And I even said to my friend, uh, on the phone the other day, I said, if you wonder ever, if you ever wonder why you don't have pick of candidates that resonate with you, I could give you a million reasons why.

Passionistas:  So how do you combat that? How do you, how do you rise above the system that's been created to stop you?

Melissa: Well, I remember what a fighter I am, like what a warrior I am and what a champion I am. And I was actually, uh, doing some interviews for some media we're going to be doing, and one of the conversations we were having with the media team is, I remember when I wrote the emancipation of a minor bill. My dining room table in Utah, way back in the day.

And I remember going to the, so it was to help homeless youth get emancipated from their parents. And I went to the only homeless youth advocacy agency in Utah to talk to them about this bill that I'd written. And they said, there's no way you're gonna get that passed. No way. The, the parents' rights people in Utah are gonna go nuts and you're never gonna pass it.

And. I said, I looked at them and I said, watch me, and I did. It took time, but I did. I passed it. I learned how, I learned everything I needed to know about building coalitions and bringing, talking to Republicans and Democrats get it, getting it sponsored by a. Both sides of the aisle, how to work together, how to build coalitions, all that stuff.

And um, I remembered as I was having that conversation that anytime tells me, anybody tells me I can't accomplish something, I seem to have this, uh, pretty solid track record. I was looking at people and going, watch me.

Passionistas: So you mentioned bringing together both sides of the aisle. So District four is pretty diverse and. You know, and the country is just so divided and polarized right now. So how do you balance that divide? What are you doing? Because I, I was talking to Rob this morning and talking about you and saying how, like you have something on your little checklist that like ticks something off for everybody. Right. I mean, you're married to a vet, you're a very spiritual person who believes in Jesus. You, you are L-G-B-T-Q, you're a working mom. You're you like, check, check, check, check, check, check, check.

Melissa: So I keep telling people, Nancy, be the perfect candidate to bring everybody together, right? I keep telling people I'm the dream of Oregon.

Like I, I cross all the bridges. Um, I think one of the biggest. Uh, yeah. This district is diver. All congressional districts are diverse. Like, let's be honest, like people, the way people have had to move, especially since COVID, the way people have had to leave cities and move back home with, you know, in the rural spaces, the way people in rural spaces.

Don't necessarily leave those spaces, you know, they stay there. I was actually just having a conversation with someone down in the southern part of the district and we were talking about the homeless [people who are living in the forest and how mad people are about that. They're like, you know, these people are coming in and they're not even from here and like, actually.

They're there in the forest near those communities because they are from there and they just can't afford housing. And so there's this assumption that the people who are homeless are coming from California, or like some people have said Nevada or whatever. No, these are our community members who can't afford their housing anymore, you know?

You know how that's impacting us here in Oregon? In Oregon, if you're a veteran, you can camp for a couple of weeks for $8, um, so that veterans can enjoy the state parks. We can't get, like we tried to go camping. We can't get spots because people are living in their RVs on, in the state parks and taking the, the window, like you, you have to leave after a certain point, but because people can't afford housing, they're living in their cars and in their trailers and taking the camping spots that we used to able to get readily available, like, and.

Here's how I know I'm good for this district. I, I think of the complexity of these things. I think of this from our community. What affects one of us affects all of us. My slogan for my campaign is A Better Life for All. Because, because it's not about Republicans and Democrats. It's literally about us as human beings being able to thrive in our communities.

And if we can't thrive within our communities, 'cause we're too busy punching each other in the face over ideology, that's not, that's not it. And, and our district deserves somebody who's not getting caught up in ideological rhetoric and thought speak and not able to talk to people, you know, and I have that problem.

I'm an academic. I know, I mean, like, I, I know, but you know, I'm sick and tired of a democratic party that isn't willing to talk to the people, that isn't willing to put the strongly worded letter away. Ask people, what do you need? And, and this is the problem with policy makers. They are making assumptions about good policy based on what they've been told is good policy, but not what 35 or 40 people in my neighborhood need.

It's a totally different ball of wax. The women in our community aren't gonna have gynecological services starting in January. Forget the OB part. Everybody's still gonna have babies, but like yearly cancer screenings, mammograms, breast exams, urinary tract health, menopause, perimenopause, like, like these are, and this is the way my brain works and this is why, and I'm thinking, and nobody talks about people with disabilities.

Like you, you don't find lawmakers unless they know someone who's disabled. Whoever thinks through the lens of people with disabilities, and I think that's what makes me very different from other candidates is that you're right, Nancy. I check off a lot of boxes and also I grew up in a rural, small town.

I know what it means to live in a tourist economy. I understand farming because I've been involved in farm advocacy since 2020. Like I, you know. I'm all the things, vote for me, gimme money for my campaign. And I do wanna talk about fundraising for just a second. 'cause I think it's important as long as Citizen United stands, people like me, I'm a working mom, you know, just busting my ass, trying to make it through right.

What I want people to hear is that I don't wanna have to fundraise. I really don't. I'd rather just hang out with voters, have a good time, get my name out in the world and move on with my life. But the bottom line is, the only way I get my name out in the world is to fundraise the only way I can make voter contact and connect with as many people as possible in the district.

I've gotta get. Approximately 50,000 votes. The only way I connect with 50,000 people, at least twice, if not three times in the next five months. 'cause the primaries on May 19th is through money. It doesn't matter. The maximum you can donate is 3,500. The minimum is a dollar. It doesn't matter if you have a dollar or $3,500.

Every single dollar counts. And. I, I cannot tell you how I, the money is not being wasted. I can tell you that like every dollar I have raised counts. And I gotta tell you, the way outside organizations and endorsing organizations are looking at me is totally based on the capitalistic notion of how much money can you raise.

And I've raised a hell of a lot of money according to me, but I'm going up against someone who's got a one and a half million dollar award chest.

So it doesn't matter where you live in the country, you can still donate to my campaign. And I think it's really important for people to realize if you want the trend to continue, of people being elected that are going to listen to the people in their district. You have to financially back those people, even if it's with $10 and let me, I was doing math.

If I had all 600 of my supporters on Facebook donate 50 bucks to me, man, I'd be sitting pretty. If all 700 of my donor on my followers on TikTok, who are loving me on TikTok donated 50 bucks one time. Man, I'd be set.

Passionistas: Or 10 bucks every month for the next five months.

Melissa: 10 bucks every month for the next five months. Thank you, Nancy, for doing more math.

That's exactly it. Yeah. Yeah. And we will be putting the donation link in the uh, show notes. Show notes. Vicky, you can also visit. MelissaBirdForCongress.com to learn more and to donate. I just wanna slip that into the conversation socials. Yeah.

Passionistas: Um, so you touched a little bit upon your opponent who is currently in office.

I tell us a bit more about her, um, and policy wise and Yes. Effectivity, if that's a word. Um, and, um, and how you would do things differently.

Melissa: I'm just gonna give you my rundown first. Um, I'm gonna give you a rundown and then if you wanna expand on that, you just let me know. Uh, so mind you, she's a sitting Democrat.

Okay. So she voted to table the impeachment articles against President Trump, so not to vote for them. She voted president on the Charlie Kirk Political Violence Resolution. So instead of voting like many Democrats did against it, um. By the way, that particular political violence resolution left out Melissa Hortman, who was a Democrat killed by political violence and Heather Meyer from Charlottesville, who was also a victim of domestic violence.

Of, of political violence. So it's not just that, that part political violence resolution was named after Charlie Kirk, but it actually left out a literal sitting congresswoman who was killed by political violence. No mention whatsoever. So, um, to vote present on that resolution instead of against that resolution was pure cowardice.

As far as I'm concerned. She voted for the Lake and Riley Act, which wrongfully violates due process laws by allowing law enforcement deta detained, uh, people for allegations of a crime. Um, specifically going after people of color. She voted to support opening up our old girl Forest to logging through the Fix our Forest Act.

She allowed racism to fester at Bully when she was the commissioner, which cost the State of Oregon money and was called to testify in court about the racism that she could have stopped. Uh, she's been completely unavailable to her constituents. Um, she's only introduced nine bills, uh, since she's been in Congress.

She supported, was a supporter and a member of the Doge Caucus. Uh, she violated fi, federal Financial Disclosure Laws and the Stock Act. 217 times investing half a million dollars that wasn't properly disclosed. She hasn't protected the people of Oregon by advocating for any measures to address human trafficking or drug trafficking.

Through the development of the Port at COOs Bay, she accepted PAC money from convicted fraudsters. Sam BigMan free. She um. Has received more than two $20,000 to her campaigns from a cannabis company, LAMODA, which, um, was in exchange for a cannabis apprenticeship program that misappropriated federal funding in violation of the law.

Um, I mean, is that enough? Yeah. I mean, you could go on if you wanted to, but I think we get the idea. So besides the fact that you wouldn't consort. Monsters. I would've never voted for that violence prevention. And I even had a voter call me on this. He's like, you this, this act. You said recently you would've voted against this.

Tell me why. And I was like, first of all, we're venerating the death of one man when I could list off how many people have been killed by political violence in the last five years. Second of all, all of these things that are listed, absolutely we should be fighting against those things. But a resolution isn't gonna do that.

It's a statement about one man, who, by the way, is known for targeting women and people of color. I can't in good conscience vote for that ever. Uh, we need, yes, logging and forestry is deeply important to our economy here in Oregon. And also we should not be cutting down old growth. We have to protect our forests and our rivers and our streams and our mountains and our animals.

Like, like this planet is he, she's rebelling against us. She's heating up and, and we have to be thinking about how are we enacting legislation that isn't just good for industry, but good for people, and there's a way to do that, and she's not doing that. Not to mention the fact that like she's been endorsed by Planned Parenthood and Pro-Choice America.

But when Donald Trump came out and said that women taking Tylenol causes autism, not a peep, like let's low hanging fruit, say something that's not true. Here's a, here's a study that says why. And I just, I just think, I mean, plus introducing legislation. Listen, we've got a running list of bills we're gonna introduce on the first day, and I can tell you it's not nine.

You can multiply that by a couple. I've, I've had ideas for years about things that I would introduce as a legislator.

Passionistas: Give us a sneak preview.

Melissa: Here's one of my biggest ones when my husband, uh, was gonna get deployed again. Uh, and he retired instead. 'cause he couldn't get deployed. Like it would've been very bad on a number of levels.

And so he retired at 14 years, so he wasn't fully vested at 20 years. So we were on TRICARE insurance, which is the insurance that veterans can buy into when they're part of the National Guard. You pay a monthly fee, I think for our family. Five. It was like $175 a month. You pay your copays, blah, blah, blah.

Um, so we lost our insurance. Had to go on Medicaid. Right. It costs us more money fed more federal dollars for our family of five military connected to go on Medicaid than it does to keep us buying into the TRICARE system, even if he had to, to retire for all the reasons he had to retire. So one of the things I want to propose is a bill that would make it, if you are.

If you have a disability rating, and I haven't figured out that percentage yet, but I think it's gotta be like 50% or above, but whatever, we'll figure that out and you serve more than 10 years, then you get to stay on your TRICARE insurance and buy into the insurance because that will save us tens of millions of dollars in Medicaid.

Because you would be appalled at how many veterans families are on Medicaid. It's appalling is because we don't care. Once they're out, they're out. So like that's one little example of something that I really wanna do once I'm in. Speaking of getting in, we know how local people can help in the long run, which is what to vote for you and to make sure all their friends and family members vote for you.

But leading up to that, how can your future constituents and those of us who don't live in your district support you tell as many people as possible that, you know, in Oregon that I'm running. So it is if, if you, if you have friends that live in Oregon or family that lives in Oregon, you really wanna be thinking about, um, how you can encourage people to.

To, you know, to know my name and like, and follow my social media. So I can't go live on Instagram until I have a thousand followers. I hate that rule. I think it's a dumb rule. I couldn't go live on Facebook for my kickoff because I hadn't been on more than 60 days. So we had to go live for my personal page to put it on my congressional.

I mean, it was so, it's ridiculous. I mean, I understand rules and whatever, but like, come on, people. So also, I think that's what makes it hard for people to run. Because there's a lot of restrictions you don't think about when you think about running for office. Trust me, I could list off several. I I might in a minute.

And donating money. Um, and, and Nancy, I really love what you said about 10 bucks a month for the next five months. Like, like, you know, skip a latte for a week.

Passionistas: Yeah. And someone says to me, $50, I'm like, oh, can I swing 50? 10 bucks a month and five months? Yeah. A month. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So.

Melissa: So any amount of money. Um, and then I think the other thing is if there are people that you know in the district who would wanna endorse me or who would wanna know more about the campaign, people who do podcasts, people who do media, um, you know, there's so many writers now on substack and in all these other really creative spaces, people you know, who have their own YouTube channels.

Like if there are YouTube channels that I see I should be getting interviewed by, tell them to interview me. You know, like there's a lot of ways that we're gonna win this race. Um, and a lot of 'em are from us coming together as a community and remembering that what affects one of us affects all of us.

And if we want a better life for all of us, and we wanna fight the, the fascism that is taking over in this country, then we have to really push back by electing a elect, electing people like me who are gonna fight up against that. I can tell you right now, I know why there's not more working people running for office, especially for Congress.

It is time consuming. It's expensive. And the I understand that the only reason I have the ability to do this is because I have a very supportive husband and because I have a flexible job

and we need to start creating systems where that's not impossible for people. We need more representation. I actually was talking with someone, he's trying to find this research. Uh, there was research done on people at the congressional level over a 20 year span, all members of Congress, and we're looking for the research, so I don't have it yet, but we're looking for it.

All members of Congress, over 20 years, y'all, only 10 of them, had experienced poverty in their lifetime.

So they're voting about measures that involve people who live in poverty and they have no idea what it looks like, but I do. I also want people to understand your family background and that whole part of you and the people that you would fight for in that regard. So talk about that. Oh ma'am, my family.

So, um, oh, I can take my glasses off now that I'm not reading the list of, of things with like the glare. So, uh, when I was six years old, my dad committed suicide and broke my mama's heart in a million, billion pieces. And, um, I didn't know you were gonna make me cry. Um, and.

We struggled. Um, my mom really struggled and we had no, you know, it was Utah, 1980. We didn't, my mom actually just talked about this in her reading last night. Um, she's written a book about her life. We didn't have a lot of support. We, my mom left the church. Uh, the church actually left my mom, uh, the Mormon church left my mom more than anything.

Uh, we moved, we had to move, um, and it was just a really, really hard time and my mom fell apart and my grandparents and my aunts, my aunt and uncle. Mary Grant, Mary Valentine and Nancy and Bob Young, uh, picked up a lot of what my mom couldn't do. And so, um, my sister and I spent a lot of time with my grandparents and my aunt and uncle and, um.

But man, it was hard and I really struggled as a teenager. I was a very rebellious teenager. I had a really hard time. Um, there's gonna be an interview coming out with my history teacher about why he thinks I'd be an excellent member of Congress and he and he talked about watching me overcome so many things, um, knowing how much I struggled in high school and, um, you know, my dad dying.

Has I have been a mental health advocate without even knowing it. I think even as a teenager, um, trying to support people in that way. And I, I, I'm sure that's why I became a social worker, you know, to help abused and neglected kids. Um, I was abused as a kid and, um, to really advocate for youth in foster care and, um, you know, for kids who are struggling.

Like that's the foundation of my life. I mean, I'm just like everybody else, and [00:40:00] I know, I know that we've all had some measure of grief and trauma in our lives and really addressing the issue of grief in our, in our. Country and in the world is really important to me. I think a lot of the decisions we make are because of we are not given permission to grieve in a safe and healthy way.

And I really truly believe that that is the foundation of so many of our struggles as people and human beings, that we don't have the rituals in place. Um. To heal those things. Um, I did not because my dad, my dad was native, and because of when my dad died, I, I was not exposed to any of my tribe or our ceremonies or language or traditions.

Um, my father. It occurred to me, uh, at Indigenous People's Day this year that my dad never heard drums, um, because the American Indian Religious Freedom Act wasn't passed until 1978, and he died in 1980. Mm-hmm. So that gave me a good cry for a while while I was listening to the drumming. You know, like I just, I thought it was so profound to be listening to these drums at this university, at a land grant institution, which was the land grant institutions in this country were specifically created to take land away from indigenous people.

So I'm sitting in this land grant institution listening to these drums, you know, thinking my dad never got to hear that. And, um. So I think that, um, I think when people really think about issues of mental health or physical health or spiritual health, um, that we really have to recognize that what's happening right now in this country is not a r We've been doing this to people for 500 years, more than that.

And, um. The way that we're gonna change it is by taking the risk to elect people into office who understand it. That was beautiful.

Passionistas: So I know we're gonna have to start to wrap up here, but so can you sum up what this campaign represents to you?

Melissa: I think it means a couple things. It means, uh, hope that, um.

People are so afraid of what's happening right now that this campaign can give them, it sounds so cheesy, like the hope thing, but like, God, that's what we need right now. You know, so much we need, we need to know that there is someone, you know, that was sitting on our couch listening to a town hall meeting going, that's not right.

That's not true. That's not what veterans experience. That's not what homeless people experience. That there's someone who was sitting on her couch and said, that is not true. I'm gonna run for Congress. That there are people in the world that are still willing in the face of all that is happening to us to say, that's not right.

I know I can change that. I know I can do something different, and I'm willing to do something different. Um, it, it means that, it means that, that we have an opportunity. To look very closely at these primary races and bring new, fresh voices into the dialogue that are gonna change things. Um. It also means that we have choice.

I truly believe that a thriving democracy relies on us making choices when it comes to our voting. That that with all of these things in place to keep us from being informed voters, that we still have the right to vote, that people died. For me to have this right to vote that. That we still have. We have to do everything we can to make voting accessible to people who are trying, they are trying to lock out of the system of voting and.

It is still a democracy, and I believe that that, that when we have people like me who are running for office as is my right as a citizen of this country, then we have to, we have to listen to that and, and it gives us an opportunity to think about the system in a completely different way. If this is really actually a democracy of the people, by the people and for the people, then we need to be electing.

People, not people bought by corporations. Yeah. All right. So one last three part, one last three part question. Okay. Making, I'm adding a I adding. What's your dream [00:45:00] for yourself? What's your dream for women and what's your dream for your future constituents in Oregon's District four? My dream for myself, uh, is that I'll win.

Um, oh. My dream for women is that we will rise up and in whatever, in whatever way we can, and we will fight like hell to protect our communities. My dream for the constituents of Oregon's Congressional District four is that they will. That they will be inspired to know that they have more than one choice.

Passionistas: Well, I have to say, I think they only have one choice. And that choice is you. Yes. But I understand your point. Yeah. Check everybody out, but promise you you're gonna come back around to Dr. Melissal Bird for Congress. Yes. Because there is no one better. We endorse her wholeheartedly. We love her more than almost any human being on the planet. And we believe that she will fight for the people of Oregon and that will ripple out to the rest of us in a way that will be so powerful that she may have to become a gray haired president because she so amazing.

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