Ah, to be in Oregon, now that Spring is here

Nice to know that Obama plans to end the race in Oregon. This Oregon native thinks it is a great state to end up in.

While dinner was cooking the other night, the doorbell rang. That set our new "free to a good home" dog into a yipping frenzy. I ran to grab the spraybottle, but someone had already opened the door. The dog was out and furiously filling the air with high-pitched yelps.

Imagine the scene for the well-dressed man on the porch. A small dog who looks like a white ewok starts to dance around his feet while a plump, short woman with unruly hair comes running out and sprays his shoes with water. No one is surprised by things like this though. It is just a part of campaigning in Oregon.

We Oregonians have our mail-in ballots already. They can be cast immediately, or we can wait and consider our choices for a while. For those (like me) who don't trust the mail, there are lots of drop-off sites. Usually those sites are at fire stations, libraries, post offices, or at a city hall. The vote is counted May 20. I'm betting on some really heavy early returns, especially since it has been said that turning your ballot in early will cut down on the campaign calls.

Hillary Clinton will be here for the second time this Thursday and Friday. Bill and Chelsea have also been here helping with her campaign.

Barack Obama will return to Oregon for the third time on Friday and Saturday. Quite a few political analysts seem to think he leads here in Oregon. I hope so, but worry about the number of creepy KKK members, survivalists, and WASPs that polluted the gene pool of my old hometown and several other small towns around here.

John McCain plans a Portland, Oregon campaign stop on Monday.

Now, if that gentleman who stood on that porch, reads this and recognizes himself, I have a message for him. I read your handout and was really impressed, by it, and by how you handled yourself in a difficult situation.

My dinner didn't burn and you have my vote!

•  Just curious

  How many Oregonians do we have here?

  by SisTwo on Thu May 08, 2008 at 02:41:55 PM PDT

  •  I'm one. n/t

    by negev79 on Thu May 08, 2008 at 02:46:18 PM PDT

    •  This lefty is in Rainier!

      by Intercaust on Thu May 08, 2008 at 04:03:37 PM PDT

  •  I'm one;)

    I too have heard we'll go heavy for Obama but since I've lived here for 11 years (can I call myself an Oregonian yet even though I'm technically a transplant?) I have seen how the Tri-County area may be wonderfully progressive but the rest of the state does have it's share of conservative voters.  Here is SE Portland I have seen nothing but Obama signs.  Not one Hillary sign in my neighborhood.  But what about in areas like Bend or Eastern Oregon?  

    by ninkasi23 on Thu May 08, 2008 at 02:48:22 PM PDT

    •  Bend's pretty progressive, no?

      In an independent kind of way. Should be fertile ground for the big O.

      by nautilus1700 on Thu May 08, 2008 at 03:42:19 PM PDT

      •  Damn, sorry I didn't see this 'til now!

        That is good to hear!  I've never been to that part of the state and the only folks I ever met from there tended to be into rodeos and country so it's hard for me to say for sure where they stand politically.  Coming from New England that would usually indicate a more conservative Republican mindset.  But the progressive in an independent kind of way makes a lot of sense to me.  Mainers are known for a similar kind of mindset.  Very independent and do not like to be told how to vote or think!  And BO did very well there too!

        by ninkasi23 on Mon May 12, 2008 at 03:49:17 AM PDT

        •  Yes

          it is encouraging. I'd not known that either.

          by SisTwo on Mon May 12, 2008 at 07:59:28 AM PDT

    •  11 years? Sure, lotsa folks claim to be

      Oregonians after a few months.

      I like reading Kos-his-orange-satanically-bad-self and paler imitators talking about the quality of candidates turning out, and would like to say that sure seems to be the case here in Portland -- new, young, bright, progressives (f'dat - liberals!) who're making it hard to choose which bubble to pencil in.  Nice problem to have!

      I'll be interested to see if KHOSBS's take on the down-ticket effect shows up in voter turnout, especially in November.  After living through 1990s Republican control of the legislature (only bills acceptable to the majority of the R caucus got hearings, many hearings scheduled with minimum notice -- not nice in the 10th largest state in the US of A!), I'm looking forward to a fresh breeze from the left.

      by MaryCh on Thu May 08, 2008 at 03:46:28 PM PDT

  •  Raising Hand

    the other hand is holding the ballot (getting ready to vote).  ; )

    by smugbug on Thu May 08, 2008 at 02:50:24 PM PDT

  •  I went to college there

    and got my first professional job there. I love Oregon.

    And yes, getting your ballot in early should cut down on calls. If the campaigns are organized, they'll get the list of who's already voted on a daily basis, and get those people off their call sheets.

    That's if the campaigns are organized.

    by mcjoan on Thu May 08, 2008 at 02:50:43 PM PDT

    •  I've been impressed with the Dems here

      While I've always been a fence sitter, my youngest worked with the Democrats in 2004. They were a great bunch of people and treated him very well.

      by SisTwo on Thu May 08, 2008 at 02:58:58 PM PDT

      •  Oregon always used to have

        such reasonable Republicans, back in the old days. I knew and liked lots of Oregon Republicans, then they seemed to be kidnapped like the national party by the far right.

        Can you imagine the current GOP electing Mark Hatfield?  

        by mcjoan on Thu May 08, 2008 at 03:26:21 PM PDT

        •  Yes, but...

          I used to think Smith was one of the "good" Republicans. I voted for him twice. Now I see him for the rubberstamping, salmon-killing, corrupt Republican he is.

          by SisTwo on Thu May 08, 2008 at 03:30:47 PM PDT

          •  Bless you. Spread the word! nt

            by nautilus1700 on Thu May 08, 2008 at 03:42:55 PM PDT

        •  Remember that ass hole Lon Maybon?

          Him and his queer bashing ilk really help push the Repubs in Oregon hard right. It seemed like the end of the liberal Repubs in Oregon.

          by Intercaust on Thu May 08, 2008 at 04:06:14 PM PDT

        •  I have a friend who is an honorable Republican.

          He is a member of the organizing committee for Multnomah County and says the other members make him look like a raging liberal.  

          As he is the only person I know who understands that my fascination with World War I doesn't mean that I am interested in every war any historian has ever heard of, I have always liked him.  

          You will probably approve of him being pleased that he is the researcher dealing with the several tons of paper sent by Enron to the lawyers he was working for who found the evidence that what they were doing was illegal and they knew it when they did it.

          by loggersbrat on Thu May 08, 2008 at 04:30:31 PM PDT

    •  off the call sheets -

      that's how it's worked for me the past few cycles, too.

      by MaryCh on Thu May 08, 2008 at 03:48:14 PM PDT

  •  Here.

    I'm in Portland. Trying to make time to canvass for both Obama and Steve Novick. It is a good place to be!

    by coal on Thu May 08, 2008 at 02:55:04 PM PDT

  •  Eugene

    is a strong Obama stronghold, though I've seen a handful of  Hillary signs scattered throughout the neighborhoods.

    by winsock on Thu May 08, 2008 at 02:58:09 PM PDT

    •  Yeah

      U of O! I took a couple classes there. It's a very progressive place.

      by SisTwo on Thu May 08, 2008 at 03:00:34 PM PDT

    •  Eugene is very progressive. Good weed there too.

      by Intercaust on Thu May 08, 2008 at 04:07:11 PM PDT

  •  Me! Me! :-) n/t

    by JayBat on Thu May 08, 2008 at 03:01:11 PM PDT

  •  count me

    by Buffalo Girl on Thu May 08, 2008 at 03:23:46 PM PDT

  •  I'm here in Beaver-town n/t

    by Bule Betawi on Thu May 08, 2008 at 03:29:16 PM PDT

  •  Just moved to Ashland.

    So glad to call this state my home! :)

    by nautilus1700 on Thu May 08, 2008 at 03:41:20 PM PDT

  •  By the way, for Corvallis people:

    Any indication on how Hooley's old seat leans?

    by nautilus1700 on Thu May 08, 2008 at 03:46:01 PM PDT

    •  Not sure

      but this link from The Statesman Journal mentions her and some history.

      by SisTwo on Thu May 08, 2008 at 04:05:50 PM PDT

•  Canvass everyone!!!!!!!

  Join me on Sunday.

  by DemDachshund on Thu May 08, 2008 at 02:45:56 PM PDT

•  I'm in Portland

  Polls so far put OBAMA 6 and 12 ahead of HIllary.  Tons of signs and bumper stickers in my SE neighborhood.

  by Molly M on Thu May 08, 2008 at 02:45:58 PM PDT

•  I wish I lived in Oregon

  it is the most beautiful state in our country.  The mountains, forests and ocean are all breathtaking.

  Thanks, sistwo, for the update.  Glad to read about people going out on knocking on doors for Obama.

  by Sandy on Signal on Thu May 08, 2008 at 02:46:18 PM PDT

•  What is your hometown?

  n/t

  by DemDachshund on Thu May 08, 2008 at 02:46:55 PM PDT

  •  I don't give it out

    since it is so small that it would be easy to track me down. However, it is kinda close to Corvallis.

    by SisTwo on Thu May 08, 2008 at 02:49:49 PM PDT

    •  I'm in Corvallis

      Nice to meet ya, neighbor!

      by smugbug on Thu May 08, 2008 at 02:51:07 PM PDT

      •  Hiya!

        ;)

        by SisTwo on Thu May 08, 2008 at 02:52:37 PM PDT

    •  I wouldn't happen to know you, would I?

      by loggersbrat on Thu May 08, 2008 at 04:31:50 PM PDT

      •  ??

        You never can tell

        by SisTwo on Thu May 08, 2008 at 04:42:36 PM PDT

•  Hometown Philomath, but I live in Portland.

  by loggersbrat on Thu May 08, 2008 at 02:54:16 PM PDT

  •  Another neighbor!

    You've got loggers in the family? Most of my uncles were either loggers or drove log trucks.

    by SisTwo on Thu May 08, 2008 at 02:55:55 PM PDT

    •  My father, obviously.

      My grandfather, once the family moved to Oregon (a farmer in Missouri), several other relatives including a brother who runs equipment because he was injured in a car accident and hasn't been able to actually deal with cutting the trees down for almost 26 years.  I was very happy that they had already started computerizing the equipment - it would have killed that one if he couldn't have worked in the woods.

      My other grandfather drove log truck for a while, I think, and I believe he ran a saw mill for a while, too.  My mother's older brother was a logger - dissolving the partnership between my father and him started a family feud that lasted almost 30 years.  He's retired now; my father died in 1986.

      I actually have a reason to be back here that is almost connected to voting.  I'm one of the From-Day-1 regulars on Street Prophets, and we need small campaign buttons for last year's Yearly Kos quilt.  We need the 1" size ones if any current Democratic campaigns from anywhere in the country are using them - any others would be too heavy for the quilt.  If anybody is willing to help out, my email's in my profile, and I will reply with an address to mail them to.

      by loggersbrat on Thu May 08, 2008 at 03:23:31 PM PDT

•  Once an Oregonian, always an Oregonian

  at heart.

  Bandon, Beaverton, Portland. Moved to Seattle in '92.

  Go Oregon, go Obama.

  As a state, you've waited a long time to have a primary count..."and say why not?".

  by exmearden on Thu May 08, 2008 at 02:59:42 PM PDT

  •  Yes, we need to count!

    I was a school kid when Bobby got shot. It was a loss to our nation.

    "Has anyone here seen our old friend, Bobby?"

    by SisTwo on Thu May 08, 2008 at 03:03:33 PM PDT

  •  Oh

    and a friend of mine lived near Ken. He was a unique individual.

    by SisTwo on Thu May 08, 2008 at 03:04:42 PM PDT

    •  yes he was.

      I had the pleasure of speaking to him once, many years ago, at a roadside stop near Dexter Lake. There's a covered bridge nearby.

      Lovely area.

      by exmearden on Thu May 08, 2008 at 03:14:55 PM PDT

•  I've never been to Oregon but

  (don't laugh, but I've yet to make it west of the Mississippi River), I hear it is a beautiful state.

  by a girl in MI on Thu May 08, 2008 at 03:12:43 PM PDT

  •  'sOK

    I've not been to too many states either.

    When I was going to college we had a lot of Hawaiian students. It was said that they came because Oregon was so green and beautiful that it wasn't as hard for them to adjust to our state.

    by SisTwo on Thu May 08, 2008 at 03:17:34 PM PDT

  •  Yearly Kos 2007 was the first time

    I had ever been farther east than Riverton, Wyoming in my life, and I'm 55 now.  I really don't know why people think I'm a city girl.

    by loggersbrat on Thu May 08, 2008 at 03:25:19 PM PDT

•  North Portland

  From here in North Portland - Jantzen Beach - one sees evidence of Obama support, very little for Hillary.  Mention is made of Barack visiting Oregon Friday and Saturday.  Does anyone have any information on the upcoming Obama events?

  by TheProf2222 on Thu May 08, 2008 at 03:21:48 PM PDT

  •  yeah, where are Obama's events?

    I can't find any info on that.

    by Buffalo Girl on Thu May 08, 2008 at 03:25:33 PM PDT

    •  See below

      :)

      by SisTwo on Thu May 08, 2008 at 03:27:06 PM PDT

  •  Obama's stops

    According to The Statesman Journal

    On Friday Obama is scheduled to have an economic discussion with workers in Beaverton. The event is by invitation only.

    Later, he’s set for a town hall style meeting in Albany at 3:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required.

    He then is set for a rally in Eugene on the University of Oregon campus at 7:45 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required, but those who wish to attend are urged to RSVP.

    by SisTwo on Thu May 08, 2008 at 03:26:41 PM PDT

    •  thanks

      I hear he's flying in tonight, actually.

      by Buffalo Girl on Thu May 08, 2008 at 03:28:06 PM PDT

    •  Yep. Obama in OR Fri/Sat

      ...campaign workers for the other Democratic contender, Sen. Barack Obama confirmed that he will speak in Beaverton, Albany and Eugene Friday and elsewhere in the state Saturday. Details on his Saturday plans should be released this afternoon.

      Quote from southern Oregon Mail Tribune, where Hilly is today.

      If it's any consolation, BarackO is getting the kudos in (normally 'red'ish) soOregon too! :]

      by Orj ozeppi on Thu May 08, 2008 at 03:39:32 PM PDT

  •  N-P-town will go heavy for the Big O.

    Heavily black area. I used to live on Alberta. A cool neighborhood during the day. Pants-shitting scary at night.

    by Intercaust on Thu May 08, 2008 at 04:11:31 PM PDT

•  SE Portland here n/t

  by liz on Thu May 08, 2008 at 04:24:18 PM PDT

•  Eugene here n/t

  by worldwideellen on Thu May 08, 2008 at 04:41:15 PM PDT