Two campaign stories getting regional attention today are
Cheney's 1-day campaign stop in WA for Nethercutt (running against Democratic Sen. Patty Murray) and
Oregon identified as a key state in the presidential election.
In the Cheney story, there were a couple of interesting points. First, of course, there was yet another reason offered for the war in Iraq:
"Those who provide safe harbor and sanctuary to terrorists who launch attacks against the United States will be deemed just as guilty as the terrorists themselves," he [Cheney] said. "That's why we went into Afghanistan. That's why we went into Iraq."
That's right, forget all about WMD. Iraq was, er, harboring terrorists! Yeah, that's the ticket!
Second, there was the rewriting of the preamble to the constitution. You know, the part about providing for the common defense? Well, it seems that this portion should have read "provide for the common defense AND unilateral offense."
"We always have to remember, we do everything we can to defend ourselves here at home, build as strong as possible defenses," Cheney told military personnel gathered at the base, "but if we're 99 percent successful, the 1 percent that gets through can still kill you. Defense isn't enough. We also have to go on offense."
And, my personal favorite crowd quote, wherein America has proudly(!) been transformed into the schoolyard bully:
Across the street, Peter Cardin of Renton joined about 100 others in showing support for U.S. troops and the president. He said he is glad Saddam was captured because the United States can achieve peace only with strength.
"No one messes with the biggest and baddest guy on the playground," said the 40-year-old unemployed aero-machinest. "Bush and Cheney are making America that guy."
Meanwhile, in other news, The Oregonian (above the fold, p. 1) reports that Oregon has been identified as one of seventeen key "battleground states" in the presidential election, and that therefore critical "on-the-ground" grassroots efforts are beginning in earnest on both sides. The article also notes that Oregon went to Gore in 2000 by only a slim margin:
Gillespie said the Republicans have a goal of registering 45,000 new voters in Oregon this year. That roughly equals the current Democratic registration edge.
The groups aligned with the Democrats say they have not yet set their own goals.
But both sides consider Oregon important, largely because the state's presidential election was closer than in all but four other states in 2000. Gore won Oregon by fewer than 6,800 votes. Both sides think they can construct a winning scenario based on a relatively small percentage increase in turnout.
As a result, Jeannie Berg, a Democratic operative who will work on helping progressive candidates in legislative and local races next year, said voters can expect to hear plenty from canvassers next fall.
Of course, the author of the article neglects to mention that over 77,000, or about 5%, of the Oregon vote in 2000 went to Nader.