Obama is in Portland, Oregon today as part of his stumping efforts this election cycle. Unbelievably, ex-Trailblazer Chris Dudley is competitive in the polling, most likely a function of some big donors. So we need to fix that and hopefully today will make the difference for him. On the heels of rallies in Ohio, Delaware and other states, and with other appearances planned for California, Washington and Minnesota, Obama is fired up and going!
The best news of all is that the campaign events have been largely held in places/circumstances that attract and encourage the youth vote. In Ohio, he appeared at Ohio State University. Here in Oregon, it's a limited space at the Portland Convention Center, with the doors opening at 4 pm. This, of course, means that you have to be there by, say 2, to be guaranteed entry. And who but college students is free at that time of day? I can't wait to see what the crowd looks like!
I'm sure we'll get a glimpse from the livestream provided by Kitzhaber's campaign. Let's hope the site doesn't get overloaded; I suspect this will be heavily viewed, as RSVPs were no guarantee of entry to the event. Oregonians love us some Kitzhaber!
Not only has he served in the Oregon Senate, but he's already been Governor. As he said in a recent article, "I can go down to Salem on Day One and get my arms around this budget crisis," Kitzhaber said recently. "I want to actually create jobs today, not tomorrow." Yeah, Kitzhaber knows what he's talking about, as he amply demonstrated in what is, sadly, probably the only debate for this race. Contrast that with Dudley, whose primary claim to fame is being one of the worst freethrowers in the history of basketball. Seems he has trouble focusing:
The Kitzhaber campaign has hounded Dudley for his admission that while he was still with the Blazers he owned a house in Washington state to avoid paying some income taxes, and over revelations that Dudley took a $350,000 tax write-off for letting the Lake Oswego fire department burn his home next to a golf course as a training exercise.
The best news of all?
A solidly blue state, Oregon has not had a Republican governor since Vic Atiyeh, who was elected in 1978 and served two terms. But the Dudley campaign is trying to appeal to voters who believe that because Kitzhaber already served two terms he is old news.
One, two, you know what to do. If you can't donate, you can phonebank, too. Oregon ballots have gone out and so far, registration is still favoring Dems in the state. So let's give Kitzhaber that extra push!
Alternate video here:
http://www.katu.com/...
http://www.kgw.com/...
from jim's diary