OREGON | 7 Electoral Votes |
Although considered a battleground state, Oregon saw only a smattering of visits by the principals; one noteworthy day was August 13, when both President Bush and Senator Kerry were in Portland.
Assessing the outcome, BC'04
executive director Doug Badger pointed to an interesting exit poll statistic.
According to Badger, Bush lost the independent vote in Oregon by 18 points
compared to just one point nationally. He attributes most of that
to the war in Iraq.
Bush-Cheney '04 | Kerry-Edwards 2004 |
Organization details... | details... |
BC'04 Executive
Director: Doug Badger
Victory '04 Director: Jeb Mason Oregon Republican Party
|
KE
State Director: Paige Richardson
Carry Oregon (Coordinated Campaign) Director: Kendra-Sue Derby Democratic Party of Oregon
|
Travel compare...
BUSH-CHENEY | KERRY-EDWARDS |
Final Month (Oct. 2-Nov. 2, 2004) | |
George
W. Bush - 1 visit (1 day)
Dick Cheney (and Lynne Cheney) - 0 visits Laura Bush (solo) - 0 visits |
John
Kerry - 0 visits
John Edwards - 1 visit (1 day) Teresa Heinz Kerry (solo) - 1 visit (1 day) Elizabeth Edwards (solo) - 0 visits |
Eight Months (March 2-Nov. 2, 2004) | |
George
W. Bush - 2 visits (2 days)
Dick Cheney - 4 visits (4 days) Laura Bush (solo) - 2 visits (2 days) Lynne Cheney (solo) - 1 visit (2 days) |
John
Kerry - 3 visits (6 days)
John Edwards - 2 visits (2 days) Teresa Heinz Kerry (solo) - 1 visit (1 day) Elizabeth Edwards (solo) - 0 visits |
Newspaper Endorsements source: Editor & Publisher
BUSH
The Bulletin [Bend] The News-Review [Roseburg] (10/18/04) Albany Democrat-Herald Daily Courier [Grants Pass] Argus Observer [Ontario] |
KERRY
The Oregonian (10/10/04) The Register Guard [Eugene] Statesman Journal [Salem] Mail Tribune [Medford] (10/17/04) The World [Coos Bay] East Oregonian [Pendleton] Daily Astorian (10/18/04) Note the Oregonian supported Bush in 2000. |
.2000 |
|
.2004 | ||||
Gore/Lieberman (D) |
188,441
|
(63.52%) |
|
Kerry/Edwards (D) |
259,585
|
(71.57%) |
Bush/Cheney (R) |
83,677
|
(28.20%) |
|
Bush/Cheney (R) |
98,439
|
(27.14%) |
Nader/LaDuke (P) |
21,048
|
(7.09%) |
|
|||
Others (4+misc) |
3,519
|
(1.19%) |
|
Others (3+misc) |
4,670
|
(1.29%) |
Total |
296,685
|
|
Total |
362,694
|
||
19.34% of statewide
total
|
Gore
plurality:
104,764 |
19.75% of statewide
total
|
Kerry
plurality:
161,146 |
Washington County (Beaverton)
.2000 |
|
.2004 | ||||
Gore/Lieberman (D) |
90,662
|
(48.75%) |
|
Kerry/Edwards (D) |
121,140
|
(52.37%) |
Bush/Cheney (R) |
86,091
|
(46.29%) |
|
Bush/Cheney (R) |
107,223
|
(46.36%) |
Nader/LaDuke (P) |
6,985
|
(3.76%) |
|
|||
Others (4+misc) |
2,236
|
(1.20%) |
|
Others (3+misc) |
2,945
|
(1.27%) |
Total |
185,974
|
|
Total |
231,308
|
||
12.12% of statewide
total
|
Gore
plurality:
4,571 |
12.59% of statewide
total
|
Kerry
plurality:
13,917 |
Clackamas County (Lake Oswego)
.2000 |
|
.2004 | ||||
Gore/Lieberman (D) |
76,421
|
(47.10%) |
|
Kerry/Edwards (D) |
95,129
|
(48.78%) |
Bush/Cheney (R) |
77,539
|
(47.79%) |
|
Bush/Cheney (R) |
97,691
|
(50.10%) |
Nader/LaDuke (P) |
6,357
|
(3.92%) |
|
|||
Others (4+misc) |
1,945
|
(1.20%) |
|
Others (3+misc) |
2,180
|
(1.12%) |
Total |
162,262
|
|
Total |
195,000
|
||
10.58% of statewide
total
|
Bush
plurality:
1,118 |
10.62% of statewide
total
|
Bush
plurality:
2,562 |
Lane County (Eugene)
.2000 |
|
.2004 | ||||
Gore/Lieberman (D) |
78,583
|
(51.64%) |
|
Kerry/Edwards (D) |
107,769
|
(57.98%) |
Bush/Cheney (R) |
61,578
|
(40.46%) |
|
Bush/Cheney (R) |
75,007
|
(40.35%) |
Nader/LaDuke (P) |
10,245
|
(6.73%) |
|
|||
Others (4+misc) |
1,782
|
(1.17%) |
|
Others (3+misc) |
3,096
|
(1.67%) |
Total |
152,188
|
|
Total |
185,872
|
||
9.92% of statewide
total
|
Gore
plurality:
17,005 |
10.12% of statewide
total
|
Kerry
plurality:
32,762 |
Third Party and Independent
Nader Ballot Access
Nader-Kucera.
The campaign's path to ballot access encountered obstacle after obstacle
in Oregon. Oregon offers two paths to ballot access: a candidate
can either obtain the signatures of 1,000 registered voters on a single
day or obtain 15,306 signatures statewide by the August 24, 2004 deadline.
On April 5, 2004 Nader held a nominating convention at Roseland Theatre
in Portland, but failed to draw enough people (the AP reported 741 people
attended). Nader held a second nominating convention at Benson High
School in Portland on June 26. Aiming to help the Bush campaign,
two conservative groups, the Oregon Family Council and Oregon Citizens
for a Sound Economy >,
made phone calls to encourage their supporters to show up at the convention.
Bush-Cheney '04 supporters also made calls on a "voluntary" basis.
[Citizens for Reponsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a DC-based
watchdog group, filed a complaint
with the FEC on June 30 charging the assistance amounted to an illegal
in-kind contribution].
In any event the convention failed, and in July Nader opted for a statewide petition effort. Election officials then challenged whether Peter Miguel Camejo could appear on the ballot as Nader's running mate since he had not been an Independent for 180 days; the campaign substituted Sandra Kucera, a legal assistant to Greg Kafoury, the Portland attorney who heads the Oregon campaign. The Nader campaign accused Democrats of engaging in "dirty tricks" by having lawyers threaten signature gatherers. [Aug. 13, 2004 press release, affadavit] Despite these obstacles, on August 24 the campaign announced it had submitted more than enough signatures to be included on the ballot in Oregon, turning in 18,047 valid signatures verified by the counties out of more than 29,000 signatures submitted.
However, Secretary of State
Bill Bradley (D) rejected about 3,000 of these signatures based on directives
and on September 1 said the campaign had fallen short by 218 signatures.
On September 9 Marion County Circuit Court presiding judge Paul Lipscomb
ruled
that Nader should appear on the ballot because the Secretary of State had
disqualified the signatures without apparent statutory or administrative
authority. On September 15 the Secretary of State asked the Oregon
Supreme Court, in the words of commununications director Anne Mertens,
for "an expedited mandamus review of that ruling, both for the immediate
issue of whether the county judge was correct and for the larger issue
of whether the Secretary of State may enforce fraud prevention rules."
On September 22 the Oregon Supreme Court reversed the Circuit Court and
ruled
that the Secretary of State had acted within his authority. Nader
appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing,
according to a press
release, that "the Secretary of State's actions violated the rights
of voters and circulators under the United States Constitution."
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected that argument on September 28.
State Coordinators
Nader: Greg Kafoury,
Travis Diskin
Cobb: Matthew Denney;
also Blair Bobier, a Pacific Green activist, served as Cobb's media coordinator
More Candidate Visits
NADER-CAMEJO
October 10, 2004
Evening campaign speech/rally
at McDonald Theatre in Eugene, OR.
June 26, 2004
Nominating Convention at
Benson High School Auditorium in Portland, OR.
April 5, 2004
Nominating Convention at
the Roseland Theatre in Portland, OR.
COBB-LaMARCHE
October 4, 2004
David Cobb does press conference
with local candidates at 1020 SW Taylor in Portland.
House party and fundraiser
in Northeast Portland.
"Rock n Register Benefit
Concert/FUN raiser" at Odd Fellows Fellowship Hall in Corvallis.
October 1, 2004
Pat LaMarche, on her "Left
Out Tour," joins activists in Pioneer Courthouse Square to conduct a voter
registration drive in honor of National Homeless and Low Income Voter Registration
Week then overnights at Dignity Village in Portland, OR.
Copyright © 2005
Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action