GOP puts muscle into giving Oregon to Bush

[NNN0LHI]

http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=83181

<snip>A wild card in the race is consumer activist Ralph Nader, who is trying to gain a spot on Oregon’s Nov. 2 ballot as an independent presidential contender.

Both major parties view Nader as a potential spoiler who could draw votes away from Kerry and help Bush in Oregon this fall.

With that thought in mind, two conservative groups with strong Republican ties urged their members to attend Nader’s June 26 convention in Portland to help get Nader on the ballot.

A Multnomah County Democratic Party official responded by asking Democrats to show up and not sign petitions for Nader, in hopes of thwarting the Nader effort.

more

[dusty64]

1. The divisive hatemongers

are also hard at work there. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=561598

Oregon's gay-marriage foes submit record signatures

By BRAD CAIN
The Associated Press


DON RYAN / AP

SALEM, Ore. — The battle over gay marriage in Oregon shifted to the ballot yesterday, when opponents of same-sex marriages triumphantly turned in the highest number of signatures ever submitted for an initiative measure in the state's history.
The 244,587 signatures amassed by the Defense of Marriage Coalition — more than twice the necessary amount — are the latest salvo in the state's ongoing fight over the contentious social issue.

In March, commissioners in Multnomah County, Oregon's largest and most liberal enclave, directed county employees to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

More than 3,000 marriage licenses were issued before a judge halted the process to give the state Legislature and the state's highest court a chance to weigh in on the issue.

Then, five weeks ago, backers of an anti-gay-marriage law — similar versions of which already exist in 39 states — launched their drive to place their proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001969...

[Divernan]

2. Oregon - 400 miles of ocean coast; one part time state cop to patrol it.

The Oregon GOP would be smarter to devote their efforts to getting Bush to restore enough of their federal funding to provide adequate police protection. As per Fahrenheit 911 - the quote from the young state cop - their are a total of 8 state police on night duty for the entire state.

[swag]

3. We have suffered a steady decline in state police ever since

the infamous Measure 5 was passed. I tagged along to a conference of traffic engineers in Bend maybe 10 years ago and the head of state police (lunchtime speaker) warned that this would happen unless Oregonians demonstrated a political will to turn our funding mess around.

[cap]

4. Oregon, the Mississippi of the West...

why isn't this state a democratic stronghold?