Super Tuesday Isn't All That Special In Oregon

POLITICS 

By Ethan Lindsey

Portland, OR  February 5, 2008 9:42 a.m.

Tuesday may be a de facto 'national primary' in 22 states, but here in Oregon, voters are more than three months away from having any say.

Ethan Lindsey reports that many Oregonians are left wondering why the state is so marginalized.

Only three primary votes are scheduled later than Oregon's May 20th election. And one of those is in Puerto Rico.

So, Oregon voters could be forgiven for thinking they don't matter in the primary process. Especially as the hugely important voting results stream in from states like New York, California and Illinois.

Jenny Greenleaf is the national committeewoman for the Oregon Democratic Party. She and a group of volunteers spent Monday in Portland stapling signs for a Super Tuesday results party.

Instead of counting votes, she'll count submissions for a bunch of raffle prizes, which could be a little frustrating for a political junkie like her.

Jenny Greenleaf: “I don't personally find it frustrating, I'm glad to see the contest going out a little longer. And I think with everybody on Super Tuesday it would have been really hard for Oregon to get any attention at all anyway. We wouldn't have gotten a lot. But Barack Obama went to Idaho and 14,000 people showed up.”

Obama Idaho Speech: “I was told there weren't any Democrats in Idaho...."

Greenleaf says Oregon voters would love to have major candidates come stump in the state.

Early in the process, Democrats and Republicans in Washington D.C. decided February 5th was the earliest date most states could hold their primaries.

After that announcement, says Secretary of State Bill Bradbury, himself a Democrat, Oregon considered moving up.

Bill Bradbury: “The cost of moving our primary is $2.8 million. Obviously, I am concerned about the money, but my biggest argument was, it doesn't make sense to pile on and race to the front because we will be completely irrelevant at the front, because we're so small.”

Even so - the heads of both of the state's major parties supported the idea.

But then another wrinkle emerged, says Bradbury.

Bill Bradbury: “If we move our primary to February 5th, we would probably be violating party rules because our people would start voting 3 weeks before that date, which is before Iowa and New Hampshire.”

All of those factors meant the state legislature eventually pushed aside any thought of bumping up the primary. At the same time, Bradbury has tried to take a more prominent role in trying to change the overall process.

He's a member of the National Association of Secretaries of State - and sits on its elections committee. And with the group, Bradbury has proposed dividing the country into four regions, with each voting in a different month, every four years.

Bradbury says there are a number of other plans out there, but....

Bill Bradbury: “The bottom line of all the plans, is let's not frontload the whole system. Let's spread it out so that people have a chance to meet candidates and some surprising winners could emerge.”

Back at Democratic party headquarters, in Portland, Jenny Greenleaf is hoping no candidate has an insurmountable lead before May.

Jenny Greenleaf: “I'm hoping that Oregon matters and that we get the candidates here, and that we get a chance to spend some time and see them. Oregon is a small state, and we can do retail politics.”

If 2000 and 2004 are any indication, both the Democrat and Republican nominees will visit Oregon plenty before November.

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