Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon was the center of attention in the Democratic Presidential campaign Friday.

Hillary Clinton held a roundtable at a Portland hospital.  And Barack Obama is making a series of stops today and tomorrow.  Correspondent Chris Lehman listened in as Obama addressed employees at a software company in Beaverton.

The stop came on a day when Obama picked up a slew of new endorsements from superdelegates, including Oregon Congressman Peter Defazio.

At times Obama almost spoke as though he’s already wrapped up the Democratic nomination.  But when an audience member asked if he’d consider picking Hillary Clinton as his running mate, Obama said it’s too soon to say.

Barack Obama:  “We do not have this nomination locked up. So we’re still competing.  She’s going to do very well in West Virginia and Kentucky. She will win those states in all likelihood by significant margins.  We feel like we’ve got a pretty good shot here in Oregon.”

Obama has been leading in polls taken in Oregon.  And with many Oregonians having already turned in their ballots, it’s not clear how many more stops the campaigns will make here before the May 20 deadline to vote.