Political Desk

By DAVID BATES
Of the News-Register

SALEM — Many students in the Willamette Valley got a head start on spring break this year by jumping aboard the Obama Express.
Democratic presidential front-runner Barack Obama made a four-stop swing through Oregon on Friday. His tour, including a stop at the Salem Armory where a seemingly endless line formed at the gates Friday morning, included a lot of young people who say Obama’s their man — children with parents in tow, others on their own and many, many students.
“It’s more of an emotional thing,” said William Weins, a Willamette University computer science major. “When I read what he has to say, I feel inspired.”
Those sentiments were universal across all age groups and demographics, as about a dozen people interviewed while waiting spoke of the Illinois senator in terms that went light on the nitty gritty political issues and heavy on character issues.
“Honesty. Integrity. New ideas,” said Delana Beaton, a retired school counselor from Salem. “He will get us out of Iraq.”
Three generations of the Beaton family attended Friday — Delana and her husband, Russ, a retired economics professor; their son, Alan, a paramedic; and his son, Seth, a second-grader who wasn’t sure what all the fuss was about.
Russ Beaton said, “I told him about 15 minutes ago. I said, ‘Seth, you’re going to remember this for the rest of your life.’
“He said, ‘How do you know?’ Then he smiled.
“He probably will.”
Not everyone who attended Friday had made up their minds who to vote for, but Beaton has.
“I take the way they campaign as an indication of their personality,” he said. “I’ve always been a Clinton supporter, but I don’t like the way the Clinton machine has gone after Obama.”
Sara Decoster, a 27-year-old self-employed financial coach, who was reading Donald Trump’s “Wealth Building 101” while waiting in line, said she wasn’t a backer of either Democrat.
She said the presumed Republican nominee, John McCain, might still win her vote, “unless Obama steps up or Clinton says something she hasn’t said before.”
McMinnville resident Marilyn Van Dyke, a retired Yamhill County employee, managed to snag tickets both for Obama’s appearance in Portland — where he scored a highly sought endorsement from New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, the nation’s only Hispanic governor — and his Salem stop. She opted for Salem and gave her Portland ticket to a friend.
“Actually, I used to be an Edwards supporter,” Van Dyke said. “But I do think Obama is a person who has a vision of how to get people to work together. It does seem new, you know?”
She said, “Hillary would be a good candidate. But it just feels like politics as usual. Fortunately, we have two good candidates.”
As is typical of such events, others with various causes showed up to do some lobbying. Those arriving at the Salem Armory were greeted by a pair of anti-abortion protesters holding large placards featuring decapitated fetuses.
As the line wound through the gate, attendees were greeted by someone with a poster informing them, “Planned Parenthood Targets Blacks.” Just outside the gate, Patrick LaMaster stood alone, advancing his own cause: raising public awareness of the homeless and mentally ill.
LaMaster, 46, said he’d had a successful flooring business in Salem about a decade ago, before bipolar disorder threw his life into disarray and he ended up on the street. He said he’d installed marble floors in both private homes and in public sites in Salem.
“They need to be recognized,” LaMaster said. “People, starting at the local level, in the community and in the churches, need to sit down with the homeless and hear what they have to say.”
Garbed in black, holding a handmade sign, and lacking his own ticket to the Obama event, LaMaster said he was getting back on his feet through a local nonprofit. He said he was now attending classes at Chemeketa Community College.
Ultimately, he wants to advocate for the homeless and mentally ill. “I’m going to be out here until the last person goes in, so I can get my message across,” he said.
As it turned out, he got in, settling into a seat perched just behind the press corps. And, like Seth Beaton, he’ll probably remember the day for the rest of his life.