Political Desk

Hello everyone, please accept my apology for letting way too much time go by since my last post. I’ll try to do better. Obviously, things have been happening quickly on the political front, it’s been crazy trying to keep on top of it all.

So here’s where we’re at: As you surely know by now, former President Bill Clinton will be at McMinnville High School Saturday afternoon in a free, open-to-all event. Doors open at 1:45 p.m., and while it’s likely he’ll be running late, I’d show up quite a bit before if you want to get in, as space is limited. When I covered Obama at the Salem Armory a few weeks ago, I showed up something like two hours or more before the scheduled start time, and there was already a really long line snaking through the parking lot. Those planning to attend are asked to visit Hillary’s web site first and register.

Some fallout from Clinton’s visit: Rep. Donna Nelson tells me that her Yamhill/Carlton town hall that was originally scheduled for Saturday afternoon has been bumped to Tuesday, May 6, 6-8 p.m. at City Hall, 205 S Maple in Yamhill. She’s also running for Yamhill County Commissioner.

In other news: Kathleen Hall Jamieson was in town this week and termed this year’s presidential election “unprecedented” for a number of reasons. Of special interest: Polling by her research outfit, the Annenberg Public Policy Center, shows that there is more than the usual amount of disagreement within households this year, as teens are arguing with their parents about something other than how late they can stay out: They’re having Obama-Clinton debates.

Also, U.S. Rep. David Wu (D-District 1) threw his support to Obama this week, having had a telephone conversation with the congressman from Illinois on Wednesday night. He wouldn’t tell reporters, in a conference call, what swayed him, but I got the sense that he regards Obama as better able than Clinton of uniting different factions than his opponent. (Wu insisted that he was not saying that Clinton is divisive.) Of course, it’s a significant development because Wu, who represents Yamhill County in the U.S. House, is one of Oregon’s superdelegates, who can vote for any candidate at the Democratic Convention.