Political Desk

Here’s a sampling of what arrived over the weekend:
From Our Oregon, a liberal political action committee, the mantra for Election ‘08 will clearly be: “ Once a Racketeer, Still a Racketeer.” That’s a reference to Bill Sizemore, who got hammered last week by the Oregon Supreme Court.
A Multnomah County jury in 2002 found that that [...]

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Reading the “news” about the presidential race in The Oregonian this morning made me want to scream: Is Obama actually a “Manchurian candidate” for radical Muslims? Does being shot down and held prisoner in a bamboo cage qualify you to be President of the United States?
Expect these and other Profound Questions to dominate headlines all [...]

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If gasoline prices have not eviscerated your summer travel plans, seriously consider a trip to Ashland to see the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s production of “Coriolanus,” which runs through Nov. 2. I’ve seen few performances in my life that I would call genuinely volcanic, and Danforth Comins’ work in the title role of this infrequently staged [...]

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I confess that the headline and subsequent first paragraph made me laugh out loud. The first public hearing held last winter by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission over Oregon LNG’s pipeline proposal was a thoroughly nasty affair, but it doesn’t top what my colleague Nick Christensen at the Hillsboro Argus wrote about in the upcoming [...]

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So we’re done for a while … until, at least, November. See today’s print edition of the News-Register for our post-election coverage, some of which I’ll link to here.
I’d like to salute those in the Yamhill County Clerk’s Office — Jan Coleman, her terrific staff and volunteers who come aboard for elections. They work incredibly [...]

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By JILLIAN BEAUDRY
Of the News-Register

Candidates of local election races were staked out around the area celebrating with friends and family and constantly refreshing the results Web pages as the votes were counted throughout the evening.

Candidate for Yamhill County Commissioner Kris Bledsoe was enjoying wine and a plate of cheese and olives in the lounge of [...]

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Weidner

I’m posting this at 11:27 p.m., and the latest numbers are available on the clerk’s web site. These are unofficial, of course, but with the turnout at 45 percent, it looks like this is it. I’m having a heck of a time trying to figure out how the caption tool works, so to complete the [...]

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People have been asking me who I think will win the local races, and my answer is generally some variation of: “I have no idea.”
Most of the local races are difficult to handicap.
I think it’s entirely possible that Commissioner Leslie Lewis could get an outright win tonight, negating the need for a November runoff. But [...]

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The Republican primary in House District 24 continues to crackle: Another campaign piece has hit mailboxes, and this time it’s Jim Bunn and Jim Weidner who are the targets. It comes from Ed Glad, who is attempting to draw a distinction between himself and his opponents on land-use stuff. Jim Weidner was just in here [...]

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The Oregonian today reports on the front page that the Clinton and Obama campaigns have apologized for “robo” calls they’ve been making to those who got on the federal no-call list. A newsroom staffer told me she got one the other day from Bill Clinton (why isn’t Hillary doing these?) despite the fact that she’s [...]

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Lacking substantive policy differences, political candidates in party primaries tend to focus — more so than in general elections — on questions about ideological purity. That’s what you see going on in House District 24 as we approach Tuesday’s moment of truth.
Partisans take this stuff seriously, which is why the right and left wings of [...]

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Here’s a tidbit that arrived just a few minutes ago: A poll conducted for the Portland Tribune and Fox 12 News shows Barack Obama with a whopping 20-point lead over Hillary Clinton. Meanwhile, Steve Novick reportedly holds a slight, statistically insignificant lead over Jeff Merkley in the U.S. Senate Democratic primary. The statewide poll of [...]

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I just checked in with the Yamhill County Clerk’s Office, where I was told that ballots aren’t coming in at quite the pace they ordinarily do. It’s not a huge statistical difference, but there is a difference: By this point in 2004, 11.6 percent of Yamhill County voters had cast their ballots. This year: 10.8 [...]

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Good morning, readers. My pile of Sunday papers awaits, so I’ll make this quick:  Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have set up headquarters in McMinnville, both are downtown on Third Street.  Also, Obama has picked up more superdelegates in recent days, including Oregon’s Peter DeFazio. Jim Bunn responded to the Weidner camp’s [...]

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This week’s story about the Weidner-Bunn thing has hit the blogosphere: Over on NW Republican, there’s a discussion unfolding in which a couple of inaccuracies have popped up.
Blog host Coyote says that Bunn’s response to the “alert” that Weidner’s supporters sent out over the weekend was that “he took umbrage that Jim Weidner’s name wasn’t [...]

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Hello everyone, back in the saddle here. It’s been a busy few days. There’s a lot going on.
First, here’s our coverage of the House District 24 Republican primary race, which ran in Saturday’s edition. It’s been termed “the primary to watch,” and I would not disagree. In fact, I spent a fair amount of some [...]

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When an American presidential campaign swings through McMinnville, that’s a pretty good sign that the nation’s political temperature is hot — and rising. The News-Register had several reporters, including yours truly, and photographers at Saturday’s Clinton visit, so be sure to pick up a copy of today’s print edition for the big spread. For those [...]

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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 [...]

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By DAVID BATESOf the News-Register
NEWBERG - Less than 25 percent of Americans approve of the Bush presidency and more than 80 percent think the United States is on the wrong track. But you wouldn’t know it from Tuesday’s Republican Revival bash in Newberg.
Intended to inject some energy into Yamhill County’s Republican Party in preparation for [...]

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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 [...]

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