Obama tells Oregon voters stakes are high
His message meant for all Democrats
PORTLAND – President Barack Obama urged Oregon Democrats on Wednesday night to “defy the conventional wisdom” and vote to send John Kitzhaber back to the governor’s office on Nov. 2.
Obama tried to rally the troops on the West Coast less than two weeks before an election that will determine control of Congress for the next two years. But his message was meant for Democrats around the country, too.
“This election is not about anger; it’s not about fear. It’s about a choice, and the stakes couldn’t be higher,” the president said, reinforcing his campaign message about where Republican leadership would take the country.
Obama charged that the GOP would repeal new health care changes designed to keep insurers from denying coverage to the sick, and cancel new rules to keep credit card companies from slapping people with hidden fees.
“We’ve tried that before, and we’re not going back,” he said.
Kitzhaber, a doctor who occupied the governor’s office from 1994-2002, is in a tight race against Republican Chris Dudley, a former NBA player and a political rookie.
Obama said the former governor is the only candidate “that’s actually delivered change.”
“Here is a guy who’s already done the job and done it well,” he said.
But the fact that Obama flew to Oregon so late in the campaign to stump for Kitzhaber, long considered one of the state’s most popular politicians, is a sign of how beleaguered Democrats are this year – including Obama.
Oregon was the first stop on Obama’s longest campaign swing of the season, a four-day, five-state blitz of fundraisers and rallies that also will take him to Washington, California, Nevada and Minnesota.
Obama is scheduled to campaign separately with Sens. Patty Murray of Washington and Barbara Boxer of California, plus Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada – Senate allies also in tight contests against their Republican challengers.
Obama already has campaigned with each senator, sometimes more than once. But he made the 3,000-mile return trip to help keep them and a Democratic majority in the Senate. It’s what he needs to boost his agenda in Congress in the final two years of his term.
Vice President Joe Biden, first lady Michelle Obama and Biden’s wife, Jill, are doing their part, too, in an all-hands-on-deck effort by a White House fully aware of the stakes for Obama should any, or all, of these Democrats fail to return to the Senate in January.