Salem-News.com (May-16-2008 05:43)

Obama vs Clintons - The Battle for Oregon Voters

Kevin Hays Salem-News.com

Former President Bill Clinton along with former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton will be in Salem on Sunday.

(SALEM, Ore. ) - And down the stretch they come.

Democratic presidential hopefuls Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton, along with former President Bill Clinton and former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton will be in Oregon this weekend vying for the state's 52 pledged delegates. Mail ballots are due Tuesday, but state elections officials say Friday is the last day to mail-in ballots to make sure they get to county election offices in-time to be counted. Ballots must be received by county elections offices or at official dropsites by 8:00 PM on May 20. Postmarks do not count.

Obama, who is expected to win the Beaver State by a double-digit margin, will appear for a town-hall meeting at Roseburg High School at 11:30 AM Saturday. On Sunday, he will hold a 12:30 PM rally in Portland’s Waterfront Park and a 6:30 PM town-hall meeting at the Pendleton Convention Center. Hillary Clinton, is scheduled to tour an unfinished house and meet with a local family in Junction City at 11:30 AM Friday. Later, she will be in Portland at the KGW-TV studios for a 7:00 PM town hall meeting with invited, undecided voters. Neither Hillary Clinton appearance is open to public.

Bill Clinton along with daughter Chelsea, will be holding a rally at the Salem Riverfront Park Amphitheatre on Sunday. The "Solutions for America" event is scheduled to run from 2:45 - 4:00 PM. To RSVP visit hillaryclinton.com/salem. Beofre the Salem, event, Bill and Chelsea will also participate in an "I Have a Dream" Foundation Service Project at Woodlawn Elementary School in Portland. After Salem, the pair will travel south to Ashland for another "Solutions for America" event at Southern Oregon University in the Stevenson Union Courtyard at 5:15 PM. To RSVP visit hillaryclinton.com/ashland.

This week, a SurveyUSA poll has Obama with a 54 percent to 43 percent lead over Clinton, while an independent poll, by Public Policy Polling, had Obama in the lead 53 percent to 39 percent. 2,026 delegates are needed to get the Democratic nomination. Barack Obama has 1,887 to 1,717 for Clinton. That means Obama needs only 138 more delegates in the next five contests (Kentucky, Oregon, Puerto Rico, South Dakota, and Montana) to become the nominee. There are 260-plus superdelegates who are yet to be claimed and are not bound by the outcome of any state's vote.

In Kentucky, which votes on the same day as Oregon, Clinton has the endorsements of former Kentucky Governors John Brown, Julian Carroll, Wendell Ford and Paul Patton, while Obama is endorsed by the state's two Democratic Congressmen, Representatives Ben Chandler and John Yarmuth. A recent statewide poll showed Clinton leading Obama in the Bluegrass State by 27 points – 58 percent to 31 percent. Another poll had her winning by 32 points.

Obama vs Clintons - The Battle for Oregon Voters

Salem-News.com