Campaigns hit Oregon trail

PORTLAND, Ore. “”mdash; In simultaneous West Coast campaign
swings President Bush and Democratic presidential candidate Sen.
John Kerry, D-Mass., made brief Southern California appearances
last week before moving on to the battleground state of Oregon.

As the Nov. 2 election draws near, the two have switched their
campaigns into high gear, raising money and reaching out to
undecided voters across the country and especially in the
approximately 20 states up for grabs.

While the most recent polls show Kerry holding a commanding lead
in California, Bush said at a Santa Monica fundraiser Aug. 12 he
would fight for the state’s 55 electoral votes. Kerry,
speaking Aug. 13 at California State University Dominguez Hills in
Carson, refused to take California’s leftward lean for
granted and continued his appeals to the middle voters.

The California appearances by the candidates remained low-key as
the campaigns readied larger efforts for Oregon.

Bush’s California swing ““ bringing in $3 million for
the Republican National Convention ““ garnered him
endorsements from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and former first lady
Nancy Reagan. Reagan and Bush have recently butted heads over the
president’s opposition to the expansion of stem-cell
research, but he won her endorsement nonetheless.

The opponents nearly crossed paths on Friday in Portland, Ore.,
as they gave speeches at the same time and only miles apart.

Though the state’s seven electoral votes are dwarfed by
California’s count of 55, the battle for Oregon may prove
more intense than that for its neighbor to the south because
Oregon’s votes are far more contested. The polls show Kerry
holding a lead over Bush, but the state is still up for grabs.

Kerry’s Oregon appearance was the culmination of a 2-week,
20-state campaign tour that began the day after the Democratic
National Convention ended. With the Portland fire marshal
estimating the size of the crowd at 50,000 people, Kerry drew his
largest audience yet ““ up from the estimated 400 in
attendance at his California speech.

Not looking to lose ground in their neck-to-neck race, Bush made
Portland the scene of a political showdown when he announced he
would speak in the same city on the same day as Kerry. Bush used
his televised speech to discuss the economy and defend the war in
Iraq.

Air Force One touched down in Portland at 10:45 a.m. Friday and
after brief remarks, the presidential motorcade ushered Bush to a
local high school gymnasium for a scheduled speech where he was
greeted by several thousand of his staunchest supporters.

The invitation-only affair brought out about 2,300 GOP faithful
““ mostly volunteers and contributors to his reelection
campaign.

For several hours, the people left the midsummer heat and
filtered into the slightly air-conditioned gym in anticipation of
the president’s 12:30 p.m. speech.

A loudspeaker voice abruptly announced the arrival of the
president and his wife, Laura Bush, along with Sen. Gordon Smith,
R-Ore., to a roar of applause and chants of “Four more
years.” After short introductions from Smith and the First
Lady, Bush confidently took the stage and commanded the willing
crowd.

Bush began by speaking of “job creation, job growth and
the entrepreneurial spirit.” He acknowledged a recent
national recession but he said, “The national economy is
strong and getting stronger.”

Bush derided Kerry’s recent pledge to roll back the Bush
tax cuts to the wealthy as “political rhetoric.”

He then forcefully defended his decision to invade Iraq.

“I thought we were going to find stockpiles (of
weapons),” Bush said, adding that even though no stockpiles
were found, removing Saddam Hussein justified going to war.

“Knowing what I know today, I would make the same
decision,” he said.

Bush finished his speech by discussing the value of higher
education.

While many colleges and universities have seen budget cuts, he
said “at the federal level, funding has not been
cut.”

Bush emphasized community college as a way to educate citizens
in a changing workforce.

Meanwhile, only a few miles away, an estimated 50,000 people
braved the 90-degree heat as Kerry delivered his own speech at an
outdoor venue.

Kerry discussed the country’s suffering economy and
continued his efforts to use his army record to portray himself as
a strong military leader.

His appearances across the country have been drawing crowds
“upwards of 25,000,” said Lisa Sohn, the communications
director for the Kerry campaign Oregon office, and said the turnout
in Portland was “amazing.”

“We had a great crowd, our speakers were inspiring. I
didn’t hear anyone walk away disappointed,” she
said.

Kerry and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, appeared with
“Titanic” star Leonardo DiCaprio and singer Jon Bon
Jovi ““ ironically assembling a more star-studded lineup away
from Southern California than within it the previous day.

Sohn said the fire marshal called the rally “the largest
public event held in Portland in a decade.”

After the rally, Kerry stayed in Portland for the rest of the
day, riding a bike through the city streets, shopping in local
stores and eating at local restaurants.

Sohn said Kerry would take a few days off before hitting the
campaign trail again.

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