Regardless of your political affiliation, as an Oregonian you'd benefit if the issues, people and institutions of our state and region received the attention of the candidates and national news media in the 2008 presidential campaign. And that's why Oregon should join California and move its presidential primary election to Feb. 5 of next year.
The way the 2008 election calendar is shaping up, Republicans and Democrats are likely to have their respective nominees settled by early February. That, of course, would make Oregon's current May primary irrelevant.
So why should you care? Because it also would make you irrelevant in selecting the two people most likely to compete to become our next president. It also would deprive Oregon of the opportunity to have the candidates campaign here and address issues of unique interest to our state and region. The political and financial benefits of moving our primary would far outweigh the $2.8 million it is projected to cost state taxpayers.
By next year, we will know where most of the candidates stand on issues of national significance -- Iraq, tax policy, health care, immigration. But unless Oregon becomes a player in selecting the nominees, the candidates, their campaigns and the media that follow them won't give a second thought to issues of particular significance here.
What do the major candidates think of former Gov. John Kitzhaber's ideas on health care? What about vote-by-mail elections or Sen. Ron Wyden's tax reform plans? What about forest health issues, timber policy and proposals to remove Columbia River dams? Do candidates have opinions about the Bonneville Power Administration, assisted suicide, deepening the Columbia River channel, allowing casinos off reservation lands?
There's only one way we can ever know.
To be sure, most Oregon-specific issues will never be top tier concerns for candidates who generally are slaves to their national messages, regardless of where they are and who they're talking to. But joining our primary with California's would result in campaign stops in Oregon that otherwise wouldn't occur. And those visits would require the candidates, their staffs and the national media to become familiar with some of those issues.
Moving our primary would also increase the clout of our state's elected officials, with Gov. Ted Kulongoski, members of our congressional delegation, statewide elected officials and state legislators all being sought out for their advice, counsel and endorsements.
Oregon is a small state, but so are New Hampshire and Iowa. Those two states historically have played a crucial role in deciding the Republican and Democratic nominees for president simply because they voted first. Oregon may not have the chance to vote first, but unless we act now to move our primary, we won't even be in the game.
Dan Lavey is partner with The Gallatin Group, a public affairs firm based in Portland. He previously served as a top aide to U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore.
