One more brief note on the political climate in the State of Oregon following last weeks series of posts on the state (on Historical Trends, History, The Senate Race, David Wu's Reelection Campaign, and Darlene Hooley's Reelection Campaign).

Of course we've all seen the recent poll from the American Research group indicating that John Kerry is leading in Oregon by a 50-42 margin, which is certainly a healthy lead. The Oregonian (the state's largest newspaper) even runs a story on the poll and what it might mean, in one graf writing that "Tim Hibbitts, an independent pollster in Portland, also gave the advantage to Kerry."

While polling at this juncture is important, it is not as key as cash on hand, an area in which candidates' spending up and down the ticket helps one another out. According to PoliticalMoneyLine.com, Democratic candidates for federal office in the state now have an immense lead when it comes to cash on hand. Currently, Sen. Ron Wyden, Reps. David Wu, Earl Blumenauer, Peter DeFazio and Darlene Hooley, and challeger John McColgan have a combined $7,420,414 on hand to the $1,570,897 on hand for Rep. Greg Walden and challengers Al King, Goli Ameri, James Feldkamp and Jim Zupancic. In a state in which 1,532,968 people voted in the Presidential race in 2000, this translates into an advantage of $4.84 per voter to $1.02 per voter.

It is true that money does not mean everything in an election, but history has shown that the side that is able to spend the most money generally wins. It appears essentially impossible for the Republicans to overcome this deficit, even if President Bush decides to pump substantial funds into the state before the election. This also means that although John Kerry will have to spend money in the state, he will be able to divert at least some funds out to help out in states he might pluck away from the Republicans, like Missouri, Colorado, Ohio and Florida. In 2000, the state may have been GOREGON, but this time around, Oregon's Kerry Country!