The reason I initially began to write these two posts stemmed from some recent news on Oregon politics. I thought the two would stand better apart as two separate posts--one historical, one current--rather than one mish-mashed post. So here goes...

The AP reports today that the Bush Administration is once again actively pursuing the overturn of the state's Doctor Assisted Suicide law.

"The Bush administration asked a federal appeals court here Monday to reconsider a May decision that upheld Oregon's assisted suicide law and prohibited federal charges against doctors who prescribe overdoses.

The administration wants the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to set aside its ruling backing the nation's only law allowing doctors to assist in hastening the death of patients. [...]

The three-judge panel in May ruled that, under the state's voter-approved law, Attorney General John Ashcroft cannot sanction or hold Oregon doctors criminally liable for prescribing overdoses."

President Bush is skating on very thin ice in Oregon (I know... there is no ice in Oregon now. It's actually just about the most beautiful part of the nation this time of year. I digress).

In an extension of his strategy to pander to his uber-Right wing constituency to shore up his rapidly dwindling national poll numbers (most notably with the FMA), Bush is gravely risking turning Oregon into a solidly Blue state--a la neighbors to the north and south, Washington and California.

It's not enough that the state Republican Party has refused to nominate any candidates near the middle of the political spectrum since Hatfield or Packwood (or maybe Norma Paulus). Now, the head of the national Republican Party--President George W. Bush--is actively campaigning against the voters of the state. If this doesn't turn off Oregon voters, I'm not sure what can!

Oregon has a highly democratic view of democracy. The previous sentence may seem redundant, but it is not meant to be. While America's founding fathers were concerned about a direct democracy (read Federalist #10), Oregon's early leaders preferred it to representative democracy. William U’Ren, a political reformer, pushed through sweeping democratic reforms in the early 1900s that gave the state the initiative and referendum by 1902. The entire package of constitutional reforms, known as the "Oregon Plan," included direct primaries by 1904, direct elections of US senators by 1906, the recall of public officials by 1908, the presidential preference primary by 1910, and woman's suffrage by 1912 (link).

In recent years, this legacy has thrived with statewide vote-by-mail, which ensures close to the nation's highest voter turnout. Oregon's initiatives have come from left and right alike, with everything from anti-tax and anti-homosexuality measures to school reform and the legalization medicinal marijuana. However, no bill epitomizes Oregon's staunch quasi-libertarian belief in direct democracy as much as the Doctor Assisted Suicide law.

In 1994, and again in 1997, Oregon voters chose rightly or wrongly to allow terminally ill patients, with less than six months left to live, to have the right to terminate their lives. Only "after two doctors confirm the diagnosis and determine the patient to be mentally competent to make the request" (link) can the patient die, and only 171 have chosen to do so over the last six years.

Nevertheless, President Bush is ignoring the popular view of Oregon voters (especially interesting given the reasoning behind the FMA--that "unelected" "radical" judges are subverting popular will on Gay Marriage). Acceding to his AG (Ashcroft has long hated Oregon's bill), Bush believes that he can effectively win the state by garnering the votes of the extremely conservative. This is a poor strategy, to say the least, given that anti-gay bills and other such socially conservative measures have failed in the past (albeit by unbearably miniscule margins, at times).

The oft-noted Zogby Battleground Poll--conducted before release of this story--puts Senator John Kerry ahead of Bush by a wide margin: 51.6%-42.4%, well outside the margin of error. Given the historical trend in the state away from the Republican Party and possible (and probable) voter angst over Bush's attempt to subvert their will, the state should not even be close in November. For this reason, and others I will continue to detail, I believe Oregon should not be labeled a "battleground state," but rather a Democratic stronghold that will only defect in a Bush landslide.

This is the second in a series of two articles on the race in Oregon (perhaps I'll write a few more over the next week, though)