[Talkhard]

Over the past three decades, the number of registered Democrats in the state has not only failed to keep pace with population growth, it has actually declined in absolute terms. According to the secretary of state's election statistics, there were 794,218 Oregon Democrats in 1976; as of this past May, there were 760,066.

Thirty years ago, 56 percent of registered Oregon voters were Democrats; today, that number is less than 39 percent.

Over the same time period, the number of registered Republicans in the state has soared by half. If not for a temporary spike in Democratic registration in 2004, generated by a one-time expenditure of $10 million in national party funds, the Democratic advantage—currently less than 3 percent of the electorate—might already have disappeared.

http://www.wweek.com/editorial/3236/7763

[Target]

Most of the Democrats I know are conservative also.

[Talkhard]

Originally Posted by Target

Most of the Democrats I know are conservative also.

I can believe it. Except for Portland and Eugene, where the Loony Left resides, most of the state is moderate-to-conservative and getting stronger.

[mook]

thank goodness. the sooner that the democratic party is destroyed and the loony left wiped out, the sooner America will finally return to our halcyon days. the last thing this democracy needs is more than one party or one ideology.

[dr_a2k]

Originally Posted by mook

thank goodness. the sooner that the democratic party is destroyed and the loony left wiped out, the sooner America will finally return to our halcyon days. the last thing this democracy needs is more than one party or one ideology.

It is not a democracy it is a republic.

[mook]

Originally Posted by dr_a2k

It is not a democracy it is a republic.

That is not a sentence. It is two sentences jammed together by the absence of a period.

See? I can do semantics too.

[hoojacks]

But really, America is a republic. Not that it matters.

[Talkhard]

Originally Posted by mook

thank goodness. the sooner that the democratic party is destroyed and the loony left wiped out, the sooner America will finally return to our halcyon days. the last thing this democracy needs is more than one party or one ideology.

I don't mind having two parties as long as the Dims keep losing.

[MARIS61]

I for one am beet-red , from embarrassment.

There are nearly as many *******es here now as there are Democrats.

They need to all move back to the SW states, which is where most of them came from after ruining life there for their neighbors.

[hoojacks]

Originally Posted by Talkhard

I don't mind having two parties as long as the Dims keep losing.

OH YOU CALLED THE DIMS INSTEAD OF DEMS. I GET IT! ITS LIKE A PLAY ON WORDS OR SOMETHING.

[yakbladder]

Originally Posted by Talkhard

I don't mind having two parties as long as the Dims keep losing.

But actually, I'm sure being a true citizen of this country, what you meant to say is that you hope that the ideas that lead to the best future for everyone comes forward and are adopted, regardless of which party they come from.

This is our life, it's not a sports event.

[SodaPopinski]

Oregon is not turning red. There are just a ton more registered independents. The majority of independents in Oregon (like myself) trend to the left on most issues and candidates. There are still pockets of bible-thumping gun rack reds in Eastern and Southern Oregon, and there will always be the I-don't-want-to-pay-taxes sophisticrats in Clackamas County, but most Oregonians are much more afraid of the right than they are the left.

2004 bore that out when Kerry and Bush visited Oregon on the same day. Kerry had 70,000 turn out at Waterfront Park, and Bush held a sign-your-allegiance-here-please rally with 250 uber-Christians in Beaverton.

The Democrats main problem is getting the younger generation to vote. Most of the 18-25 set is left of the middle, but they're also skeptical and less likely to believe they have a voice. Karl Rove and the elephant-strokers, as much as I loathe them, have done an excellent job of mobilizing the extreme right and getting them to vote.

The Democrats need to take a stand on issues rather than just being against what Republicans are for. The party has lost its identity. Once they figure that out, people will rally behind them.

-Pop

[mook]

Originally Posted by yakbladder

But actually, I'm sure being a true citizen of this country, what you meant to say is that you hope that the ideas that lead to the best future for everyone comes forward and are adopted, regardless of which party they come from.

This is our life, it's not a sports event.

brilliantly said.

so often it seems like one side or the other is absolutely certain that if we only had 50 or 60 years of one part (ie, their party) complete domination, everything would be better.

politics isn't the same as following a sports team. it's always good for the Blazers to win. sometimes it's good for your own party to lose. ask Mexico how it worked out having the PRI running their country for 70 years. I can't imagine that those who voted for the PRI in 1940 were proud of that vote in 1990.

there should be a natural ebb and flow of political thought in a democratic republic. sometimes it leans more to the right, sometimes to the left.

anyway, Republicans are better breeders. Democrats tend to have one or two kids, while Republicans tend to have three or four. I think that's a large reason for the shift in Oregon. the most likely determiner of your politics is your parents politics, so the more kids you have, the more likely your party will grow.

who knows how much the parties will evolve, though. ten years ago Republicans sneared at nation building and Democrats were known as the reckless spenders. right now Republicans seem to define themselves on gay marriage and immigration, while I doubt either issue will be nearly as important in another ten years.

if Republicans can transform themselves into big spenders and nation builders in just ten years, maybe in another ten they'll have transformed themselves into something I'd be happy to vote for.

[It's_GO_Time]

This year's govenor election should give us a good indication of where the state is. I'm not a huge fan of either canidate (Kulongoski v. Saxton), but where they stand on the issues, seem to really be clearly left or right . . . if anything they are very clearly divided on key issues.

Westlund seems to be an intersting choice if he gets on the ballot. Not exactly sure where he is on the issues but as an independent, if I liked his ideas my fear would be I was wasting my vote on him.

Overall my guess it the blue predominance in the state will show