August 23, 2003
Oregon - Battleground State
When President Bush visited Portland on Thursday, he showed that Oregon is definitely one of the battleground states -- one they want to woo into the Republican side of the column. He raised lots of money for his campaign, over a million dollars at this one lunch. In his speech at the fundraising lunch he discussed his administration's accomplishments, including not leaving problems for the next president or the next generation. He also takes credit for fixing the economy which is quite an accomplishment to tout in a state that has the highest unemployment rate in the nation.
Bush had been scheduled to speak at Camp Sherman about his healthy forest initiative, but a couple of very bad forest fires broke out a couple of days earlier and so Bush was flown over the fires accompanied by Governor Kulangoski. He then used this example as a reason that his Healthy Forest Initiative should be passed. However, as environmentalists point out, the initiative is designed to give timber companies the right to log in old-growth areas and limit the right of the public to contest the logging plans.
Portland was named Little Beruit by George Bush, Sr. back when he was president. Before the visit, the police had said that no one had asked for a permit to march so that protesters must stay on the sidewalks or risk getting arrested. However, the number of the protesters that showed up made that threat unworkable.
Some of the best stories on the protests are coming from the blog world. Emma Goldman on her Notes on the Atrocities blog provides some excellent coverage and analysis. b!X who publishes the Portland Commuique has posted pictures and an article commenting that the police behaved themselves much better this year.
Oregonians will be seeing a lot more of the president during the next 15 months.
Portland will be hosting another presidential candidate tomorrow when Howard Dean comes to PSU on his Sleepless Summer Rally. And our very own Natasha is covering the road show for us. Expect to see a number of Portland bloggers writing about the Portland rally.
x-posted at PolState.
Posted by Mary at August 23, 2003 10:38 PM | TrackBackHere's a link to an article re: the protests:
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0822-04.htm
Published on Friday, August 22, 2003 by The Olympian (Olympia, Washington)
Protests Erupt in Portland
About 3,500 Turn Out in Opposition to President
Re: Bush's speech. On the military - "Two-and-a-half years ago, our military was not receiving the resources it needed, and morale was beginning to suffer. We increased the defense budget to prepare for the threats of a new era. And today, no one in the world can question the skill and the strength and the spirit of the United States military."
HUH?
Steve Gilliard (http://stevegilliard.blogspot.com/)links to this article:
Stretched thin
Big shortage of supplies for forces in Iraq, brass admits
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/story/111425p-100658c.html
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