John McCain

More PolitickerOR.com coverage: Dems focus on McCain's global warming 'double talk'

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I spy... Gov. Ted Kulongoski. At a John McCain event!

Kulongoski appeared-although did not speak-at McCain's event in Portland this afternoon.

His appearance didn't go unnoticed by the Republican Senator, who called Oregon's Democratic Governor (and pledged Clinton superdelegate) "a great governor of this state."

Sen. John McCain’s speech at the wind turbine manufacturing company, Vestas Wind Technology, has been raising the ire of Democrats in Oregon, the Democratic National Committee and Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

The big talking point is the choice of venue itself; back in 2003, Vestas cancelled a plan to construct a turbine plant and consequently laid off 500 employees due to uncertainty surrounding production tax credits. Vestas then joined a group that lobbied for the 2005 Energy Bill, which would have provided financial incentives to produce wind power, a bill which McCain ultimately opposed. Democrats blasted out ‘fact sheets’ throughout the morning deriding McCain’s voting opposition to tax credits for wind power producers, calling his speech—and its location—‘hypocritical.’

The Oregon AFL-CIO is joining the Democratic Party of Oregon and the Democratic National Committee in responding to Sen. John McCain's visit to Oregon today.

While the Democrats have focused on tearing down McCain's environmental "maverick" claims in anticipation of his speech on global warming in Portland today, the AFL-CIO only wants to meet with the presidential contender... in the next room over from his $33,100-per-couple fundraiser tonight.

U.S. Sen. John McCain: Getty Images PhotoStepping onto a stage which has thus far been dominated by Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, Sen. John McCain needed an issue that would gain traction with independents and moderates in Oregon, a state which is expected to be a battleground in November.

His answer? Global warming.

Barack Obama leads John McCain by a 52%-38% margin in Oregon, according to a new Rasmussen Reports poll released on Saturday. His 14-point lead is more than double his six point lead just one month ago.  The poll shows McCain with a problem among Republicans: he’s getting just 68% of the Oregon GOP vote. 

Barack Obama has a twelve point lead over Hillary Clinton in Oregon’s May 20 Democratic presidential primary, according to a new Rasmussen Reports poll.  Obama leads Clinton 51%-39%, with a big lead among younger and higher income voters.  But most Democrats will vote for either candidate in a general election matchup with Republican John McCain.  

Although John McCain failed to submit a statement for the Oregon Voters’ Pamphlet, the Democratic Party of Oregon has got his back. The DPO is helping out the Republican Senator by supplying one for him.

The faux statement—which the DPO posted on its website—hits on many of the Democratic Party’s talking points regarding McCain, which all fall under the blanket of the claim that the Republican would simply provide a third Bush term.

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