Portland prepares for upcoming GOP debate and primary

As the GOP race tightens, political pundits wonder if Oregon’s March 19 GOP debate and May 15 primary will have any effect in the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

Mitt Romney has emerged as the favorite to earn the nomination after winning both the Jan. 3 Iowa primary and the Jan. 10 New Hampshire primary. Romney earned a combined estimated total of 14 delegates from those two elections, as opposed to an estimated 10 for Ron Paul and eight for Rick Santorum. Romney’s early lead has led to local worry that Oregon’s May 15 primary may not be of much importance, as it is held late in the election cycle.

“We have a long history in Oregon of our presidential primary being increasingly less relevant. In most of the cycles the last 30 years, a decision has already been made by the time the Oregon primary comes around,” said Phil Keisling, professor of political science at Portland State and former Democratic secretary of state in Oregon from 1991 to 1999.

However, other local political minds have concluded that the early primary date is a result of previously existing circumstances, and thus may not have an easy solution.

“Back in the ’40s and ’50s, there were only seven presidential primaries, and Oregon was one of them. The Oregon May primary was a huge deal nationally, back then,” said Jim Pasero, who worked as the director of speechwriting for the Republican National Committee in the 1992 presidential election and is currently affiliated with the Oregon Republican Party.

“When all of the other states got their primaries and moved them up to early in the cycle, Oregon was stuck. We wanted to have our primary at the same time as our mayoral election…Oregon’s a small state; are we really going to get the attention we deserve if we have two elections? It’s a historical problem, and we haven’t figured out a solution yet.”

Despite the perceived unimportance of the May primary, the March debate has aroused some local interest. Recently, controversy sparked over Portland Mayor Sam Adams’ decision to move the debate from its usual spot in a downtown location to one further away from the city, so as to cut down on law enforcement costs. According to The Oregonian, Adams has stated he does not wish to further stretch the state police budget, which saw significant costs due to the Occupy Portland protests.

“Whatever approach you take has to be agnostic. You have to say that we’re going to impose a standard,” Keisling said. “It’s important that you not be selective. If security costs $50,000 in overtime, and then a few months later the president wants to come to town, you have to be willing to impose the same standard.”

Adams’ decision has disappointed some major Oregon GOP advocates.

“We’re a one-party state, but that’s not the way the nation works. It is going to be critical for Oregonians to see who could potentially be the new president of the United States, and it is important to get Oregon issues on the map,” Pasero said.

“Allen Alley has really done a great job bringing that debate here. Little Oregon finally gets to have the whole nation watching us, and for Mayor Adams to interfere like this just makes us look so small.”

The state of Oregon has been extremely one-sided in major party voting over the last 15 years, having sided with the Democratic candidate for president each election year since 1988. This has led to concerns that the state may not be considering the GOP debate to be of similar importance to the Democratic debate.

“If Oregon is generally more liberal, then there is going to be more importance placed on liberal political issues, simply because there is a larger base of people interested in them,” said Ali Karlen, an architecture major at PSU. “The city isn’t going to make a huge deal out of a conservative debate if a lesser proportion of the population will be paying close attention to it.”

Still, the main concern remains the date of the election, as local politicians fight for Oregon to become a major player in the process of choosing the president. The fact that the state’s primary is among the last primaries greatly hinders its potential effectiveness.

“The Oregon primary was considered a good government thing back in the day, because it opened the process up to the voters unlike a lot of other states at the time,” Pasero said. “The entire national press crew would come to Oregon and live here for a week. It used to be a big, big deal.”

“Imagine if we had our primary in March? This debate would have more of an impact because more Oregonians would be voting,” Keisling said. “Maybe at some point in the future we can fix the whole system, but in the meantime this is what we’ve got.”

one further away from the city, so as to cut down on law enforcement costs. According to The Oregonian, Adams has stated he does not wish to further stretch the state police budget, which saw significant costs due to the Occupy Portland protests.

“Whatever approach you take has to be agnostic. You have to say that we’re going to impose a standard,” Keisling said. “It’s important that you not be selective. If security costs $50,000 in overtime, and then a few months later the president wants to come to town, you have to be willing to impose the same standard.”

Adams’ decision has disappointed some major Oregon GOP advocates.

“We’re a one-party state, but that’s not the way the nation works. It is going to be critical for Oregonians to see who could potentially be the new president of the United States, and it is important to get Oregon issues on the map,” Pasero said.

“Allen Alley has really done a great job bringing that debate here. Little Oregon finally gets to have the whole nation watching us, and for Mayor Adams to interfere like this just makes us look so small.”

The state of Oregon has been extremely one-sided in major party voting over the last 15 years, having sided with the Democratic candidate for president each election year since 1988. This has led to concerns that the state may not be considering the GOP debate to be of similar importance to the Democratic debate.

“If Oregon is generally more liberal, then there is going to be more importance placed on liberal political issues, simply because there is a larger base of people interested in them,” said Ali Karlen, an architecture major at PSU. “The city isn’t going to make a huge deal out of a conservative debate if a lesser proportion of the population will be paying close attention to it.”

Still, the main concern remains the date of the election, as local politicians fight for Oregon to become a major player in the process of choosing the president. The fact that the state’s primary is among the last primaries greatly hinders its potential effectiveness.

“The Oregon primary was considered a good government thing back in the day, because it opened the process up to the voters unlike a lot of other states at the time,” Pasero said. “The entire national press crew would come to Oregon and live here for a week. It used to be a big, big deal.”

“Imagine if we had our primary in March. This debate would have more of an impact because more Oregonians would be voting,” Keisling said. “Maybe at some point in the future we can fix the whole system, but in the meantime this is what we’ve got.”