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Monday, March 18, 2024
March 18, 2024

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Sanders, Kasich visit Oregon as presidential hopes slip

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Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., pauses while audience members cheer during a rally in Springfield, Ore., on Thursday.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., pauses while audience members cheer during a rally in Springfield, Ore., on Thursday. (AP Photo/Ryan Kang) Photo Gallery

PORTLAND — Republican John Kasich and Democrat Bernie Sanders rolled through Oregon on Thursday, hoping to keep their ailing campaigns alive with rallies the state rarely sees from presidential hopefuls ahead of its midspring primary.

In this year’s presidential race when every delegate counts, Oregon’s May 17 primary — where 74 Democratic delegates and 28 Republican delegates are up for grabs — has made national headlines as a possible game-changer in determining the parties’ nominees.

But after front-runners Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton gained almost insurmountable leads earlier this week, Kasich and Sanders arrived in Oregon with grim chances of changing course.

Still, the parties’ two underdogs told Oregonians they refused to give up, especially Kasich.

At a town hall near downtown Portland, one of two in Oregon that day, the Ohio governor told roughly 400 supporters that he decided to stick it out after talking to his wife the night before.

“I said, ‘What do you think sweetie? I’m inclined to keep going.’ And she looked at me and she said simple words … ‘The people need a choice, and if you don’t give them a choice, who will?’ ” Kasich said.

Kasich began courting voters in Oregon and New Mexico this week as part of a trade with rival Ted Cruz for Indiana, an unusual strategy that so far hasn’t been fruitful in derailing Trump’s lead.

Also on Thursday, the first-ever public Republican poll for Oregon showed Trump with a double-digit lead while Kasich trailed in last place, according to Portland-based Hoffman Research Group.

The outlook is also bleak for Sanders, even in Oregon, where his overwhelming popularity among the state’s progressive electorate is at odds with the handful of superdelegates, such as Gov. Kate Brown, who have already endorsed rival Clinton.

But the Vermont senator also gave no sign of surrender during a rally earlier that day in Springfield, about 100 miles south of Portland — marking his third Oregon visit.

Speaking to many young supporters from the nearby hometowns of Oregon’s two major public universities, Sanders pointed out the primaries and caucuses he’s won thus far. He repeated campaign themes that align with the views of many Oregon progressives, such as correcting income inequality through higher taxes on the wealthy.

“We must not have a Republican in the White House. But I think the evidence is overwhelming, you are looking at the strongest Democratic candidate,” Sanders said.

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