Clinton eyes Oregon upset

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is making a stealth play for Oregon, where a primary win next month — combined with her two strongest remaining states, West Virginia and Kentucky — may open up a pathway to the Democratic ticket by convincing superdelegates that she deserves the nomination.

Mrs. Clinton has set her sights on the Beaver State and its 52 delegates by focusing on local issues. She has concentrated surrogates, staff and resources there and called for two debates in hopes of narrowing the gap between rival Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and herself.

With neither candidate likely winning enough delegates to capture the nomination outright, the attention to the party’s superdelegates and their mind-sets has become increasingly important.

Few polls have been taken of Oregon voters, but Mr. Obama leads Mrs. Clinton 52 percent to 42 percent in a SurveyUSA poll done earlier this month.

Mr. Obama, who is favored to win the state known for antiwar, liberal voters and college towns, last campaigned there March 21 and has not yet announced plans for another trip.

The Oregon for Obama campaign blog boasts of Women for Obama and Veterans for Obama events, and his surrogates are blanketing the state to help sign up new voters. Tuesday is the last day for Oregonians to register to vote.

Mrs. Clinton yesterday challenged Mr. Obama to face off with her in a debate without a moderator, Lincoln-Douglas style, according to the Associated Press.

“Just the two of us, going for 90 minutes, asking and answering questions. We’ll set whatever rules seem fair,” Mrs. Clinton said while campaigning in South Bend, Ind.

Her campaign made the offer formal with a letter to the Obama campaign.

Obama aides said he already had debated Mrs. Clinton 21 times, “the most in primary history.”

Last week, Mr. Obama won over an Oregon superdelegate, Rep. David Wu.

If the May 6 results get muddled, with an Obama win in North Carolina and a close finish either way in Indiana, the rest of May looks bright for Mrs. Clinton.

While attention is focused on the Indiana and North Carolina primaries, three contests that follow — West Virginia on May 13, and Oregon and Kentucky on May 20 — offer Mrs. Clinton the potential for a nice bump. She is favored in Kentucky and West Virginia by 10 points.

After a brief Memorial Day holiday break, Puerto Rico has a June 1 contest, in which Mrs. Clinton leads the polls by big numbers.

An Oregon upset could give her a four-state winning streak before the last two primaries in Montana and South Dakota.

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