Population-wise, Oregon is far overshadowed by its neighbors to the north and south.
But during recent presidential election years, candidates have tended to bypass staunchly blue California and Washington in favor of campaigning and advertising in the Beaver State.
That’s because Oregon is considered one of those magic handfuls of swing states whose electoral votes are up for grabs, a definite second-tier electoral target after voter-rich states like Pennsylvania, Ohio or Florida.
But Oregon’s status could change under a pending bill in the Legislature that would award the state’s seven electoral votes to the candidate who wins the popular vote nationally, regardless of who wins the state. Similar legislation, which is being filed in more than 45 other legislatures around the country, won approval from the members of the Colorado state Senate this past week.
The popular vote movement, coordinated by a California-based group, National Popular Vote, has been picking up steam nationally since the 2000 election came down to some hanging chads in Florida. The idea got another jolt when President Bush handily won the popular vote in 2004 — but could have been forced to yield to Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, had 60,000 votes in Ohio swung the other way.
“I think this is very promising,” said House Majority Leader Dave Hunt, D-Gladstone, a key backer of the popular vote legislation in Oregon. “Clearly, the national electoral college is antiquated. I believe that whoever wins the popular vote should win, whether that is a school board or the U.S. presidency.”
Since every leftist blog I visit has asked it at least once when the Republicans held the majority, I think it would fit right here:
Why do they hate the Constitution?
Just emailed my brother and father in Colorado to make sure they let their state reps know they oppose the CO version of this.