dkSez : : : : : : Don Kahle’s blog

Campaign strategists hate Oregon, because we play by different rules. We don’t have a polling day. We have a polling fortnight. People vote from their kitchen tables and they vote at all different times, and that means you can’t send a last minute message to Oregonians, because each of us count our minutes differently. On the other hand, savvy campaigners know how to track interim numbers to see how they are probably doing. With adequate voter ID calling, you can determine who is likely to vote for you and you can learn every evening from the Secretary of State whether they have voted yet. So it’s not that the game can’t be played in Oregon. It’s just that it’s played differently. In most states, there are push polls early to weaken the opponent, while glowing TV ads saturate the airwaves. The week before the vote comes targeted direct mail pieces along with radio that speaks to specific concerns. The final two or three days is the safest time to go negative, combined with a get-out-the-vote campaign. But those rules don’t apply in Oregon. Too bad for them.