Dominic Baez

With the Oregon Democratic primary four days away, it is more important than ever for students to participate in what is shaping up to be an election of epic proportions.

With the race for the Democratic presidential nomination so close this year, it seems Oregon will have a say in which candidate will receive the nomination. However, with a narrow gap between the candidates, some think that might not be true.

“Oregon isn’t really important,” senior Corey Crowley-Hall, co-president of Linfield Democrats club, said. “With the race being so close, it’s going to be decided by Superdelegates. (Our primary) won’t be enough to push any candidate over for the nomination.”

He said it is now a race aimed at convincing the Superdelegates, not the general population.

Crowley-Hall said he believes  state official positions are extremely important and students should be taking special interest in those elections.

“Certainly, the presidential race is important, but the Oregon primary is just not as meaningful when the race is this close,” Crowley-Hall said.

Crowley-Hall also said the current electoral process leaves much to be desired, and it is in need
of massive reform.

“Because of the current system, states like Oregon, which are later in the process, are disenfranchised from the voting system,” he said.

That is not general consensus among students, though. Junior Josh Planton, president of Linfield Republicans club, said this primary is quite important, at least where it concerns Republicans.

“Oregon could give Hillary (Clinton) the push she needs to stay in the race,” Planton said. “Or it could be the final slash for her.”

However, he did agree the Oregon primary is not a big concern, considering how close the race is.

Planton said the Democratic primary is too close to call at the moment. Planton said because Oregon was more prone to vote for Sen. Obama, Sen. McCain still needs to push hard to secure votes for the general election.

“As a Republican, this close race is somewhat good for us,” Planton said. “However, McCain still has some problems to face.”

McCain will have to work hard in order to stand a chance in the West Coast states, Planton said, because those states tend to be more Democrat than Republican.

The 2008 Oregon Democratic primary is a mail-only primary. Ballots were mailed to registered Democratic voters between May 2 and 6. To be counted, all ballots must be received by county elections offices by 8 p.m. on May 20. It is a closed primary, and voters must have registered Democrats by April 29 to be eligible to vote in any of the partisan races.