We’re still here

     A citizen of America will cross the ocean to fight for democracy but won't cross the street to vote in a national election.
—Bill Vaughn

     To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.
—Louis L'Amour

     Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.
—George Jean Nathan

     With one week left to go in the Oregon primary election, the Wasco County Clerk’s office reports 21 percent of the registered voters in the county have returned their ballots.
     That’s not surprising, given the unusual nature of this election year.      With a presidential nomination still in doubt this far into the primary season, many voters are waiting until the last possible moment to cast their ballot. Many of them are waiting because they are concerned that there will be some key event — a bold new policy initiative, a landmark speech, a superior reaction to a news event, or even a major gaffe — that will crystallize their support on behalf of (or against) one of the candidates. They don’t want that to happen after they’ve voted, leaving them with voter’s regret.
     Because other voters in other states wanted to keep their options open as long as possible, Oregon’s primary is back in play on the national stage for the first time in four decades.
     That’s how long it’s been since national campaigners have given the state more than a courtesy call in Portland for part of a day.
     So we’re treated to the candidates and their families hopscotching across the states, to delight of news media and public alike, many of whom are nearly giddy with the unaccustomed attention.
     So far, they’ve failed to find The Dalles in person, though former Mississippi governor Ray Mabus, who has a key position in the Barack Obama campaign, visited the local Democratic headquarters Monday afternoon.
     We still hold out hope that one of the candidates themselves, or a member of their immediate family, wants to see the Columbia River Gorge and decides to drop by.
     If you’re keeping track, we’ve been the beneficiary of several visits in decades past. Most noticeably, in 1968, Robert F. Kennedy landed at The Dalles Airport and spoke to a crowded gymnasium at the former The Dalles Junior High School.
     Twenty years previously, both Harold Stassen and Thomas Dewey, candidates for the Republican nomination to run against Harry S. Truman, stopped in The Dalles. Dewey even posed for pictures wearing a feathered war bonnet last worn, according to Time magazine, by Queen Marie of Rumania when she visited decades previously.      Stassen, who followed the next day, shook the hand of Chief Tommy Thompson, but declined to wear the war bonnet.
     Since then, it’s been surrogates for The Dalles. In 1972, movie star Tony Randall appeared locally on behalf of Sen. Eugene McCarthy, and Shirley MacLaine for Sen. George McGovern.
     In 1980, Jimmy Carter’s son, Chip, visited.
     Since then, it’s been pretty quiet. Sure, Senators Smith and Wyden, and Rep. Greg Walden have visited, but on their own right, not on behalf of national candidates. And we’re in their districts, so they’re obliged.
     John Kerry got as far as Hood River in 2004, but that’s just not The Dalles
     Still, there’s time. With candidacies in flux, many last-minute arrangements are being made, and we’d love to get that call from the Secret Service that Clinton, Obama or McCain were coming to call.
     They may be reluctant to don that war bonnet — Dewey may have won the nomination, but he lost the election to Truman — but we promise to find a Stetson, baseball cap or hard hat for whoever makes the trip.