Literacy President
Bongo Love
Zimbabwe musicians
introduce Portland to
‘Afrocoustics ’
Nobel laureate Toni Morrison
and other writers welcome
Barack Obama as a man of
his own words
See story, page A6
‘City of Roses’
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXVIII, N um ber 45
.Week ¡n
The Review
New Attorney General Eyed
President-
elect Obama
„1 has decided
to lap Erie
H o ld e i.o h is
f
B
a tto rn e y
,
general, pul
lin e
KJH U H IB l
eran W ash­
ington lawyer in place to become
the first African-American to
head the Justice Department, ac­
cording to two legal sources
close to the presidential transi­
tion.
Obama a Hit on 60 Minutes
CBS' "60 Minutes" had its high­
est overnight ratings in nearly a
decade with Sunday's episode
featuring Steve Kroft interview­
ing the president-elect and fu­
ture first lady. Nielsen Media
Research's preliminary estimate
the show was seen by 24.5 mil­
lion people on Sunday.
Torture Charges Unlikely
Barack Obama's incoming admin­
istration is unlikely to bring crimi­
nal charges against officials who
authorized or engaged in harsh
interrogations of suspected ter­
rorists during the George W.
Bush presidency. Obama, who
has criticized the use O f torture,
is being urged by some scholars
and human rights groups to in­
vestigate possible war crimes.
Automakers Plead for Billions
Detroit's Big Three automakers
pleaded with Congress on Tues­
day for a $25 billion lifeline to
save their teetering industrial ti­
tans from collapse, warning of
economic catastrophe for the
nation as well as their once-
proud companies if they are de­
nied.
Pirates Hold Super-tanker
www.portlandobserver.com
Established In 1970
Obama Changed Oregon Electorate
Pollster cites
inroads with
all voting
groups
by J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
For decades, Tim Hibbitts has
been watching Oregon elections
about as close as humanly pos­
sible. But what he saw on Nov. 4
was unlike anything he has seen
prior.
Very rarely have Oregonians
of such varying social segments
coalesced around a candidate in
the way they did with President­
elect Barack Obama, said Hibbitts.
However, the new president has
a rough road ahead of him.
Hibbitts, a 55 jyear-old partner
at Davis, Hibbitts, and Midghall
Research, Inc., isone of Oregon’s
most respected pollsters. From
decades of crunching data from
th ro u g h o u t th e n o rth w est
Hibbitts has insights into the
politics of the region that aren’t
easily rivaled.
Hibbitts said that Oregon and
Obama was an easy match He
explained that the man’s calm
demeanor and substantial mental
furniture made Oregonians ready
to give the Illinois senator the
state by a 16-point margin.
"Oregon's got an electorate
that's tailor-made for an Obama-
type candidacy," said Hibbitts,
who points to former Colorado
Sen. Gary Hart, who had similar
attributes that helped him carry
dent in cherry-red JacksonCounty
of southern Oregon.
"Obama clearly changed the
electorate to some degree," said
Hibbitts, who explained that
Obama brought out people who
hadn’t been politically engaged,
and he won young voters by 30
points. Kerry won by only 10.
Hibbitts said that Obama wal­
loped Sen. Hillary Clinton by 20
points in Oregon’s May primary
by tapping into frustrations over
the Iraq War, and pointing to his
early opposition to it. He then
artfully pivoted his focus to the
economy, which had soured in
Oregon along with the rest of the
country in time for the genera,
election.
However, Hibbitts points out
that the honeymoon could be
short lived'. Obamacould stumble
as he’s putting together his ad­
ministration, and will have to bal­
ance competing demands from
the broad coalition that elected
him. If he doesn’t manage this
task well, his support will crumble.
Hibbitts came to Oregon with
Tim Hibbitts, one of Oregon's most respected pollsters, says Barack Obama's election
his
parents a teenager. He at­
victory was one o f the most impressive he's ever witnessed. Hibbitts grew up in northeast
tended
John Adams High School
Portland where he attended John Adams High School.
in northeast Portland. He went on
the state in the Oregon Demo­ Hibbitts. "Butthey don’tgetthem Obama received a bigger share of to Portland State University,
the white vote than former Demo­ graduating with a degree in politi­
cratic Presidential Primary in 1984. all," he added.
According to Hibbitts’ data, cratic Presidential candidates Ai cal science in 1976. Unsure of
However, Obama has qualities
that Hart (and most other candi­ the state didn’t hinge on one par­ Gore and John Kerry, added what to do next with his newly
minted degree, Hibbitts started
ticular social segment (i.e. the Hibbitts.
dates) lack, said Hibbitts.
"That's no small achievement," his own political consulting firm.
Hibbitts explained that Obama much bandied-about “working
Hibbitts found that he had an
is rare in possessing impressive class whites.”) Instead, Obama said Hibbittsof the inroads Obama
instinct for picking out trends in
oratorical abilities, an easy-going successfully wooed men, women, made with white voters.
Hibbitts also points to how data, and his polling work quickly
demeanor that helps him connect whites, blacks, and Hispanics.
Ofnote, ¡show the Illinois sena­ Obama nearly won the tradition­ took off. He worked polling and
with voters, and legions of fer­
R e p u b lic a n -le an in g political analysis at KATU, be-
tor won big with middle-aged and ally
vent supporters.
"Normal ly a candidate gets one older voters, Hibbitts said. It’s Deschutes County in central Or­
continued
on page A3
or two of those things,” said also particularly impressive that egon, and made another big blue
H B M M B H M H H I
Excitement Grows for a Barack Obama School
A hijacked Saudi super-tanker,
canying 100 million dollarsof oil,
anchored Tuesday off a notori­
ous Somali pirate port as sea
gangs struck again and seized a
Hong Kong cargo ship. The big­
gest act of piracy yet by the
marauding Somali bandits has
stunned the international com­
munity.
MultnomahCounty Sheriff Bob
Skipper has disconnected the
Internet from most of the county
jails while his office investigates
allegations that deputies used a
work computer to view pornog­
raphy. Jail employees will no
longer be able to surf the Web
from work computers unless they
submit a written request.
tiban Charged
House Foreclosures Double
A recent report shows foreclo­
sure rates in the Portland area
have doubled in the last year,
from .4 percent to .8 percent, still
lower than the national average
of 1.7 percent. Local home sales
dropped by almost 20.3 percent,
higher than the national average
of 18.2 percent.
Leftwich was advocating for
Obama as his first choice sev­
eral weeks ago, but says he
didn’t want to jinx anything
before the election.
Now he says the idea has
caught on like wildfire.
by M ichael L eighton
The exceptionally diverse
T he P ortland O bserver
The excitem ent o f Barack school with African American,
O bam a’s presidential election Asian, white and Hispanic kids
is spilling over to a school in is midway through a re-naming
southeast Portland that’s look­ process involving the school
principal, parents, staff and stu­
ing for a new name.
Scores of students at Clark dents.
After a period of soliciting
K-8 @ Binnsmead. a clumsy
name that com bines the former feedback on possible names,
names of two schools which the school will narrow a list of
merged in the Montavilla neigh­ three to five names to be sent
borhood last sum m er, have the school superintendent for
stuffed a suggestion box advo­ review and a decision by the
cating Barack Obama as the new Portland School Board.
According to Matt Shelby,
name for their school at 2225
school d is tric t sp o k esm an ,
S.E. 87th Ave.
A day after the Nov. 4 elec­ there is a process for naming
tion. they started chanting ‘O- schools in Portland. It requires
ba-tna, O -ba-m a,” says Ralph
continued
on page A3
Leftwich, a school volunteer.
Name suggested
for diverse
elementary
Jailers Surf Pornography
Federal regula­
tors on Monday
charged Dallas
M a v e ric k s
o w n er M ark
Cuban with in­
sider trading for allegedly using
confidential information on a
stock sale to avoid more than
$750,000 in losses.
Wednesday • November 19. 2008
photo by
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
School volunteer Ralph Leftwich is generating lots of excitement over the suggestion to
name a school in southeast Portland in honor o f Barack Obama, the first African-
American elected president.
Oregon Loses 14,000 Jobs in One Month
May get worse
before improving
(AP) — Oregon's unemployment rate
took a sharp jum p in October with major
industries shedding more than 14,000
jobs.
Oregon's seasonally adjusted jobless
rate jumped from 6.4 percent in Septem­
ber to 7.3 percent last month, the highest
jobless rate since August 2004 and well
above the national average of 6.5 per­
cent.
There are predictions that things could
get worse before improving.
"Its horrible," said Tom Potiowsky,
the state economist. "The speed at which
this economy is going down is just very
surprising," he told The Oregonian.
Potiowsky expects the state unem ­
ploym ent rate to reach or exceed 8
percent before this recession is over.
"We really aren't going to see better
g ro w th u n til 2010. O reg o n w ill
suffer more than W ashington,” he pre­
dicted.
Last month's unemployment rate trans­
lated to 134,096 Oregonians on the job­
less rolls — an increase of more than
40,000 over this time a year ago.
The job losses were spread across
most major industries.
• Manufacturing cut 5,000 jobs at a
time of year when a loss of only 500 is
expected.
• Transportation equipment manufac­
turing cut 1,500 jobs.
• Computer and electronic product
manufacturingcut 1.200jobsandisdow n
3,100 jobs since October 2007.
• In a key sector, construction employ­
ment shrank again in October, dropping
2,000 for the month, more than double the
typical seasonal decline of 900.
Construction employment has been
on a steady decline since July 2(X)7, when
employment stood at 105,8(X). Since then,
construction is down 13.900jobs or 13.1
percent.
The state's widespread job losses
have retailers bracing fo ra lackluster
holiday shopping season that could
result in reduced hiring of part-time
workers at stores and malls, said Art
Ayre, the stale em ploym ent econo­
mist.
In recent years it's been common for
retailers to add a net lO.(XX) workers
statewide from September through De-
cem ber, he said, "but this year it's
likely to be lower, possibly around
5,000."
The state's political leaders are watch-
ing employment trends, too, for further
signs o f a w o rsen in g econom y
that could result in a continuing drop in
tax revenue to fund state services and
programs.
Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski said
Monday's jobless figures are a "call to
action" for the state to keep investing in
renewable energy and other sectors that
can create jobs for the future.
He again called on lawmakers to
approve his $1 billion transportation
package, which includes a 2-cent-a-
gallon gas tax increase, to help pay for
road and bridge im provem ents and
create thousands o f family wage jobs.
I