Barack Obama seized the lead in the Democratic presidential race by every measure on Friday, as he shifted his fire from rival Hillary Clinton to presumptive Republican nominee John McCain.
Obama passed Clinton among Democratic superdelegates by winning endorsements from nine of them. One of the newcomers, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), introduced Obama here by deriding McCain as a "Trojan Horse Express" for President George W. Bush's policies. Obama accused McCain of parroting Bush on Iraq and the economy.
"You shouldn't be worried about the Democratic Party being divided in November," the Illinois senator told a fairgrounds crowd, adding: "We don't want any repeats of George Bush, and we're united" in that.
Obama already led Clinton among pledged delegates and the cumulative popular vote of primaries and caucuses. Across Oregon, his supporters pined Friday for a campaign-clinching victory in the state's May 20 mail-vote primary. Obama mulled over the possibility of paying off Clinton's campaign debts if she quits. Clinton, meanwhile, made a low-key pitch to reframe the race on her signature issue, health care.
At Portland's Doernbecher Children's Hospital, Clinton revived a long-running debate over whether Obama's health-care proposal goes far enough. "If you don't start in favor of universal health care, you're never going to get there," the New York senator said. "How can anybody run to be the Democratic nominee for president and not have a universal health-care plan?"
The candidates' Pacific Northwest travels came as a new nationwide Los Angeles Times / Bloomberg poll showed both of them leading McCain, a senator from Arizona, in general election match-ups. Clinton led McCain 47 percent to 38 percent. Obama led 46 to 40 percent. The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.
After beginning the week with volleys of attack ads in Indiana and North Carolina, the Democratic candidates struck less combative tones in Oregon. Clinton did not criticize Obama by name in Portland. Obama focused on McCain in speeches in Beaverton, Albany and Eugene. Speaking with reporters at a lunch stop in the small town of Woodburn, he did not rule out retiring Clinton's escalating campaign debts.
"Obviously, I'd want to have a broad-ranging discussion with Sen. Clinton about how I could make her feel good about the process and have her on the team moving forward," Obama said.
Obama called the discussion "premature" in an ongoing campaign. Some of his supporters were less reserved. At a Chicago fundraiser, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) called for Clinton to drop out, and Sen. *** Durbin (D-Ill.) said he would "counsel" Clinton similarly if she asked.
In New York, House Democratic Caucus Chairman and Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel called Obama "the presumptive nominee." But, he added, Clinton could still win the nomination.
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