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For years Oregon has been known for its liberal politics, trees, Spotted Owls, Nike, Intel, and Tofurkey. Now it looks like Oregon might have a hand in something else–deciding the Democratic President of the United States!

Forget the hemp, folks, this year Oregon is all about the primary election.

Here are some things about Oregon politics you might not know:

1. Oregon has one of the latest primary elections in the union.

2. Voting Day is non-existent, as all of the ballots for Oregon residents are mail-in ballots. No waiting in line for Oregonians (though that also means they don’t get the “I voted” sticker)!

3. While the two major metropolitan areas, Portland and Eugene, are very liberal and often decide which way the state will go during an election, the rest of the state is overwhelmingly conservative.

For the residents of Oregon, knowing that this cycle they will actually play a major role in the political process, this is an exciting election year. Barack Obama has a rally planned in Portland for Friday morning and, as of Wednesday evening, all of the tickets had been snatched up.

While Clinton has an Oregon steering committee and has been endorsed by Governor Ted Kulongoski, Obama has two staffers in Oregon. Oh, and thousands of volunteers. College students are huge fans of Obama, and many voters are responding favorably to the “grass roots” tactics taken by the Obama campaign. There are tables set up on college campuses, and some groups can boast registering as many as forty new Democrats a day.

It is important to note that this primary season started roughly 6.2 seconds after John Kerry conceded the 2004 election and that even though many of the voters are more than ready for November, the same voters are surprised and excited by the fervor surrounding the primary election. This kind of activity is not usually seen until the General Election, and Oregonians are proud to (finally) have a hand in deciding an election.