Opinion: Barack Obama is quite taken with Oregon ... perhaps too much so

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BEND, Ore. -- Central Oregon doesn’t see many presidential candidates, particularly Democrats, which perhaps explains why a rocking high school crowd this weekend let Barack Obama get away with a cardinal sin around these parts: Expressing a desire to move in.

Not so long ago, Bend was a sleepy little cowboy town that doubled as a jumping-off point for some of America’s best skiing (Mt. Bachelor), rafting (the Deschutes River) and backpacking (the Cascade Range). Then the outside world discovered it. Some folks came from Portland three hours north, some from California. Most brought money, which fueled a huge wave of building and sent housing prices soaring. The newcomers and various annexations served to quadruple the town’s population over two decades.

And so, when the Obama campaign and the national press descended on Bend and marveled at the crisp air, the sagebrush smells and the snow-capped mountain views, the general, only half-joking response from the local press was, yes, it’s a great place. But you’d hate living here. Please, please ...

don’t move here.

Obama took multiple opportunities to admire his surroundings. ‘You guys have some pretty real estate out here,’ he said at the beginning of his speech at Summit High School, which serves a side of town that barely existed in the mid-1990s. ‘I’d like to stick around. Who’s going to teach me fishing?’

The crowd cheered its approval. But somewhere, we’re sure, some native Central Oregonians grumbled.

Hillary Clinton hasn’t hit the region yet, but if she comes back before the state’s May 20 voting deadline, we suggest a new slogan: Vote for me. I’ll keep your secret.

-- Jim Tankersley

Jim Tankersley writes for the Swamp of the Chicago Tribune’s Washington bureau.