Consideration for out-of-town fans
Parking for the out-of-area fans needs to be addressed in the [Autzen Stadium parking code amendment]. (“Autzen plans move one step closer,” ODE, Aug. 1.) More park and ride availability or also include better service through Amtrak. In the past the train has gotten in just before the game.
I think the schedule could be changed to allow it to arrive earlier, as many fans from around the state like to come together and visit before the game.

Craig Evans

Portland resident

Gore doesn’t need Slick Willie’s endorsement
Whatever one thinks of the man known as Slick Willie (even as far back as 1992), the reasoning behind Bret Jacobson’s “Similar to Monica, President Clinton sucks at politics” [ODE, Aug. 3] is preposterous.
Clinton’s genius has always been about survival, about getting caught for destructive behavior — “if it feels good, do it” is the appropriate phrase — and then deftly extricating himself, succeeding where others (Richard Nixon, Bob Packwood) have failed.
After Gennifer Flowers, he got elected President. After Whitewater, he won in a landslide. After he was impeached, his approval ratings soared. This is the man who sucks at politics?
True political failures usually end up as low-level, small-town city officials, or in public university student governments — not as President of the United States of America. Jacobson is correct in asserting that Clinton is “his own worst enemy,” but it’s fairly obvious that Clinton’s Dr. Jekyll usually prevails in the end. Clinton’s ability to answer questions without “answering questions,” and apologize without “apologizing,” is mesmerizing.
Moreover, Jacobson’s assessment that “it is clear that Americans do not want to change direction” is indefensible — nor does he bother to explain just how he extracted this stunning revelation from the collective mental process of the American electorate.
Jacobson apparently believes Gore would be a shoo-in was it not for Clinton’s meddling, which is absurd. Gore would be a shoo-in were he not losing his ideological base, hemorrhaging campaign staffers and facing criminal indictment. Maybe.
First, Gore’s unpopularity has nothing to do with Bill Clinton’s recent comments. Second, Ralph Nader’s surging popularity proves that even Gore’s own party is shifting — away from him, to be sure. Third, Bush’s triangulation — nominating Cheney to secure the conservative Republican base, then running to the center for the moderate and independent vote — is so “Clintonian.” The putative vast-right-wing conspiracy can’t complain about the putative liberal media bias this time: the mainstream media has all but declared that November is Bush’s to lose.
Sure, Mr. Hyde reappears in Clinton’s remarks, and he can only hurt Gore’s chances, but this relatively insignificant mistake is by no means “ensuring Gore won’t be elected.”
President Clinton is one of history’s great political survivors, and Gore is going to lose this election all by himself.

William Beutler

Editor in chief, Oregon Commentator