Obama expected to win Oregon

SALEM, Ore., May 19 (UPI) -- Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton is not expected to win Oregon's primary Tuesday, but that has not deterred her supporters in the state.

The New York's rival, Barack Obama, is expected to handily win in Oregon, possibly giving him enough delegates to clinch the party's presidential nomination, The Boston Globe reported Monday.

Despite Obama's widespread support in Oregon, the Illinois senator has had difficulty connecting with working class whites whose support he will need to win in November against Republican John McCain, said Bill Lunch, chairman of the political science department at Oregon State University.

Lunch said Clinton's populist message, coupled with her husband President Bill Clinton's campaign stops in far eastern Oregon towns will resonate with the state's blue-collar Democrats.

"What Hillary and Bill are doing makes sense, but that constituency has been shrinking," Lunch said. "Their numbers keep getting smaller and smaller. If we could get the Clinton campaign and put it in a time machine and take it back 10 years, it might work. But not now."

Clinton is expected to do better Tuesday in blue-collar Kentucky than she is in Oregon, analysts say.