Republican National Convention

MINNEAPOLIS -- Presidential candidate Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) campaign announced Thursday it will be opening up four more regional offices in Oregon, bringing the total number of offices to 13 in the state.

MINNEAPOLIS -- World War II veteran Don Holden said Wednesday that the sacrifices made by World War II soldiers which helped establish the U.S. as one of the most admired countries in the world was squandered by the Bush administration and would continue to be squandered under the leadership of presidential candidate John McCain (R-Ariz.).

MINNEAPOLIS -- Former House majority leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) told Oregon’s Republican delegation that when Republicans stick to who they are, what they stand for and what they believe in, they win their races every single time.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Oregon’s delegation to the Republican National Convention was dazzled by vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s (R-Alaska) speech in St. Paul on Wednesday.

Former U.S. Rep. Dick Armey at the Republican National Convention: Getty Images PhotoBLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- Former U.S. Rep. Dick Armey (R-Texas) said Thursday that he had no interest in returning to Congress, even under a McCain administration.

“There’s an old country western song called, ‘Burning Bridges,’” Armey said as he left the Oregon caucus breakfast meeting, where he talked to the delegation about the challenges and new outlook for the Republican Party. “I think I did that.”

The former House Majority Leader and TX-26 representative from 1985-2003 was probably referring to the 1983 George Jones song that said, “Burning bridges behind me, it's too late to turn back now. Burning bridges behind me, all I want is to forget you somehow.” Armey retired from congress in 2003 after he saw Republicans straying from the issues he wanted to focus on.

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- After a long night, the final day of the Republican National Convention will start early and end late for Oregon's delegates.

Roll call voting at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul went until well past 1 a.m. Thursday, as Oregon announced 30 delegates would be casting their votes for John McCain, and four would be voting for Ron Paul.

MINNEAPOLIS -- U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith’s job approval rating has hit an all-time low, a poll conducted by SurveyUSA shows.

The poll, released Wednesday, shows that Smith has a 56-percent job disapproval rating. The number of people disapproving of Smith’s work in Washington D.C. is the highest that poll has recorded since May 2005. The number of people disapproving of Smith also rose 9 percent since the company last polled Smith’s approval numbers on May 19.

A spokeswoman for Gordon Smith’s campaign said Wednesday that the Republican U.S. senator and his campaign made a wise decision to focus their time campaigning in Oregon instead of mingling with their fellow Republicans at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul this week.