Politics

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney told supporters that "there are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what" because they are "dependent upon government ... believe that they are victims ... believe the government has a responsibility to care for them ... these are people who pay no income tax."

Who was he talking about?

OLYMPIA, Wash. – One of the Northwest’s leading solar power advocates likely used his state position to help a company he was working for get an unfair tax designation. That’s the conclusion of a state Ethics Board investigation released Friday.

Long-time Oregon state Senator Frank Morse says will resign his seat. In an emotional speech on the floor of the state Senate Friday, Morse said he no longer has the energy for what he called a “marathon with no finish line.” Morse urged his colleagues to stabilize funding for Oregon schools and social services.

“Friends, solve this fiscal instability problem. It’s destroying our state. It’s destroying our schools.”

Morse turns 69 this month. He’s a moderate Republican known his support for higher education funding. Morse has represented Corvallis and Albany since 2002.

SALEM, Ore. – The group that's asking Oregon voters to ban the use of gillnets along the Columbia River says it's ending its ballot measure campaign. The sponsors of the measure say they're instead backing a separate effort by Oregon’s governor to do essentially the same thing.

Measure 81 would ban the use of gillnets in commercial, non-tribal fishing on the Oregon side of the Columbia River. The measure will still appear on the November ballot. But the group that spent $500,000 getting the initiative in front of voters now says it won't campaign in favor of it.

This past weekend was an odd one on the campaign trail. First, as NPR's Don Gonyea reported on Morning Edition, a muscled pizza man was so excited to see President Obama, he hugged him and picked him up a full foot off the ground.

Then there's Vice President Joe Biden who, um, canoodled with a biker lady at a Seaman, Ohio diner.

The picture captured by Carolyn Kaster of the Associated Press is priceless:

Early in his acceptance speech last night, President Obama laid out the voters' task in these words:

"On every issue, the choice you face won't be just between two candidates or two parties. It will be a choice ... between two fundamentally different visions for the future."