Oregon Public Broadcasting

In the midst of rancorous midterm elections, one of Oregon's best-known moderates addressed the City Club of Portland Friday.

Bob Packwood hasn't appeared at the City Club for fifteen years, since he resigned from the Senate over a sexual misconduct scandal. He got a laugh from the crowd, joking he couldn't figure out why the City Club's regular invitations stopped coming.

Packwood commented on the increased partisanship he's seen since he entered politics fifty years ago.

Bob Packwood: "When I first ran 98% of the political registration was Republican or Democrat. Now almost a third of the electorate is independent, and they can't vote in the primary of either party. Why has this happened? I've talked to 3 people here today who've left their party, because they find the parties have gone too far to the right or the left."

The result, Packwood says, is that the middle has left both parties. 

He said he thought all independent voters who've defected from the two major parties in recent years should go back and re-register. That, he says, would reduce the influence of the political fringe.

He also suggested changing Oregon's primary to a non-partisan, top-two system.