Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterShortly after arriving, Biden promoted the Democratic agenda at a gathering of party volunteers making campaign phone calls. While some Democratic candidates around the country have distanced themselves from Biden, seeing him as a political liability, Kotek is hoping for both a political and fundraising boost. Biden arrived in Oregon's largest city of Portland after starting his West Coast trip in California. Len Bergstein, a Portland-based public affairs consultant and political analyst, said that unlike in other states Biden could offer the Democrat a needed jolt in Oregon. "The Democratic governor's candidate has got to pull in the kind of voter that normally votes for Joe Biden in a race like this, and energizes that turnout," Bergstein said.

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