Hillary Clinton made her first trip to Oregon, speaking to a packed high school gym just outside of Portland. While they acknowledge that her rival Barack Obama is favored here, the Clinton campaign is playing hard — naming a state director and what the campaign calls a “very active” steering committee, ramping up field staff and opening a state headquarters in Portland next week and satellite offices in every congressional district.

They’re also tailoring their strategy around Oregon’s unique mail-in primary system; ballots will be mailed out on April 28th, and the majority of voters are expected to submit ballots through the post.

“I’m here to meet with you and talk with you and hopefully make my case to you,” she told the voters of Hillsboro, OR. “This is my first trip in a campaign of firsts, and I’m glad to be able to blaze a home in the land of the Trailblazers.”

But even in the Beaver State, she was focused on Michigan and Florida. She’s long argued that their delegates should count, but today she claimed their popular votes should count as well — a move that would put her much closer to Obama in that metric.

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Fox News projects that Hillary Clinton has won in Oklahoma and Tennessee; Barack Obama took Alabama and his home state of Illinois. Missouri, Connecticut, and Delaware all remain too close to call. (UPDATE: FNC decision team had AL too close to call until about 9:30)

More spin from the Clinton campaign on their victories below the fold — they say this demonstrates that Hillary Clinton can compete and win in red states.

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Sen Clinton told close to 2,000 people at Trinity College in Hartford, CT that the President’s State of the Union address marks “a red letter night in American history: it is the last time George Bush will give a State of the Union.”

“If we all do our part, next year it will be a Democratic president giving the State of the Union,” she said to cheers from the crowd. “Let’s be clear: one thing that President Bush has never understood is that the State of the Union is not about a speech in Washington. It is about the state of the lives of the American people.”

Senator Clinton will be in attendance at tonight’s event on Capitol Hill, along with rival Barack Obama. But she made it clear she didn’t expect to hear anything new — and issued an unlikely invitation to President Bush. “I’m sure that the President tonight will, as he has for the previous seven years, say that the state of our union is strong. But with all due respect, Mr President, come out on the road with me,” she said. “Come and meet the people that I meet. Listen to the stories I listen to. Sit at tables in diners, and hear what’s on America’s minds.”

Finally, Clinton said both she and the country are ready to move on from the last president to the next one. “Yes, a State of the Union speech will be delivered tonight,” she said. “But when that is finally over, it will be time for us to turn our attention to picking the next president.”

Over the course of the last two days, a slew of polls were released showing Sen. John McCain nearly tied with or now edging out Rudy Giuliani in Feb 5 primary states the former NYC mayor’s campaign had considered guaranteed winners (New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Delaware.)

Additionally, the  McCain campaign has issued the following press releases in the last two days:

01.23.08         Delaware Leaders Join Supporters Of John McCain
01.22.08         John McCain Announces Connecticut Leadership Team
01.22.08         John McCain 2008 Announces New York Leadership Team
01.22.08         John McCain 2008 Announces New Jersey Leadership Team
01.22.08         Connecticut State Senator Anthony Guglielmo Endorses John McCain For President
01.22.08         John McCain 2008 Announces New Jersey Legislative Endorsements
01.22.08         Senator Alfonse D’Amato Endorses John McCain For President

Message to Rudy:  McCain is ready for battle on your home turf on February 5th.