TILLAMOOK, Ore. -- When former President Bill Clinton visited red-leaning-scarlet far-Eastern Oregon this weekend, some were left scratching their heads, wondering why he would even stop by to ask them to vote for his wife.

The Oregon Coast isn't quite as Republican, but many also questioned why Clinton was visiting. After all, they said, Oregon appears to favor Barack Obama.

But Clinton, outside the Tillamook Cheese Factory on Monday, showed them why. He asked a gathering of several hundred how many had already turned in their mail ballots. Only about a third put up their hands.

A week before Oregon counts its primary election votes, Clinton is on a two-and-one-half-day blitz of 14 Oregon towns and cities, hoping to boost his wife's sagging chances in a primary election many see as essential to keep her campaign breathing.

The Clinton campaign is financially strapped; her rival is oozing with money. Even some of the New York senator's most ardent backers say Bill Clinton's big push might not be enough.

"To be frank with you, it will be very, very hard for Sen. Clinton to win here in Oregon," said Gov. Ted Kulongoski, an early supporter of Rodham Clinton's. "We are going to have to work very hard. Obviously, over the last week, the wind is at the back of Sen. Obama. I think everybody recognizes that."

The candidates still think it's a race. Hillary Rodham Clinton will return to Oregon Friday and Saturday, Obama on Saturday and Sunday.

"This may influence the swing vote," Victor Bofill, 56, a family therapist in Tillamook, said after Bill Clinton spoke there. "But a lot of Oregonians may have decided already. He's an incredible speaker. Oregon loves him."

Sharol Bench, a retired seamstress from nearby Pacific City, thought the tour could make a difference.

"I expect we'll see more people turn out, it may get better for Clinton," she said.

But retired supermarket produce manager Pat McDonald of Tillamook tended to agree with Bofill.

"I don't know, but I think Oregon has made up its mind," he said. "This might make it closer."

In Tillamook, Clinton blamed part of Obama's apparent Oregon edge on state coverage he said was dominated by nation media. He cited a poll he did not identify as concluding it as been "the most slanted press coverage in national history."

In the blue-collar seaport and fishing town of Astoria, on the rebound from some difficult times, Jena Salinger said she was undecided, but barely.

"I don't know if he'll change minds. He won't change mine, but I'll listen," said Salinger, who described herself as "between jobs."

Clinton's message in small-town Oregon didn't change Sunday or Monday.

Wealth inequality hasn't been this bad since the 1920s, the middle class is in shards and its getting worse, No Child Left Behind is a disaster and troops must come home from Iraq to force Iraqis to make their own tough decisions. Energy can and must be saved, and his wife will make it possible and affordable. Soaring tuition should not force college dropouts.

He vowed Democratic unity regardless of the nominee and made only a few passing references to Obama and the apparent Republican nominee John McCain.

But not everyone saw futility in the ambitious visit.

"The closer the delegate count is the more involved she will be involved in the fall campaign -- whether that is being on the ticket, or being at the table," said Jim Edmunson, the former chairman of Oregon's Democratic Party.

"At this stage of the campaign, he is going anywhere he can find a vote," he said.

"He is trying to make a splash in places where voters typically are not courted. I suspect he is picking up some votes. People like to be asked."

But Dan Lavey, a Republican political consultant, saw the visit as a more of a legacy grasp.

"The Clintons need to end their campaign without looking like quitters, or looking like they have been defeated. It's an art form that will be playing out every day for the next couple of weeks," he predicted.