Tag: Jeff Merkley

This afternoon, newly minted Senator-Elect Energy Smart Jeff Merkley (D-OR) took the time to reach out to the netroots with a blogger conference call.  “The Netroots were critical to my election … It is 40 years since an incumbent lost in Oregon and only the second time in 100 years that a Republican incumbent lost … the Netroots put the campaign over the top.”  

But, more important than any plaudits for bloggers (“Netroots Nation was one of the best things that I did during the campaign.”) and promises to remain engage for the future, was Merkley’s evaluation as to the election’s mandate and visions for moving forward.

We have a very strong mandate for a progressive agenda. We have had two cycles in a row with winning six [at least] seats in the Senate.

Bush claimed a mandate when he didn’t even win the popular vote.

We absolutely have a mandate and we should not be shy in anyway in claiming it.

If not now, when?  Our people need us, our planet needs us …

Greetings from the Great Green State of Oregon, where I’ve decided to take a few minutes on this damp Sunday here in Portland to collect the latest goings-on here in our US Senate race – where our excellent candidate Jeff Merkley is going to retire Senator Weasel (he of The Great Fake Outrage), in just a few weeks.

Three recent polls (links and numbers below the fold) make it very clear that this is a top-tier race, and a few more news items are included below the fold.

As of right now, Republican Gordon Smith, Elizabeth Dole, Ted Stevens, Bob Schaffer and Susan Collins are all skipping the GOP convention. Has this ever happened? We’ve had recent defectors like Zell “duel challenger” Miller, but have we ever had numerous incumbents skip out on honoring their party in such a public fashion?

Full disclosure, I am the netroots director for OR-Sen candidate Jeff Merkley

As many of you already know, the unemployment rate jumped to 5.5%. That’s an increase of 861,000 Americans who are now unemployed. Before I took the job with the Merkley Campaign as their netroots director, I was working full time at a job with no benefits. I understand that for small business owners like my former employer, it’s quite expensive to provide health care coverage. I lived below the poverty line and even though I could pay my bills, saving money was not an option. The plight of the working poor has always been near and dear to my heart and it’s no wonder I have been advocating for Jeff Merkley long before I joined the campaign.

An anti-labor group under the guise of, “Employee Freedom,” has been taking out newspaper ads in Oregon attacking Jeff Merkley. What are they attacking him on? They’re aiming straight for Merkley’s support of the Employee Freedom of Choice Act. The EFCA, aka the card check, would allow employees to control how they vote on whether to form a union rather than the management overseeing the process. The anti-labor group released two full page ads in two major papers in Oregon saying:

Jeff Merkley won the Democratic primary Tuesday through a mailed private ballot by Oregon citizens. Yet he supports eliminating the right to a private vote when unions are enlisting new members…tell Merkley to support true democracy.

The primary is just one week away here in Oregon. When you look at the polls from the past month there’s only one conclusion you can make. Oregon Senate candidate and current House Speaker Jeff Merkley is ^climbing up the polls. Here’s a snippet from Survey USA:

Eight days until votes are counted in the Democratic Primary for US Senate in Oregon, state House Speaker Jeff Merkley and attorney Steve Novick remain effectively tied, though today Merkley has the nominal advantage, 31% to 27%.

I’m a happy clam today folks. A new poll was released showing Jeff Merkley within three points of Republican Gordon Smith. Now I understand why Republican Gordon Smith just unveiled an attack ad on Jeff Merkley. He doesn’t want to face Merkley in the general election because Merkley will beat him! Here’s a snippet from Rasmussen:

Gordon Smith, United States Senator from Oregon, remains below the 50% level of support for the third straight month in Rasmussen Reports polling. Any incumbent who polls below 50% is considered potentially vulnerable and this month’s polling contains even more bad news for Smith-support for his potential Democratic challengers is increasing.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Oregon voters finds Smith leading Jeff Merkley by just three percentage points, 45% to 42%. In late March, he enjoyed a thirteen point lead. In February, he was ahead of Merkley by eighteen points.

During the primary race in Oregon there have been a number of signs that Republican Gordon Smith fears his possible Democratic opponent House Speaker Jeff Merkley. Whether it was his campaign’s decision to release their fundraising numbers early to counter the positive fundraising press the Merkley Campaign was receiving or his ridiculous email blast I wrote about yesterday. Now, Smith’s campaign is on the attack like never before and they’ve got their sights set on Oregon Senate candidate Merkley. Could this be another indication that the Smith Campaign does not want to face Jeff Merkley in November?

At a number of lefty blogs, I have spent quite a lot of time advocating for candidates I believe will champion progressive causes. Many of you most likely know me because of my long time support for John Edwards. I have also thrown my support to great progressive candidates like Barry Welsh, Gilda Reed, Ed Fallon, Larry Kissell, Jerry Northington aka Possum and many others. Now that Edwards is no longer running for office, there has been one progressive candidate who has me energized and excited for November. He’s another son of a mill worker and his name is Jeff Merkley.  

As many of you know there is a contested race for the Democratic nomination for the Oregon Senate between House Speaker Jeff Merkley and lawyer/activist Steve Novick. As an Oregonian, I am not represented by my current Republican Senator Gordon Smith. He’s a moderate poser, who trots out votes during election time where he sided with the Democrats in an effort to conceal his true political nature. The primary for the nomination is less than a month away, and time’s ticking for both Democrats to make their case. I want to make the case for Jeff Merkley here and now, and hopefully convince my fellow bloggers that Jeff Merkley will be a progressive champion for us.