Merkley and Smith

Jeff Merkley (D) is challenging Gordon Smith (R) for the senate in my adopted state of Oregon. Gordon Smith has been a tried and true backer of the Bush Administration until it became quite apparent in 2006 (when Dems swept every statewide race) that being a republican in this state might be a great deficit. So now Gordon Smith is running as a democrat, showing pictures of Obama in his campaign ads, running on traditionally democratic prinicples of environmental protection, expanded government provided health care, etc while also attacking Merkley for being a democrat. Smith has had a solid lead up to this point, but Rasmussen has their latest poll out that shows Merkley with a statistically insignificant lead, which means they are basically tied. This is bad news for Smith. He has more money, more name recognition, more to lay claim to, but he has an R by his name, which trumps all of that it would seem. Merkley has been making a steady climb while Smith's support has been flat at best.

http://www.pollster.com/08-OR-Sen-GE-SvM.php

Smith has been good on certain issues (trying to get mental health parity, whereby insurance companies would treat mental illness the same as physical illness), but his political turn around on the Iraq war in 2006 only came about after he saw that his undivided support of the war would be an anvil around his neck in 2008. He is in trouble, like many republicans this year.