Reader poll: Smith or Merkley?
Let's face it, we didn't give any Democratic challenger a chance against Gordon Smith for the U.S. Senate seat currently up for grabs in Oregon. But the blue tsunami may actually be strong enough to sweep Jeff Merkley to victory. I think it's going to be close. What do you think?
| Posted at 1:35 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (4)
FiveThirtyEight gives Speaker Merkley a 88% chance of winning.
I have to admit, until a few weeks ago, I thought Gordon Smith's re-election was fairly likely.
Posted by Rulial | November 2, 2008 10:07 AM
I voted for Novick in the primary because I thought it would take an unconventional candidate/campaign to defeat Smith. One thing I didn't count on, though, was Smith running an absolutely horrible campaign. His ads have been brutally bad, and his old messages have fallen flat. I think Merkley will win, probably by 6 or 7 points.
Posted by Dave J. | November 2, 2008 5:01 PM
Just a disaster, either way. If Merkley wins, he will owe his loyalty to Uncle Chuck and Co who bought it for him. If Smith wins, he will take it as acceptance for his socially conservative agenda. Actual Oregonians lose either way.
At least Ron Wyden truly represents us.
Posted by Arbitrash | November 2, 2008 9:41 PM
Perhaps Smith will now be able to retire back to Washington DC where he grew up and has lived all his life, except for the staged appearances he occaasionally did at the "family ranch" outside of Bingham.
Merkley is not Novick. But, at least he's really from Oregon.
Posted by Ed R. | November 4, 2008 7:51 AM