Interesting that nearly every credible editorial board in the state has endorsed Macpherson (except the Statesman-Journal).

Amazing.

I cannot for the life of me understand why they picked Fish. I thought his WW interview was very week and the endorsement was less than glowing. They went out of the comfort zone for Vicki Walker (SOS) and some others, they might as well have gone out on this race too.

Could someone in the know explain what's going on with David Wu? Are these non-endorsements getting his attention? Are these non-endorsements legit? Will anything change (his approach to the job, the quality of potential challengers, or anything else)?

Is the conventional wisdom thinking that the Novick-Merkley race is pretty much settled at this point? Seems so to me.

Im, It's not just about David Wu. Clearly, Will Hobbs made an extraordinary impression. We have a political star here who came out of nowhere for all the right reasons.

It's frustrating to see the WW get something so wrong. In their Senate race editorial, they blame Jeff Merkley for somehow stopping a bill on tuition-equity from getting a hearing while saying he supports a federal effort on the same issue. If they had bothered to ask, they would have found out that Jeff in no way stopped a hearing on the bill. He was very supportive of my decision to see if it was possible to reach tuition-equity through the state board of higher education instead of flailing away and losing in the legislature as was done twice previously. He was clear that he would support any way we had the best chance to succeed. I have the highest respect for Jeff--all of us in the House Democratic caucus do--and I believe he is going to make an outstanding U.S. Senator.

U.S. House, District 3?

U.S. House, District 3?

TJ--

I'm not following your logic. As Chair of the House Education Committee, I had full backing from Jeff to hold a hearing and try to get the bill passed. And yep, there were a number of legislators, Jeff included, more than willing to move the bill, get it to the floor and hopefully over to the Senate. I made a judgement call after doing a rough vote count that we would be heading to another likely defeat. Jeff backed my decision because I told him I believed we would have a better chance of actually getting this done by working directly with the State Board.

One can fault my judgement, and one can, I suppose, fault Jeff for trusting me on this issue, but it is absolutely inaccurate to claim Jeff is somehow being hypercritical in any way with this issue, as the WW editorial attempts to do.

As to what Jeff accomplished that another potential speaker might not have? Getting us to the majority, in the first place. I am a member of the leadership team that worked with Jeff nonstop on the recruitment of candidates, development of strategy, raising the money and doing everything else that went into picking up the seats we needed. Ask any one of us, and we will tell you flat--we could not have accomplished that without Jeff's leadership.

Once in the majority, he held us together and accomplished the agenda we set out to pass. The caucus is made up of very diverse, very driven people, with often very conflicting points of view. Jeff led. We succeeded. Could another speaker have done it as well? Let me turn that around--has anyone else in recent political memory done as well leading a majority caucus, let alone one with a 31-29 majority?

It doesn't take anything away from any other candidate to admit that Jeff was an outstanding Speaker of the House. And again, I believe it speaks volumes that every single one of Jeff's colleagues in the House Dem caucus think the world of the guy.

"Blumenauer is an inch to the right of Rep. Dennis Kucinich". (from the WW endorsement)

Maybe on important issues like OPB, these two are similar, but when it comes to workers rights, the economy, and free trade, Blumenauer is nowhere near Kucinich. On these issues, I think Blumenauer is way out of touch with his pretty progressive district.

TJ, are you on crack?

Read what Rep. Buckley wrote: As Chair of the House Education Committee, I had full backing from Jeff to hold a hearing and try to get the bill passed. ... I made a judgement call after doing a rough vote count that we would be heading to another likely defeat.

In other words, if you want to blame someone for "preventing a hearing" you can blame Rep. Buckley.

TJ--

As simple and clear as possible: at no time did Jeff Merkley prevent a hearing on the tuition-equity bill or any other bill in the House Education Committee.

As chair, I was given full authority by the Speaker to decide which bills would be heard in my committee.

So again: at no time did Jeff Merkley prevent a hearing on the tuition-equity bill or any other bill in the House Education Committee.

TJ- Bills can only be debated on the floor if they are passed out of committee. That is called "floor debate." The public hearings are done in Committee and those are called "hearings." Committee chairs have most of the control when deciding what (and what not) to hold hearings about, not the Speaker. Rep. Buckley has been so patient trying to answer your concerns. I think he did a good, sucinct job, and I applaud and thank him for taking the time to explain the situation.

TJ--

My apologies, but this is like an endless loop that I just don't have time to stay in. The Speaker cannot by himself bring a bill to the House floor. It must either go through a committee or be brought to the House floor by a motion backed by 31 members.

And I can't agree with what you see as the more salient part of the response, since I have already posed the question to you to please name a single Speaker or Senate President who has accomplished more with such a slim majority than Jeff has. You have a list of a number of issues that take 36 votes. And even on some of those, such as the corporate minimum tax, we had a signed agreement from the GOP leadership that they went back on, so I'm not sure what more could have been accomplished with that.

Again, if you can name a single legislative leader who has accomplished more, please do. I realize we will never agree on the various strengths and weaknesses of the candidates we support. I'm proud of Jeff and of what we've been able to accomplish. Your views obviously vary.

Steven Maurer posted:

"You can denigrate anyone if you compare them against someone who doesn't actually exist, Mark. But if you want real world comparisons, let's just say that Nanci Pelosi hasn't done anywhere near as much with a 30+ vote majority that Jeff managed to do with 1."

If Merkley's doing a great job in that capacity, let's keep him there. This nation needs Novick to wake the Congress up from its slumber. By bringing up Pelosi, you're making the case for Novick.

steven, where can one find this pony you speak of?

Interesting that nearly every credible editorial board in the state has endorsed Macpherson (except the Statesman-Journal). Amazing.

Macpherson has been endorsed by the Oregonian, the Willamette Week, the Eugene Register-Guard, the East Oregonian, The Portland Tribune, The McMinnville News-Register, The Gresham Outlook, and Just Out Newspaper.

Macpherson has been endorsed by the Statesman Journal, the Medford Mail-Tribune, and the Grants Pass Daily Currier. (How many registered Democrats are there in Grants Pass?)

So, like I said in my first post, "nearly every credible editorial board in the state has endorsed Macpherson."

Patsy, The Statesmen Journal, Mail-Tribune, and Daily Currier all endorsed Kroger, not Macpherson. Furthermore, your dismissal of small town Democrats is really unfair to a large segment of the state, and state party. While Portland is overwhelming Democrat, the rural parts of the state are actually fairly close in party voting. They are majority Republican but have very large Democratic minorities. Without rural Democrats, we would be a majority Republican state (same as if we did not have urban Democrats). Also, FYI, your list of Macpherson papers not only has Kroger endorses, but includes multiple Pamplin papers, which endorse en mass.

A.Rab.--

My bad. Typo. The second paragraph of my post should have said "Kroger", not "Macpherson."

My point was that Macpherson has been endorsed by the vast majority of editorial boards. And in terms of the state's most influential ed boards -- the Oregonian, Willamette Week, Statesman Journal, Eugene Register-Guard, and Eastern Oregonian -- all have endorsed Macpherson except the S-J.

Patsy -- Those of us living in Salem might argue that the S-J is not credible or influential.

I support Hillary Clinton and she will be our next president. Some magazines opinions are not important for me.

Good golly toridjoe let it go, Saying that Merkely prevented a hearing by giving the chair of the committee the authority to do as he saw fit is like saying that I prevented my daughter from buying a Hanna Montana CD because I gave her the choice of what to buy with her allowance. Okay, its not exactly like that but the logic is the same. Failure to actively encourage something is not the same thing preventing a thing from happening. You might be correct if you were to say that the Speaker failed to call for a floor debate. But even then the pejorative is subjective: was his inaction a failure or a rational and appropriate delegation of authority to the committee chair most knowledgeable about the bill?

"The process begins when a measure is introduced and referred to a committee. The committee may hear testimony on the measure, frequently from members of the public, and may amend the measure and send it to the floor of its house for debate. The committee can also table the measure and end its consideration. Unlike many state legislatures, Oregon does not amend measures during floor debate. After a measure has been considered by a committee and passed by the house in which it was introduced, it is sent to the other house where a similar procedure is followed."

from the Oregon Legislative Blue Book, so the speaker can not call for a debate on an measure that has been tabled by the committee.

Come on folks, give poor TorridJoe some credit...who else frequenting this place can take any story, issue or even an ordinary fact, and turn it into unrelenting nitpicking tedium? It may not take any real thought or talent, but ya gotta admire the guy's persistence. On the other hand, maybe someone could interest him in a different hobby?

I don't usually read all the way through these comments sections. I did this time. I don't know who TorridJoe is, but what a tiresome, boring, single-minded piece of work. TorridJoe, I want to see your endorsements so I know who not to vote for. You do real damage to the candidates you support. I wouldn't want you on my team.