Senate '08: News roundup

It's been a busy week in the Senate race - not even counting the massive coverage of Gordon Smith's misleading ad linking himself to Barack Obama. Here's a round-up of other news this week:

• On Monday, Candy Neville, who won 7% of the vote in the Senate primary race, endorses Jeff Merkley (video).
• PolitickerOR noted the strong desire, nationally, among voters to elect a Democratic Congress.
• A right-wing anti-worker blog attacked Jeff Merkley for his support from organized labor.
• PolitickerOR noted the entry of 527 organizations into the race.
• On Wednesday, Jeff Mapes blogged about a private poll conducted for the pro-Smith U.S. Chamber of Commerce - and the bad news for Gordon Smith.

  The chamber released a survey from respected Republican pollster Bill McInturff warning that Smith is "clearly quite vulnerable" in his re-election fight against Democrat Jeff Merkley. ...

  Smith.............38%
  Merkley..........34%
  Frohnmayer....11%
  Undecided.......16%

  But McInturff pointed out in a memo that Frohnmayer's presence was probably helping Smith. And the pollster said he thought Smith would have a hard time capturing a significant percentage of the undecided voters.

• Top-tier political pundit Stu Rothenberg analyzed the possibility of a "wave" in this year's Senate elections - and noted that "Smith almost certainly will have a fight on his hands all the way to November."

• The AP reported on Gordon Smith's canceled $5000-per-lobbyist fundraiser.

• The Oregonian reported on the big investment that the DSCC has made in Merkley's campaign.
  
• The Oregonian reported extensively on Gordon Smith's efforts to woo the gay community, and the reactions:

  Measured by words spoken, legislation sponsored, events attended and miles traveled, there can be only one conclusion about Sen. Gordon Smith: He loves the gay community. ...

  Yet there is one issue where gay-rights leaders say Smith's record cannot be redeemed: his views on gay marriage. The issue flared again recently when Smith appeared before the liberal think tank Center for American Progress. ...

  "For the last eight years, for the most part, he's been incredibly disappointing," said Jeana Frazzini, executive director of Basic Rights Oregon.

  "He campaigned in 2002 as a real supporter of gay rights," she said, "and turned around in 2004 and actively campaigned on the marriage amendment here in Oregon that literally wrote discrimination against gay Oregonians into our state constitution. That was really devastating for our community." ...

  "Senator Smith sings very different songs depending on his audience," the Merkley campaign said in an e-mail. Merkley supports gay marriage.

• And finally, all this flip-flopping has Smith's conservative allies worried. From today's Bend Bulletin (subscription only):

  Here in Central Oregon, meanwhile, Smith’s ad has probably given a few voters flashbacks. They’ve seen a senator do this before, only his name is Ben Westlund, not Gordon Smith. In less than four years, you may remember, Westlund transformed himself from the chairman of Republican Kevin Mannix’s gubernatorial campaign to proud member of the Democratic Convention Rules Committee, with a brief rest stop as an independent. Is Smith, if re-elected, going to pull a Westlund? If nothing else, such a move would ensure him a spot in the majority party — not that we’d even hint that either Westlund or Smith might be motivated by self-interest.

  Reasoning that plenty of Central Oregonians would appreciate an answer before returning their ballots this fall, we asked Smith’s campaign whether its candidate, if re-elected, intends to remain a Republican for the duration of his new term. As a matter of principle, a candidate should retain the party affiliation he had when voters chose him, at least until his term expires.

  The answer, provided by Lindsay Gilbride, Smith’s campaign spokeswoman: “Absolutely. Absolutely.”

Discuss.