Those Republicants! I guess whoever gets blamed for the closing of the Rural office depends on which way the wind is blowing. When the office was closed, at that time, the Governor was blamed.

Now Smith blames Merkley.

In fact, Smith's entire campaign rests upon blaming Merkley for one thing or another.

Which begs the question - blame aside, which of the candidates ever DID anything? Merkley has a record of getting things done. Smith has a record of, well, co-sponsoring legislation. What did Smith originate, what did Smith out of his office actually do? Nada. Being a co-sponsor means you print your name nicely. Most of us had that down in the early elementary school years, and yet its Smith's claim to fame.

If there was ever a true rubber stamp in Washington DC, it's our (hopefully soon to be former) Senator Smith.

So how will this play in the swing region of the Willamette Valley? Seems to me this election will be won or lost in Clackamas and Marion Counties...what do they think of The Portland Menace(TM) these days?

Funny thing. While Smith positions himself as a rural champion, it's Jeff Merkley who is actually from rural Oregon. (Smith is from Bethesda, Maryland.)

You've really got to quit lying by implication Kari, and this time you did it on Hartmann this morning. What does "from" mean here that is relevant other than you are trying to get the gullible BO crowd to believe Merkley somehow grew up and/or lived in and/or represents rural Oregon. Of course the mental midgets over at 620KPOJ this morning let you repeat this without challenging you that you're either uninformed or trying to mislead people.

From the Oregonian story he links on his own website (other stories report that his family moved to Portland by the time Merkley started grade school).

Life started humbly enough for Merkley. The son of a millwright, Merkley grew up in a working-class neighborhood in outer Southeast Portland. Money was neither plentiful nor terribly important to the gangly kid who relied on brains and tenacity to get what he needed and go where he pleased.

Merkley grew up in Portland and was elected to represent the Portland district he lived in. He left Oregon after high school for the Bay Area of California and from there spent a lot of time in DC and other places in the world. He didn't move back to Portland until 1991 where he actually become part of that phenomena of gentrifying Portland by moving in to a district where real estate was cheap.

And by the way, as far as being a friend of rural Oregon, just what in your stunted little moral character makes you have the audacity to claim the very report you cite gives Merkley any credit? In the report card in the very report you cite they gave Merkley a "D" grade and listed the following as friends of farmers:

Sen. Ted Ferrioli (R) Sen. Dave Nelson (R) Sen. Kurt Schrader (D) Rep. Kevin Cameron (R) Rep. Bruce Hanna (R) Rep. Bob Jenson (R) Rep. Ron Maurer (R)

Kari, do you know you are misrepresenting the truth and Merkley, or do you, like Merkley, just believe truth and integrity don't matter because it's just about Jeff's career?

I would agree that Smith hasn't been an effective "voice for rural Oregon." However, Merkley isn't likely to be any better.

Merkley is less of a product of "rural Oregon" than is Smith. I'm not that concerned about how much of their childhoods they spent away from here. Smith is at least attached to Eastern Oregon by way of his business and semi-permanent residence. Merkley is a product of Portland; I doubt that he even remembers much about the Myrtle Creek area, since he left it at such a young age. Despite the hype, he certainly hasn't shown any real understanding of or willingness to help those who live in the rural 85% or so of the state's land mass.

Merkley's "detailed jobs plan for rural Oregon" consists mainly of things aimed at bolstering the state's urban areas. His "real leadership to secure county timber payments" involves a general resolution in the Oregon Senate, while working to redirect a key element of those payments -- the funding for rural schools in formerly timber-dependent communities -- to school districts in the Portland area. (Smith hasn't been any better, and his reluctance to change this ridiculous practice is the main reason I won't vote for him.)

He "supports Oregon's natural resource industries," but votes on behalf of laws and regulations that destroy jobs in those industries. Merkley's support for land use regulations that consistently deny rural parts of the state a chance to develop more dynamic economies would, by itself, overcome any claim he has to being a "friend of rural Oregon."

Most of the other parts of his "plan" (ending unfair trade agreements; investing in new roads, bridges, airports, and water treatment systems; spurring investment in biofuels and renewable energy; fostering entrepreneurship; cracking down on the meth epidemic; and making health care more affordable and accessible for families and businesses) are aimed at least as much at Portland and other urban areas -- if not more so -- than they are at the state's rural areas.

At least Smith has some empathy for rural Oregon, though it's a shame he hasn't shown much resolve to do anything with it. If Merkley is elected, I hope nobody in rural Oregon is going to hold their breath waiting for him to do something that isn't really aimed more at improving things in the Portland area.

Dear Voters, I am asking for your vote for Jeff Merkley because I want Oregonians to send a message that the republican folks are incapable of demonstrating concern about working average people. Jeff will make a good Senator and as a lobbyist who works for the people, I know that I will have access on the issues. By the way, Congresswoman Darlene Hooley voted FOR the bailout! Golly gee schwinn, can the democrats ever figure out what is bad for our people? Do we have to spell it out to them every F__time? I've been an activist for 30 years and our economy is toast, the war is widening(to Pakistan!), our five-star moron president is still babbling nonsense on T.V., and the Senatorial attack ads continue. Sen. Gordon Smith should be ashamed of himself. Please support Jeff in November! Thanks! David Peltier [email protected] 9/30/08

I'm glad the Portland bashing in this race is finally getting the attention it deserves.

All this talk over origins. I could care less about who spent more time in Pendleton than the other. I could care less about how many Round-ups Smith went to as opposed to Merkley.

The questions that the ad rightfully raises are:

1. Did the Oregon Office of Rural Policy cease to exist when Merkley was Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives (the chamber where the budget resides)?

2. Has Merkley voted against logging in certain areas which would have increased the timber industry job base?

3. Has Merkley voted against allowing more water for farmers in the Klamath River Basin?

Yes, yes, and yes.

So what are Merkley's rural credentials besides being born in Myrtle Creek?

Personally, I spent 2 and a half years finishing high school in Pendleton.

Do those 2 years give me the credentials of "rural Oregonian" that I can can tout 15 years from now when I may have the desire to run for office from the Portland Metropolitan Area?

Steven Maurer....

The Meth epidemic hits rural areas much more severely than it does urban areas, simply because meth labs are much harder to hide in a high density environment, than they are in the country.

They may be "harder to hide" in urban areas, but there are still plenty of them there. If we look up the number of arrests for meth production, I'll bet we find there are plenty in and around Portland. Placing a virtual ban on certain allergy medicines wasn't done because this was only a rural problem.

And who do you imagine will profit from a robust biofuels environment, other than farmers?

First, I don't consider anyone "rural" who lives less than 25-30 miles off of I-5, unless they're south of Eugene. I would imagine that most of the biofuels production will be done in the farming areas relatively close to Portland. I'm also sure that the Portland metropolitan area will find a way to profit quite handsomely from whatever types of new energy production is done in "rural" Oregon.

And health care access in rural areas - keeping clinics open - do you have even the slightest clue about what a problem that is?

Yes, living in such an area, I have a VERY GOOD idea. I also know that it is hard to convince quality doctors, particularly specialists, to bring their families to live in such areas. One of my good friends is a Ph.D. who taught in our local schools and whose wife is a physician. They left this area because the schools weren't able to provide programs that their kids needed to prepare for college. Of course, they MIGHT have had access to such programs, had Jeff Merkley been as "interested" in rural areas as you suggest and helped redirect the Secure Rural Schools funds that WE WERE SUPPOSED TO GET to districts in places like the one in which I live. I also doubt that there's anything specific in Merkley's plan that makes medical care any more accessible here than anywhere in the state's urban areas or that addresses the fact that about the only doctors we can attract are foreign medical graduates who only intend to stay for a short time.

I'm not going to even go into roads and bridges - since any real rural resident knows you need them, even if city-folk can just walk.

Oooohkay. The people who live in the Portland Metro area can all walk to work, huh. Perhaps you'd like to explain those little groupings of .... I think they're called "cars" .... for several hours each morning and afternoon on the highways around your fair city? You know, the ones where hardly anything moves? Yes, roads, bridges, and other aspects of infrastructure are certainly important to rural areas. They're also important to urban areas, and I suspect that's where most of the money will go if Merkley has anything to say about it. Creating and expanding travel routes between I-5 and the coast, and between areas in central and eastern Oregon is necessary for economic development. However, even where we HAVE decent roads, etc., Merkley has been a solid supporter of the kinds of land use and environmental regulations that make it all but impossible to create jobs, improve access to goods and services, develop the kinds of amenities that make rural living more convenient and fulfilling, and allow residents of rural areas to be at least somewhat more economically self-sufficient.

No, Merkley's "rural economic plan" is little more than a short list of things he wants to do for the Portland area that he can spin as having some applicability to rural folks. If he were really interested in helping Oregon's rural areas, he's had plenty of opportunities -- and made very little of them. His "plan" would look quite a bit different.

But then, Steven, those of us who live in rural areas are totally clueless, right? We'll have to see how many moderates and Republicans -- or even moderate Dems -- in rural areas are dumb enough to believe that Merkley gives a whit about anyone who lives more than a stone's throw from Portland. I'm guessing there won't be many.