Well gee, Meg. At least Oregonians get to see and talk to Merkley.

Nobody seems to get to talk to Smith unless they've got big check in their hand.

Go figure.

Merkley really did look like a clueless oaf in the video, however. Considering the question started off by referencing his national security credentials, why would the question relate to Atlanta?

It's not going to kill his chances, but it won't help. The worst part is the eating, complete with back-of-hand mouth wipe. There's a reason politicians usually go hungry at these things for the most part...

After nearly 7 years of Republicans like Smith and Bush rhetorically going off half-cocked on foreign policy - but looking oh so confident in their assertions - only to later resort to wholesale reinvention of history (almost always their own) to cover for their own previous - but oh so confident seeming - Bull Shit, I'd have thought that progressives wouldn't be so shallow as to expect their own candidates to conform to such an absurd standard.

why would the question relate to Atlanta?

Because that's where the Carter Center is located?

The Carter Center, in partnership with Emory University, is committed to advancing human rights and alleviating unnecessary human suffering. Founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, the Atlanta-based Center has helped to improve the quality of life for people in more than 70 countries. Led by the Carters and an independent board of trustees, the Center's staff wage peace, fight disease, and build hope by both engaging with those at the highest levels of government and working side by side with poor and often forgotten people. In this way, the Center has strengthened democracies in Asia, Latin America, and Africa; helped farmers double or triple grain production in 15 African countries; mediated or worked to prevent civil and international conflicts; intervened to prevent unnecessary diseases in Latin America and Africa, including the near eradication of Guinea worm disease; and strived to diminish the stigma against mental illness. A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, the Center's work is supported by donations from individuals, foundations, corporations, and countries.

Keep in mind folks that the story broke on Friday night. Merkley was asked about it on Saturday morning.

Sure, he could have been more artful in his initial response, and he shouldn't be eating while answering questions, but let's not get too carried away.

Not only that, but the video was edited by the GOP tracker. I'd love to see what Merkley said after the end of the video clip. I'm guessing it was some generalized comments about war, peace, diplomacy, etc.

p.s. What's Gordon said recently about Georgia?

Oh right, nothing... no one even knows where he is.

Seriously. Where is he? He's not been showing up to the meetings (about digital TV) that his staff has been announcing all over the state.

Well gee, Meg. At least Oregonians get to see and talk to Merkley." Just not about world events . Joey Chestnut has nothing on that guy.

Yeah, right.

Make sure you ask Smith about Georgia (or anything else) next time you write your check--cuz lord knows that's the only chance you'll have. But only if you get to at least 4 digits, of course.

Three will just get you a cheesy handshake.

Now not to be unfair to Mr. Merkley: being on the Road can be tough and hard to keep up with the outside world. But he never has fewer than 4 full time staff traveling with him, not to mention a full office backing him up, and they all have cell phones, internet, TV, and can read (hopefully). So, why didn't someone inform the Speaker about this? There is really no excuse.

Again..at least someone got to ask Merkley about this. That's a lot more than we get from Smith. Nobody gets to talk to him unless they've got a big, fat check in their hand.

So we really have no idea what Smith thought of the Georgia situation at that exact time--because nobody who doesn't sport an extensive bank account can get within earshot to find out.

I'm willing to bet that a hell of a lot of those Eastern Oregonians whom Smith claims Merkley is out of touch with would have used the back of their hand rather than a napkin too.

I mean, it was a friggin' HOT DOG for criminy sakes - finger food by f*&#ing definition!

Only an insipid poseur would eat a HOT DOG with knife, fork and silk napkin.

By Saturday evening, Merkley had visited 7 towns in a little more than 24 hours. That is a grueling schedule - way too ambitious for the likes of Gordon Smith.

And, Mr. Nobody, this was no speech. It was a meet and greet with voters, something Gordon wouldn't know the first thing about. Maybe Jeff should not have eaten a hot dog right then, but perhaps the "Tracker" should have had the good manners not to interrupt Merkley's dinner!

Good point, except you are answering a question that I didn't ask. Go and bring that up on an article about Smith not appearing around the state (which isn't true... go read some news papers across the state, there have been some announcements of events...) instead of on an article about Merkley not even knowing about the start of a new war a full 24 hours after it started. You are just trying to shift the focus of this situation.

Well actually, this post started out to be about Smith not being accessible to the public and was pulled off about the Merkley/Georgia thing...so in truth I'm bringing it back on topic. :)

I make it a habit to peruse most the small-town newspapers each Saturday AM--the ones that have online editions anyway. There's a very good list of them here.

Very rarely does Smith have a public appearance that isn't associated with fundraising or that was announced to the public (so that we can attend and talk to him) prior to the event. In fact, I don't know of any at all.

I also get all of the Google alerts for Smith--which includes any online stories for events in towns around Oregon. They are much more rare than Merkley and Wyden.

In addition, I'm aware of Smith's press advisories and announcements from the campaign. I haven't seen a single press advisory for an event (except the Schwartzenegger fundraiser) since the recess. In fact, I haven't seen a press advisory for any event in the last three months for Smith where the general public was invited to attend.

So what's Smith afraid of? Why can't his constitutents attend events and ask questions of him without having to write a fat check first?

Also, if Merkley is making 7 towns in 24 hours, then so is the tracker, but the tracker still knew about this Georgian conflict right after it started, even without a full time staff helping him out.

That's a hell of an assumption.

Think about this for a second... He's a tracker (nice guy, btw. I chatted with him once), paid by the opposition to do a job that everyone knows involves hopefully finding something which can be used politically... otherwise there'd be no point to having trackers. N'est pas?

So, how hard would it have been for the tracker's boss to give him a quick call and pass on a question that the think-tank back at HQ would like to have posed to Merkley in hopes of it producing something favorable to said tracker's GOP employers?

Honestly, Occam's Razor seems to me to point to the tracker having been fed the question.

Also, if Merkley is making 7 towns in 24 hours, then so is the tracker, but the tracker still knew about this Georgian conflict right after it started, even without a full time staff helping him out. Stop with the diversionary tactic that "smith didn't comment" and just admit that Merkley made a mistake here.

Or somebody from the Smith campaign was nice enough to call the tracker to make sure that a question could be planted.

My questions about Smith's inaccessability still remain unanswered, btw. Why is it that the public can't talk to Gordon Smith unless they're ready to hand him a big, fat campaign donation?

So what's Smith afraid of? Why can't his constitutents attend events and ask questions of him without having to write a fat check first?

Excellent questions!

Just a guess here, but maybe he just doesn't wanna have to mix with us uncouth masses. God knows one of us might wipe our mouth with the back of our hand and gross out his delicate sensibilities...

And really... what does a HOT DOG eater have in common with the owner of million dollar golf clubs anyway?

I haven't seen Smith talk about it for weeks and weeks. Merkley's campaign put out a press release on Tuesday talking about creating rural jobs and Smith's refusal to authorize county timber payments, which are crucial to the rural economy.

Please, someone just admit merkley made a mistake here, and I'm gone. Should it even matter if the question was planted or not? It is a real issue that should be discussed. Merkley did not know what was happening, though it had been in the news for 24 hours. It's not even the end of the world if someone admits a mistake. We just say "whoops" and get on with ourselves.

Tell ya what..you answer mine and I'll answer yours.

What is Gordon Smith afraid of? Why can't his constitutents attend events and ask questions of him without having to write a fat check first?

Mr. Nobody,

If you say that you have knowledge that the tracker asked the question on his own initiative then I'm not going to challenge it further. I only chatted with him for about 20 minutes. But I read people very well and he struck me as very much of a straight-up kinda guy.

Personally, I think that this whole thing is a classic case of much ado about nothing.

Do I think that Merkley made a mistake? No. Whether his reply was an attempt at humor - which has been my gut sense of it all along - or he just misunderstood the question doesn't really matter to me.

The inference that a candidate deeply immersed in the extremely demanding requirements of a hotly contested campaign is exhibiting the same level of attention to the outside world as he or she would once having been elected and the demands of the campaign trail are but a memory is ludicrous on it's face.

Carla, I'd answer your question, but unfortunately, I can't speak for Smith. However, I'm not asking you to tell me why Merkley was unaware of the situation in Georgia, I'm just asking you to admit that this situation was a surprising lapse of awareness by an otherwise intelligent man, and that his staff should have been more helpful.

But you must have some idea--or at least a reasonable thought on why Smith isn't allowing constituents to meet him at events unless they'll contribute to his campaign. Why do you think this is?

Mr. Nobody says this: Go and bring that up on an article about Smith not appearing around the state (which isn't true... go read some news papers across the state, there have been some announcements of events...

You're right that there have been announcements. Like this one, from the East Oregonian:

Oregon Republican Sen. Gordon Smith will start his "DTV Road Show" next week in Pendleton to discuss the nation's transition from analog TV to digital. Smith will hold the first public presentation at 1 p.m. Monday at the Pendleton Senior Center, 501 S.W. 10th St.

Just one problem: Smith didn't show up. He flaked.

I wasn't there, but it's my understanding that the folks in Pendleton were pretty torqued off.