Jackson County Welcomes Jeff Merkley

Paulie Brading

The CNN crew peppered me with questions about the fantastic weather. It was just another sunny day (yawn) in the mid-seventies. They had traveled from Bend where Jeff Merkley and Montana Senator Jon Tester began their day. Now the crew was waiting with us for Merkley and Tester to arrive at their next stop.

We were waiting in the town of Talent, between Medford and Ashland on old Hwy 99 at the Talent Public Library. The room has a capacity for 100 people. The crowd was standing room only, people sat on the floor, spilled out into the hallways and on to the sidewalk. The Chief of Police arrived to direct traffic.

When I stepped in front of the crowd to introduce Jeff Merkley and said, "It's a great day to be a Democrat," it felt like I was back in high school at a pep rally. This crowd wasn't taking measure on Jeff's capacity to lead our state, they had come to celebrate with him. The polls have Speaker Merkley up by 6%. I checked with our Jackson County Democrat number cruncher; he told me precinct by precinct how many more Democrats had returned their ballots than Republicans. While the Republicans have a 2,300 voter registration advantage it used to be 10,000, the playing field in Jackson County has been leveled. Senator Tester drew some good laughs when he talked about returning to Oregon for some more of Oregon's good beer. Luckily, our next event for Jeff Merkley was held at a micro-brewery in Ashland. Another happy crowd listened to State Senator Alan Bates introduce Merkley and Tester. Tester enjoyed an ice cold beer.

Merkley and two of his staff left our house early this morning headed to another event in Eugene. Speaker Merkley laughed and joked over his coffee and a fast read of the newspaper before departing. During many of his other stays with us he had sat silently in the early morning poring over his schedule, using every second for call time he had, participating in radio interviews or discussing economic development in Southern Oregon. This day I saw our future Senator quietly optimistic, still modest, still the incredibly decent man I have come to know over the last two years. One thing I know for sure, no candidate has worked harder for our votes, kept his head on straight and his heart in the right place better than Jeff Merkley.

By Paulie Brading Oct. 29, 2008