| In every poll released this past month, Gordon Smith's approval ratings have stayed below 50%. Our internal poll Smith with A recent Survey USA poll showed only 38% of Oregonians approving of the job Gordon Smith is doing. In fact, the Hibbits poll showed that only 56% of Republicans approve of Smith's job performance - that's even lower than George Bush's rating among Republicans! Clearly, voters of every type are turning away from Gordon Smith.
Who can blame them? Republican Gordon Smith continues to support the biggest foreign policy blunder in American history. Gordon Smith supports privatizing social security, which he voted for four times. If Smith had been successful in his attempts to privatize social security, the investment banks that are currently in full collapse would have taken over our seniors retirement accounts. It would have been disastrous for our seniors.
Besides Republican Gordon Smith's solid support for the failed economic and foreign policies of the Bush Administration, Oregonians are also sick of Smith's negative campaign.
So far, Republican Gordon Smith has aired thirteen attack ads against Jeff Merkley. Smith's latest smear is being called the worst in Oregon history and is widely regarded as the "Willie Horton of Oregon." Gordon Smith has spent millions of dollars smearing Jeff Merkley and smothering the teevee with ads trying in vain to tie himself to Obama. These polls are further confirmation that Smith's negative campaign and attempts to mislead Oregonians into thinking he's some sort of moderate are not working.
Why this race is so important
Most people on the blogs and in the media are focused on the Presidential race, and rightfully so. But, I can't help but warn folks, if we don't increase our numbers in the Senate, we will have a VERY difficult time passing a progressive agenda.
The Oregon race is one of the most important races in the country. In fact, Chuck Todd recently called it one of the five or six most competitive Senate races in the nation.
Why? It's not just because we need to get rid of Bush rubberstamp Gordon Smith. We need to elect Jeff Merkley.
Before I joined the Merkley staff, I was a big fan of Jeff Merkley, just like Debbie Gorman over the at Momocrats. His stances on UHC, ending the Iraq War, protecting womens' rights, protecting our civil liberties, fair trade, government accountability, strengthening the unions, fighting climate change and net neutrality are all in line with my values.
It's not just that Jeff Merkley holds my progressive views, he has also shown incredible leadership skills in his work abroad and in the Oregon legislature. Jeff Merkley was elected to the Oregon House in 1998 and became Minority Leader in 2003. As Minority Leader, Jeff rallied a group of progressive lawmakers and led an effort to takeover the Oregon House from 16 long years of Republican rule. After Oreggon Democrats took the majority, they unanimously elected Jeff as House Speaker.
That's where Jeff really shined. With a one vote majority, Jeff knew that he needed to work with Republicans to get anything done. Jeff changed House rules, giving Republicans equal footing on committees and forced the Democratic and Republican chairs on those committees to meet every week. By changing the rules, he encouraged constant communication between both parties and earned the respect of Republican party members.
I have to admit that in years past I always believed that working with Republicans on legislation, meant compromising the bills to an extent where the actual problems aren't addressed. This was not the case with Jeff Merkley. Remember, with just a one vote majority, these are a handful of things Jeff was able to accomplish as Speaker:
• Passed the Card Check
• Passed the Rainy Day Fund (a savings account for public schools to protect them in case of an economic downturn)
• Increased public education funding by 18%, doubled funding for student financial aid and increased number of students eligible to enroll in Head Start from 50% to 75%.
• Passed ethics reform
• Passed domestic partnerships
• Passed anti-discrimination legislation
• Updated Oregon's landmark bottle bill to include plastic water bottles
• Ensured that 25% of Oregon's electricity comes from renewables by 2025
• Established energy efficiency requirements on household and commercial appliances
• Expanded renewable energy tax credits for businesses and consumers
• Forced insurers to cover contraceptives
• Lowered prescription drug prices by allowing bulk purchasing
• Ensured hospitals provide emergency contraceptives to sexual assault victims
• Passed a bill allowing workers to use their paid sick leave as family leave
• Passed a school nutrition bill
• Passed the Farm to School program encouraging local, organic produce to be available in public schools.
Jeff Merkley is not just a progressive Democrat, he's an effective coalition builder who has a record of getting things done. And, I'm not talking about passing milquetoast bills, I'm talking about enacting real progressive change, the kinda stuff we've been longing for, for decades.
Jeff Merkley was the first Senate candidate Open Left added to their Better Democrats Act Blue page. Please consider throwing some change Jeff Merkley's way and help send an incredibly accomplished progressive leader to Washington.
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