Money In Oregon Senate Race Indicates Close Battle

SMITH  MERKLEY  ELECTIONS 

By Ethan Lindsey

Bend, OR  June 26, 2008 3:18 p.m.

Campaign disclosures out this week revealed national Democrats spent far more on Jeff Merkley's senate bid than originally thought.

Oregon's House Speaker received close to $400,000 from national Democrats in his hard-fought primary victory over Democratic attorney Steve Novick. But now, Merkley and Democrats turn their eyes to a match-up with incumbent Republican Senator Gordon Smith.

Will Merkley get the same deep-pocketed support in the general election that he did in the primary? Ethan Lindsey reports.

Oregon's political junkies are all wondering how high Oregon's profile will be  in the 2008 election?

Will the presidential candidates make a return visit? Can a Democrat put up a fight for Republican Gordon Smith's senate seat?

There is no crystal ball in politics.

But if you want the best guess, just remember that famous phrase from Watergate - and the movie 'All the President's Men.'

Deep Throat: “Follow the money.”

In this case, Gordon Smith has raised $8 million for his reelection. Much of it from outside Oregon.

His opponent also got a ton of out-of-state funding.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee just released its latest financial reports - they detailed $250,000 spent on speaker Jeff Merkley's primary win.

That's way more than previously thought, and includes everything from paychecks to garbage bills in the last weeks of the election.

National Democrats don't often pick sides in a primary, but they wanted a Merkeley versus Smith matchup.

Gordon Smith's campaign says that could be seen as a sign of weakness.

Merkley spokesman Matt Canter says not so -- on the other hand, it shows just how close close the race is.

Matt Canter: “This is absolutely one of the most competitive races in the country.”

The race has actually got a bit of national attention this week, when Gordon Smith released an ad highlighting his bipartisan work with one, specific Senator.

Gordon Smith Ad: “Who says Gordon Smith helped the lead the fight for better gas mileage and a cleaner environment? Barack Obama. He joined with Gordon and broke through a 20-year-deadlock to pass new laws which increase gas mileage for automobiles.”

In response, Democrat Barack Obama's presidential campaign released a statement reinforcing that he endorsed Jeff Merkley - while Gordon Smith was actually an early supporter of Republican John McCain's presidential bid.

Canter, Merkley's spokesman, says the ads are a lesson in why a close race draws national interest.

Matt Canter: “Gordon Smith has launched this new ads, featuring Barack Obama and that has pushed our race even further up the rankings. But we will have the resources we need as we get closer to the election.”

Democrats in Oregon remain worried because they expect Smith's war chest to be bigger than Merkley's.

Merkley's campaign says their ads won't start running on TV right now.

At the end of April, Merkley's campaign had just $150,000 in the bank - in comparison, Smith, who had no real primary opposition - was sitting on almost $5 million.

And some say a similar early cash, and TV, advantage for Smith in 2002 helped him defeat now-Secretary of State Bill Bradbury in what was supposed to be a close election that year.

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