Oregon Public Broadcasting

A new poll from North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling gives Democrat Jeff Merkley more than 50-percent of the vote in Oregon's senate race for the first time.

The poll, with a 2.6 percent margin of error, showed incumbent Republican Gordon Smith down by 8 points.

Merkley’s lead is reflected in a number of recent polls, although the conservative Moore Information poll out this week showed Smith with a four-point lead.

Public Policy Polling has received a bit of criticism for under-predicting Jeff Merkley’s support in May’s Democratic primary.

Dean Debnam is the president of the polling firm.

He says Oregon is like a lot of left-leaning states around the country – Democrats up and down the ballot are gaining votes because of the popularity of presidential nominee Barack Obama.

Dean Debnam: “The one trend that’s also true, sort of a truism for Oregon and nationally, ‘as the economy becomes the only issue, as opposed to one of three-or-four issues as it was back in January, all Democrats are rising on that.”

Debnam says that in his polling the economy is actually a bigger issue this year than in 1992.

That’s when Bill Clinton’s campaign was organized under the slogan, ‘It’s the economy, stupid.’