Pull the Plug

As the race for Oregon's Democratic nomination for US Senate winds down, several things are becoming clear:

First, the Democratic nominee, whomever he or she is, is likely to be outspent by a wide margin in the General Election.

Republican incumbent, Gordon Smith is currently sitting on more than $4,000,000 cash on hand, compared to $400,000 for Jeff Merkley and about $180,000 for Steve Novick.

Second, among the Democratic front-runners, Steve Novick, who is polling 10 points ahead of Merkley, according to a recent KATU-news poll, has assembled a much better campaign on a shoe-string budget than Merkey has managed despite having the resources of the DC-based Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, and a Lion's share of the institutional support from within the state of Oregon.

Novick has released today, his third "better than anything Merkley has come up with commercial" in three attempts.

I don't know whether Novick will win the General Election, but I suspect that he will win the Democratic Primary by a wider-than-expected margin thanks to his poignant, humorous, attention-grabbing commercials.