Jeff Merkley Welcomes Barack Obama to Oregon

House Speaker Jeff Merkley today welcomed Barack Obama to Oregon. Senator Obama will be making four separate stops in Oregon this weekend. Merkley endorsed Obama last month, citing their shared experiences working with low-income families to build affordable housing.

"I am thrilled to welcome Barack Obama to Oregon tomorrow," said House Speaker Jeff Merkley. "We share something more in common than simply our determination to change America for the better. Both of us come from the grassroots, where real change is made: Senator Obama was an organizer, committed to public housing in the neighborhoods of Chicago. And I worked with low-income families in need of housing through Habitat for Humanity and Human Solutions here in Portland. I'm disappointed that Steve Novick thinks Obama is a 'special interest fraud'. And although I have endorsed Obama, I am also disappointed that in his writing Steve, has referred to Hillary Clinton as a 'coward' and a 'traitress'."

A new Novick attack surfaced this week. This time Novick was not attacking Merkley, but Barack Obama. Novick refers to Obama as a "captive-of-special interest fraud who doesn't really care about global warming and doesn't deserve to be hailed as some great Kenya-Kansas hope" (2006). He also said Obama is "a complete sell-out to the military-industrial complex" (2006); "sorely lacking in fiscal responsibility" (2006); and "gives me nothing to like very much and one thing to intensely dislike" (2006).

In other writings Novick attacks Hillary Clinton, referring to Senator Clinton as a "coward" (2006) and a "traitress" (2006). He also said she was "warmongering" (2006); "distasteful" (2006); and "hasn't said a single inspiring thing on any subject since, oh, 1994" (2006).

Jeff Merkley spent his early years in rural communities where the children of loggers and mill workers learned the value of honest work, good neighbors, and strong families. Jeff earned scholarships and became the first in his family to go to college. To control nuclear weapons, he went on to serve as a national security analyst, first for the Pentagon and then for Congress. After returning to Oregon with his wife Mary, Jeff led Habitat for Humanity and worked with low-income families to rebuild neighborhoods and purchase their first home.

Eighteen months ago, Jeff led a band of progressives to take control of the Oregon House and became the first Democratic speaker in sixteen years. The Register-Guard called Jeff's session as speaker "one of the most productive in decades." He fought special interests to make health care more affordable, clamped down on pay day loan scams, passed landmark environmental legislation, and created thousands of family-supporting jobs in Oregon.

Today, Speaker Merkley lives in East Multnomah County with Mary and their two children, Jonathan age eleven and Brynne age ten.

Posted March 20, 2008
Press