"Jeff Merkley is the candidate best able to defeat Gordon Smith in the general election"

Posted by Carla Axtman on March 14, 2008

The phrase in the headline above is typical of what we're hearing from Oregonians as we criss-cross the state! The more citizens become engaged in this race, the more they're reaching the conclusion that Jeff Merkley is the candidate who can unseat Gordon Smith.

Today's amazing Sierra Club endorsement is topped off by a superb post at Blue Oregon by Ivan Malusky, Conservation Coordinator--Oregon Chapter Sierra Club:

First, defeating Gordon Smith is one of our highest priorities this year. We have watched for years as Smith has largely marched in lock-step with the failed environmental policies of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, not to mention the coal lobby, numerous oil companies, the timber industry, and a list of special interests too long to mention here. We want our endorsement to assist the candidate we felt will be best able to marshal grassroots support from voters in all parts of the state to unseat Smith this year. This will not be an easy race, and any successful candidate will need to be able to compete from Jackson County to Multnomah County, and from eastern Oregon to the Coast. For a variety of reasons, including his track record of delivering for ordinary Oregonians on a variety of issues during his time in the Legislature, we feel strongly that Jeff Merkley is the candidate best able to defeat Gordon Smith in the general election.

Read the rest over at Blue Oregon.