Jonathan Poisner: Why I'm Proud to Vote for Jeff Merkley!

Posted by Carla Axtman on May 10, 2008

Note: this message is personal. The organization I work for has not made any endorsement in the US Senate race.

There are two strong environmental advocates running for U.S. Senate. They’re virtually indistinguishable when it comes to what they say they want to do in the U.S. Senate on the environment. Either would instantly become among the top 5-10 most pro-environment members of the U.S. Senate in their viewpoints and plans.

Yet, in my mind, the choice for my vote is clear – Jeff Merkley.

When Jeff Merkley joined the Legislature, he immediately took up the environment as an issue. He was smart enough to figure out quickly that with hostile Republican leadership, he had to think small – so he focused and made progress on an important, but narrow issue – reducing water pollution from outboard motors. As he moved up in seniority and led the Democrats back into power, his vision expanded dramatically. He was always a good vote and leader, but when the Democrats took control, he shined. The 2007 Session was the Legislature’s greenest in 30 years – passing 16 separate environmental bills, with the highest average environmental rating since 1977.

I don’t think folks recognize what an extraordinary achievement that was and how much of the credit is owed to Merkley. It’s not just that there was only a 31-29 Democratic majority in the House, with virtually all of the Republicans hostile. It’s that some of the Democrats also had a track record of voting for the environment less than half the time. Merkley succeeded in getting them to a yes vote on bill after bill by working closely with Environment Committee Chair Jackie Dingfelder using all the tricks of the trade – personal relationships, unusual allies, coalitions, and hard-nosed pressure.

These are precisely the skills that separate successful U.S. Senators from those who go there and make speeches. If you’re electing a President, speeches really matter. As a Senator, not so much. There’s a chance Steve Novick might turn out to be great at moving an agenda in DC, but it’s just that – a chance. With Merkley, we’re not taking a chance.

Setting aside who would make the better Senator, Jeff Merkley is also far more likely to defeat Gordon Smith.

For starters, Merkley is far more likely to be able to raise the national resources necessary to compete this fall. After seeking DSCC support and not getting it, Novick has now spent months bashing the DSCC. While the DSCC won’t write off Oregon as a result if Novick is the nominee, if the choice of where resources comes down between Oregon and some of the other harder to win states, you can bet Novick’s past words are going to hurt his case. And other interest groups will follow the DSCC’s lead.

Leaving money aside, I know friends who’ve repeated Novick’s line – “Smith’s a great conventional politician, so it will take somebody unconventional to beat Smith.”

This is one of those statements that sounds clever on the surface, but there’s no data to support it. In fact, the data points the opposite direction. Merkley may be conventional, but so is Oregon’s Senior Senator Ron Wyden, the last democrat to beat Gordon Smith.

American history is replete with examples of conventional politicians like Smith being upset by other conventional politicians like Merkley and Wyden. Novick used to claim that John Tester was an example he was emulating, but Tester was Montana Senate President – a resume more similar to Merkley’s, and Tester has endorsed Merkley.

Other Democrats who beat incumbents Senators in 2006: Bob Casey was Pennsylvania State Treasurer, Claire McCaskill was Missouri State Auditor, Sherrod Brown was an Ohio Congressman, and Sheldon Whitehouse was Attorney General of Rhode Island.

Only author and retired Navy Secretary Jim Webb had never held elected office before, but he had been U.S. Navy Secretary, a position with considerable political exposure. Webb also won because George Allen self-destructed with his maccaca moment, something we can’t count on Smith doing.

If you’ve actually watched any of these folks recently elected to the US Senate, as I’ve had the chance to do, you’ll realize they sound a whole lot more like Merkley in the way they present themselves to the public than they sound like Novick.

Unconventional politicians often have a strong base who rally behind them, as Novick clearly has done so. It’s easier for them to win primaries. But it’s much harder to translate that into a persuasive message to swing voters who aren’t paying much attention and never will. Maybe he can do it, but it’s a much harder challenge.

In the meantime, Merkley is being the workhorse that he is – winning endorsements of the coalition of groups needed to help, here and nationally, and building a message now being broadcast on television in a conventional, but effective way.

More likely to succeed. More likely to win. For me, it’s an easy call to cast my ballot for Jeff Merkley.

Respectfully,

Jonathan Poisner