OR: Jeff Merkley just needs a push

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Democrats for Smith...I mean, for Merkley

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Oregon: Could Novick Run for Another Seat?

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Congresswoman Darlene Hooley is not running for re-election for her 5th district congressional seat. Would Steve Novick be a good replacement for the dems to run?

Josh Kardon, the chief of staff to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore, thinks so:

"The only potential candidate we could run with high name recognition across the district is Steve Novick and I have no idea if he has any interest."

Wyden aide floats Novick for 5th CD
The Oregonian - Mapes on Politics

Oregon: Steve Novick's Brilliant New Ad

For those of you that might not be familiar with Oregon politics, Steve Novick (born in Newark, New Jersey) is running in a primary against Jeff Merkley, the Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives. The winner of will go on to face Republican incumbent Senator Gordon Smith in the 2008 election for US Senate.

I've done some cartoons about this ongoing battle. Essentially, the Democratic Party is behind Merkley, and are trying desperately to get Novick, who was born with significant physical disabilities which include a missing left hand and missing fibula bones in his legs, out of the race.

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Here's his new 30-second television ad, and I just have to say, it's brilliant!

Oregon: Debating the Merkley/Novick Debates

In Oregon, we don't really need a official debate in the Democratic Primary pitting Steve Novick against Jeff Merkley for US Senate. Their bickering and arguing back and forth should do the trick. It reminds me of the old Monty Python sketch, where the man goes to the building and pays to have an argument.



Here's the sketch:



And here are some links:

Merkley responds to Novick on debates
PolitickerOR.com

Novick ups the tone on debates
PolitickerOR.com

OR-Sen: The Debate Over the Primary Debates
Loaded Orygun

Giving Novick the hook

Here's a link to my first cartoon for PolitickerOR, a sister site of PolitickerNJ.

In Oregon, there is a Democratic primary for US Senate between Jeff Merkley, the state House Speaker and the Democratic establishment candidate, and Steve Novick, a leftist lawyer and Paul Wellstone kind of candidate. Novick is a thalidomide baby, stands 4’8” tall and has a hook instead of a left hand, something that he plays up on his campaign website, votehook.com.

Novick was in the race first, and the state/national Dems have pretty much picked Merkley. They’d like Novick out of the race, so they can concentrate on beating GOP Sen. Gordon Smith, but Novick doesn’t seem at all willing to go.

Here's the sketch: