In July, when Jeff Merkley entered the race for US Senate,
Steve Novick—who’d been in the race since April—invited
Merkley to travel the state with him, arm in arm, making joint
appearances to talk about the need to replace Republican Senator Gordon
Smith.
It was a noble gesture, a signal that the Democratic primary
campaign for the seat wouldn’t get mired in the liberal infighting
typical to such races. It was also a practical move—both Merkley
and Novick share many of the same friends and colleagues in the insular
world of Democratic Oregon politics, though both lack the statewide
name recognition among regular voters that Smith, as a sitting senator,
already enjoys. Combining forces, so to speak, would give both
candidates a chance to double their exposure.
Ahhh, but what a difference a month makes. The trouble began in
early August, when Merkley’s vote on a symbolic pro-Iraq War resolution
surfaced in the media. The vote on House Resolution 2 (HR2) was in
March of 2003, days after the US invaded Iraq, on a resolution that
declared that Saddam Hussein was a WMD-bearing threat, acknowledged the
“courage” of George W. Bush in going to war to depose him, and praised
the “courage, dedication, professionalism, and sacrifices” of the
members of the armed forces. A small handful of Democratic state
legislators voted no; Merkley voted yes, but gave a speech on the floor
of the House stating his opposition to the war and explaining that he
was only voting yes to show his support for the troops.
The issue of Merkley’s Iraq War vote appears to have been raised by
the Oregon Republican party, but Novick made it clear that he wouldn’t
back off from revisiting the argument. In a post on BlueOregon.com (responding to claims that
he was “attacking” Merkley), Novick called HR2 “Republican demagogic
garbage.”
“In voting for the resolution… Jeff Merkley missed a chance to
show that he is the kind of guy who will denounce Republican
demagoguery at every turn,” Novick wrote. “That doesn’t make him a bad
guy. It doesn’t change the fact that he’s a heck of a lot better than
Gordon Smith. But it does distinguish him from me.”
The fight has dragged in supporters of both candidates, many of whom
have a long history of working together in state politics. The campaign
has even split the co-editors of BlueOregon.com. (Co-founder Kari Chisholm
was even “Rogued” by Willamette Week for allegedly using the
site to bash Novick for helping the Republicans “swiftboat”
Merkley.)
So far, though, Merkley hasn’t done much to engage Novick on the
Iraq vote, instead stating firmly that he’s against the war, calling
for American forces to leave the country, and lambasting Smith’s
“Election night flip flop” on the war (criticizing the war only after a
majority of Americans also began opposing it).
“Jeff Merkley knows that when Democrats attack each other, all it
does is help Gordon Smith,” says Merkley campaign manager Jon Isaacs.
Merkley will likely agree to appear at a number of joint
appearances—something like a debate—before the primary
election, but probably not as soon as Novick would like.
It’s unclear, though, what a debate between the two candidates would
produce.
“These two guys agree on pretty much everything,” says an insider
who wishes to go unnamed. “And when there’s that much agreement, you
start looking for these little differences, or imagining differences
that really aren’t there, and then fighting about those.”
Which brings the story back to the Iraq War resolution. In the
absence of substantive disagreements, it’s no surprise that the
campaign rhetoric thus far would center on a single
four-and-a-half-year-old vote, which was entirely symbolic and
non-binding to begin with; there aren’t a lot of ideological issues
that distinguish Merkley and Novick.
No matter how worked up the bloggers get, though, there’s little
evidence that anyone outside the blogosphere is paying much attention
to the race yet. That will likely change as the primary draws
near—and it’ll certainly draw more attention before the general
election. The race between Smith and whoever gets the Democratic
nomination is expected to be the most expensive race in Oregon’s
history.