Story Published:
Jan 8, 2008 at 9:08 PM PDT
Story Updated:
Jan 8, 2008 at 9:08 PM PDT
SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Steve Novick, the self-described underdog in Oregon's Democratic U.S. Senate race, says the presidential vote in Iowa shows that voters are ready for a change and aren't taking their cues from party establishment types.
Novick likened his chief opponent, Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley, to Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose once formidable presidential candidacy was dealt a severe blow in last week's Iowa caucuses.
"It proves that money doesn't buy elections; that establishment support doesn't determine elections; and that people are going to make up their own minds and vote for people they can trust to bring real change," the Portland lawyer and activist said Tuesday.
Merkley was recruited by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in Washington, D.C., which already has spent nearly $100,000 on Merkley's behalf. The Oregon House speaker also has been endorsed by most of the state's Democratic heavyweights as well as key labor groups.
That strong backing has given Merkley front-runner status in the Democratic Senate race, but Novick said the vote in Iowa indicates voters "aren't listening to the political 'establishment' so far."
Hillary Clinton "had lots of endorsements and a perception of inevitability," Novick said, but has been eclipsed in the early going by Barack Obama and his powerful message of change.
Merkley campaign spokesman Russ Kelley said he agrees that voters are ready for a change, and that Merkley, after his successful first term as Oregon House speaker, "certainly would represent a new direction for the U.S. Senate."
Kelley also noted that Merkley early on endorsed the presidential candidacy of John Edwards, the former North Carolina senator who's been pushing a strong populist message in his bid for the Democratic nomination.
Portland pollster Tim Hibbitts said he still considers Novick the underdog in the Oregon Senate race, but that results in Iowa show Novick is "exactly right about the tenor of the times."
"Democrats and Republicans are not happy with the direction of the country and when that happens they look outside the usual crew of candidates," Hibbitts said. "In that climate, a guy like Novick can have a shot if can get enough money to drive his message and can calibrate it the right way."
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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