The US Senate candidate from Oregon that I’m supporting, Jeff Merkley, will be live blogging over at EENR from 3 to 4pm Eastern time this afternoon. This is a perfect opportunity for those of you who’d like to ask him some questions to learn a little bit more about his campaign.
For those of you who don’t know, Jeff is currently the Speaker of the Oregon state House of Representatives and has done a great job of reaching across party lines to pass legislation that is truly in the public’s best interest. Here’s a little bit of what Sara Lane had to say when she announced the live blog.
Jeff Merkley has been in the Oregon legislature for the last ten years. In 2003, he was elected by his peers as House Democratic leader. In 2006, Merkley was elected as Speaker of the House, where he really shined. Merkley presided over the greenest and most labor friendly session the Oregon legislature had in the last thirty years. He pushed for domestic partnership legislation, countless environmental bills, payday lending regulation, the Employee Free Choice Act, anti-discrimination legislation, and fully funding Oregon’s public schools. Merkley is rated as the AFL-CIO’s 2nd best member of the House, and received a 95% rating from the Oregon League of Conservation Voters. Merkley has been endorsed by fellow Democrats like Jon Tester to Max Cleland. He has also received the coveted endorsements from the SEIU, AFL-CIO, Planned Parenthood and Council for a Livable World among many others.
As I’ve been following the campaign, I have also begun to notice that the Merkley campaign has done a great job reaching out to the netroots. In fact, there’s been a lot of discussion in Oregon’s blogosphere about how Merkley recently said he believes the blogosphere has proven to be a great way to communicate with potential voters. By heading over to EENR and asking Jeff some good questions, I think we can help provide readers from across the country get a better idea of why Merkley would make an excellent Senator.
UPDATE: Looks like the previous link was just for the announcement. The actual live blog is currently taking place here.
Filed under: 2008 Senate Elections, Jeff Merkley, Politics
