A major criticism levelled against Oregon Democratic senatorial primary candidate Steve Novick by supporters of one of his opponents, state Speaker of the House Jeff Merkley is that Novick is critical of other Democrats (by which they mostly mean Merkley). Indeed, Merkley himself raised the issue of Novick’s criticism of Democrats as recently as last week.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Democratic Senate hopefuls Jeff Merkley and Steve Novick clashed over tax policy, party loyalty and some nasty campaigning during a debate Friday at the City Club of Portland.
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On Friday, Merkley tweaked Novick for unflattering comments he’d made about Democratic presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
Merkley’s current television commercial starts out with the words: “Tired of his party’s inaction, Jeff Merkley led Democrats back to power.”
I wonder how flattering Oregon Democratic leaders find that portrayal in the Merkley-approved ad, or if perhaps the whole issue’s been overstated by the Merkley campaign for months.