Monday Morning Flak Attack: Slinking Into The Depths

Sad to say, there really is no contest for last week's Flak Attack winner.

An Associated Press report detailing the negative polling commissioned by Jeff Merkley's U.S. Senate campaign against opponent Steve Novick rose head and shoulders above the rest for outright gall and depravity.

From AP reporter Julia Silverman's report:

Voters are asked whether they are more or less favorably inclined toward Novick, given the following information:

• "Novick is a pro-tax advocate, repeatedly supporting higher taxes for the middle classes, running on a proposal to raise Social Security taxes and falling for false Republican claims that if we don't do this, Social Security will go bankrupt."

• "Novick is simply not a serious candidate who can win election. He carried joke business cards that have a Communist hammer and sickle symbol on them. He voted for Ralph Nader. His campaign ads feature jokes. That is not the person who can beat Gordon Smith."

• "Novick is a paid political consultant and lobbyist. He has made a political career out of developing negative attacks, poll-driven campaigns and advising candidates what to say to get elected."

Voters were also asked what in Novick's "background" concerned them most: "that he is a pro-tax advocate, political consultant, or that he is a divider."

Let's shine some sunlight on the smears that Merkley poll-tested:

• The "pro-tax" advocate and "poll-driven ... political consultant" spins are especially galling considering how closely they echo the standard Republican talking points against any and all Democrats, including Jeff Merkley himself.

Moreover, the claims are based on Novick's work in helping to create successful progressive coalitions to defeat Bill Sizemore's crazy government-crippling initiatives and in Novick's efforts to help Oregonians maximize state lottery profits to aid schools and parks. Novick has also worked developing policy proposals for candidates including John Kitzbaher, Ted Kulongoski and Ron Wyden, among others

Novick's efforts to defeat Sizemore, better balance lottery profits and help elect Democrats were most certainly supported and applauded by Jeff Merkley and his Democratic establishment backers at the time. Now, when it's politically convenient, Merkley tries to spin Novick's efforts as a bad thing. It's an incredibly low blow.

On Social Security, Novick proposes a tax on Social Security wages beyond the $100,000 cap currently in place. As reported at Loaded Orygun, less than 15% of Oregonians make more than $100,000 a year -- certainly not middle class in Oregon.

Merkley's GOP-tinged smear is harsh and untrue, and he knows it.

Truly disappointing.

• But the poll question attacking Novick as something less than a "serious" candidate because he carried a fake "commie" business card and has dared to publicly display his sense of humor is by far the biggest joke of the campaign. If any of that particular smear were true, why would the Merkley campaign be scrambling in the last weeks of the primary to poll which negative attack will work best on the guy who conventional wisdom said never had a chance to win in the first place?

The Merkley campaign's Keystone-Cops-like frantic actions put the lie to their own polling question. Claiming Novick is not serious is harsh and untrue, and they know it.

In reality, Steve Novick can simultaneously be the wittiest fellow in the room and the smartest, most informed guy in the room. After two debates with Novick, Merkley definitely knows that. It's probably why you never see the prolific Merkley Machine and its internet echo chamber highlighting any debate video, audio or neutral reviews.

It's pretty clear from the polling Merkley paid for that he plans to turn up the heat in the last few weeks with some very harsh and untrue negative attacks against Novick.

It all seems so familiar. Where have I experienced this feeling before ... ... ...

In an article last week about the Presidential primary, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote this about Bill and Hillary Clinton:

Some top Democrats are increasingly worried that the Clintons’ divide-and-conquer strategy is nihilistic: Hillary or no democrat.

(Or, as one Democrat described it to ABC’s Jake Tapper: Hillary is going for “the Tonya Harding option” — if she can’t get the gold, kneecap her rival.)

After all, the Clintons think of themselves as The Democratic Party.

Replace "Clintons" with "Merkley campaign" and "Hillary" with "Jeff," and I think you've got a pretty accurate description of Oregon's Democratic Senate primary, too.

Slate: The Dumbest Bike Lane In America

The editors at Slate Video think they've found "the stupidest bike lane in America."

Now they've thrown down a challenge for viewers to come up with one that's even dumber. Surely with Portland's active cycling community, somebody around here has got to have some nominations. If so, send them to SlateV@slate.com.

15 min. w/ Novick: Healthcare, Global Warming, Taxes, The Economy

Steve Novick packed a lot of Left Hook punch into his 15 minutes of time on Mike Malloy's national radio show.

(LISTEN HERE)

Novick and Malloy touched on healthcare, global warming, renewable energy, taxes, the economy and the current primary battle with Jeff Merkley.

Today in Oregon

Trillium Says Spring


Blown Over

WMD Stockpiles: Dick v. Colin

4-21-04 ...(click image to enlarge)

Hillary's Quest For Python's Holy Grail

Andrew Sullivan of The Atlantic may be on to something here. He files this one under "Clinton's Current Strategy."

Did Performance Enhancing Drugs Kill Cyclist?

The recent tragic death of 34-year-old Italian cyclist Valentino Fois may be directly linked to his use of performance enhancing drugs. From the Associated Press:

The cyclist’s brother said the cause of death was not yet known, though it might have been a pulmonary embolism. Fois was suspended for doping in 1998, and some performance-enhancing drugs have been linked to such embolisms.

Fois was found dead in his bed Friday morning by his mother.

Fois was riding for the Amore e Vita team this year and had participated in several races. He won four minor races and a stage in the Tour of Poland during his professional career, which began in 1996.

The Italian cycling federation suspended Fois for three years starting in 2002 for doping, which he later admitted. Before that suspension, Fois was a teammate of former Tour de France champion Marco Pantani, who was suspended for doping for several months and died in 2004 at age 34.

Fois also was suspended for doping in 1998.

“I took, actually they gave me, DHEA,” Fois said in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport in September 2007, referring to the steroid dehydroepiandrosterone. “It’s useless to list them all. I took what everybody took. If somebody denies it, then they are a liar. We were forced to make compromises.

This is a rider who had to dope to compete with all the other dopers during cycling's dirtiest era. If Fois' previous use of performance enhancing drugs did lead to his death, it blows a hole in the idea that we can "level the playing" field in sports by making it legal to dope. There's a reason this stuff is not legal for athletes.

A sad day indeed.

Merkley's Negative Polling: Is Novick A Commie?

In an ominous sign of what the future portends for Oregon's U.S. Senate Democratic primary, the Associated Press reported Wednesday that Jeff Merkley's off-the-shelf Senate campaign has been paying for polling to test a variety of negative messages against Steve Novick.

Bye-bye substance, hello more silly season distractions -- brought to you courtesy of Jeff Merkley for U.S. Senate.

From Associated Press reporter Julia Silverman:

The Merkley campaign's telephone poll, which lasts about 30 minutes, tests voter perceptions of hot-button issues likely to surface during the remaining nine weeks of the campaign, from Social Security solvency to illegal immigration.

Voters are asked whether they are more or less favorably inclined toward Novick, given the following information:

• "Novick is a pro-tax advocate, repeatedly supporting higher taxes for the middle classes, running on a proposal to raise Social Security taxes and falling for false Republican claims that if we don't do this, Social Security will go bankrupt."

• "Novick is simply not a serious candidate who can win election. He carried joke business cards that have a Communist hammer and sickle symbol on them. He voted for Ralph Nader. His campaign ads feature jokes. That is not the person who can beat Gordon Smith."

• "Novick is a paid political consultant and lobbyist. He has made a political career out of developing negative attacks, poll-driven campaigns and advising candidates what to say to get elected."

Voters were also asked what in Novick's "background" concerned them most: "that he is a pro-tax advocate, political consultant, or that he is a divider."

So let me get this straight. Merkley's consultants conducted polling to find out how voters react to the idea of "poll-driven" campaigns and consultants.

Wow! Gaze, meet Navel.

I guess we'll see how much money and energy Merkley is willing to spend focusing his poll-tested negative attacks on a fellow Democrat.

Novick will have to spend his time and money defending himself from Merkley's smears, and meanwhile, back at his daddy's Pendelton pea-packing plant, Republican incumbent Gordon Smith will be above the fray, adding to his coffers, getting tanned rested and ready, and maybe even enjoying some golf.

Hat Tip to Loaded Orygun.

Cartoon: Senate Primary -- 10,000 B.C.

Apologies to Johnny Hart and B.C.

Sledge: (slej) noun; A sled or sleigh for dragging loads.

WMD Stockpiles: Dubya Needs A Library For This?

--Jan. 31, 2004 ...(click image to enlarge)

Tonya Harding & The Presidential Primary

UPDATED BELOW ...

ABC News Washington correspondent Jake Tapper has invoked a name to describe this year's presidential primary that should send shivers down the spine of any person who was in the vicinity of Portland circa 1994. From Tapper's Blog:

I just spoke with a Democratic Party official, who asked for anonymity so as to speak candidly, who said we in the media are all missing the point of this Democratic fight.

What will (Hillary Clinton) have to do to Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, in order to eke out her improbable victory?

She will have to "break his back," the official said. She will have to destroy Obama, make Obama completely unacceptable.

"Her securing the nomination is certainly possible - but it will require exercising the 'Tonya Harding option.'" the official said. "Is that really what we Democrats want?"

The Tonya Harding Option -- the first time I've heard it put that way.

It implies that Clinton is so set on ensuring that Obama doesn't get the nomination, not only is she willing to take extra-ruthless steps, but in the end neither she nor Obama win the gold.

(In this metaphor, presumably, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., would be Oksana Baiul. Does that make former President Bill Clinton Jeff Gillooly?)

Sweet Jesus, no! Is this going to end with John McCain as president and Hillary eventually getting arrested for throwing a hubcap at Bill?

...UPDATE, 9:22 p.m.

Seems New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd has heard the same thing.

Some top Democrats are increasingly worried that the Clintons’ divide-and-conquer strategy is nihilistic: Hillary or no democrat.

(Or, as one Democrat described it to ABC’s Jake Tapper: Hillary is going for “the Tonya Harding option” — if she can’t get the gold, kneecap her rival.)

After all, the Clintons think of themselves as The Democratic Party.

Merkley Campaign's Maxwell Smart Move

Here's a perfect example of why they call political campaigns the "silly season."

Willamette Week is covering a real Spy vs. Spy caper wherein an overzealous 20-something paid staffer for the Jeff Merkley campaign tried to infiltrate the Steve Novick for U.S. Senate headquarters by "volunteering" under a fake name.

Whoops! Multiple people recognized him from some Merkley events. There's even a photo available on the internet of him working one.

Adding to the fun; this isn't the first time this same scenario has happened in the Democratic primary race.

From Beth Slovic's Willamtte Week post:

Back in January, you may recall, Eugene’s Register-Guard reported on a staffer with the National Republican Senatorial Committee who used a fake name in order to snoop on the campaign of Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley, who’s running in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.

BlueOregon, predictably outraged by the Republican invasion, riffed on the scandal with a headline that screamed: “Busted! GOP tracker lies about identity, gets caught.” [Which inspired our own headline above.]

Back at the Register-Guard, a Merkley spokesman groused about the deception. “[T]here’s an honest way to do it, and there’s a dishonest way to do it,” Russ Kelley told the Eugene paper. “You find out where they are through public notices and things like that. You don’t call and misrepresent yourself ... And you especially can’t do that and get caught.”

What's the Merkley campaign's take when one of its own staffers is caught doing the same thing.

"It was a mistake," said Merkley spokesman Matt Canter says. "He's 22 years old."

And How does the Novick campaign feel about the Merkley camp's fledgling Maxwell Smart?

Rather than be annoyed, the Novick campaign is bemused. “This might be the place where I beat my chest and demand apologies,” says Jake Weigler, Novick’s spokesman. “But it just seems silly.”

That's for sure. And on that note, please enjoy this short video to mark the occasion:

Senate Primary Debate Snub Riles Neville

The Oregonian's Jeff Mapes reports that U.S. Senate Democratic primary candidate Candy Neville is upset with the City Club of Portland for choosing to invite only Steve Novick and Jeff Merkley to its April 4 debate.

Wade Fickler, interim executive director of the city club, said his group wanted to focus on candidates who actually have a chance of winning. "We've all been to debates where there are a lot of fringe candidates and you don't learn a lot about the people who might be elected," he said. He noted that the debate is aired on Oregon Public Broadcasting, and he'd prefer to use that valuable radio time quizzing Merkley and Novick in-depth.

Neville, Novick, Merkley, David Loera and Pavel Goberman participated in the March 7 debate at the Eugene City Club.

March 7 Debate Video: Part 1 / Part 2

Monday Morning Flak Attack: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

As expected, the flak is going to keep getting thicker and thicker the nearer we get to the election.

Oregon had a supporting role as Barack Obama attempted to make it past the latest barrage, this time over the comments of his preacher. Again, much has already been written and said, but it's probably worth noting there's a good reason Thomas Jefferson and others insisted on a separation between church and state. This is just another chapter in a volume that could fill infinite libraries.

But no surprise, the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate continues to generate the wildest smears, fanciest fibs and impressive double-twisting-back-flips of hypocrisy.

For the second week in row, Jeff Merkley's internet supporters went old school (and I mean really old school) with a little red-baiting, attempting to paint Steve Novick with the broad brush of the dreaded red menace (for God's sake cover the kids' ears) ... COMMUNISM.

You can't make this stuff up.

But the clear winner this week (based on pure "ick" factor alone) is the latest messaging rollout from the Merkley campaign trying to paint Steve Novick as something less than a worthy Democrat. It's a classic "off-the-shelf" move from an establishment candidate trying to regain lost ground from a quicker and more-determined underdog.

It started with Merkley's appearance on KPOJ where he falsely claimed Novick favored Ralph Nader over Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the candidate he's already endorsed for president.

It continued the next day at the Eugene debate when Merkley claimed Novick said he was "profoundly disappointed" with Clinton and Obama. Merkley completely made that up. Novick never said it. Or, as Al Franken used to say about Rush Limbaugh, "(Merkley) pulled it right out of his ass."

But the dogs were really primed to slobber when Merkley's hit teams dug up a 2006 BlueOregon post where Novick criticized Obama's sugar/ethanol policy.

An exasperated Kari Chisholm, Merkley's Mandate Media Man at BlueOregon, could hardly contain himself:

"Steve Novick's made great sport of beating up on other Democrats, like Jeff Merkley and Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton and Ted Kulongoski, while the rest of us spend our time trying to figure out how to beat Republicans."

Here's a list of stories attacking Novick that have appeared on Chisholm's BlueOregon. (I'm sure I've missed some):

1). BeaverBoundary: Novick and Taxes
2). Nolan and Greenlick's hit piece.
3). Post accusing Novick of joining Republicans in attacking Merkley
4). Could Steve Novick's height Cost Him The Election.
5). Novick and CIM/CAM
6, 7, 8 & 9). The four-part hit piece Kari himself authored about the trumped up PDA-gate. (Until his main source told him to stop misrepresenting their conversation and to stop using him to "swiftboat" Novick).
10). OR Senate Race: The OEA Endorsement (elements later retracted)
11). The "damage" caused by Novick's anti-Obama "rants"
12 & 13). DOUBLE BONUS: Chisholm's own Rogue of the Week from Willamette Week for "excessive use of bullshit in his mudslinging" against fellow Democrat Steve Novick.

And I'd be remiss not to mention that He Without Shame, the Merkley campaign's one-man internet ick machine who had previously tried to link Novick to communism, was also quite upset:

"Novick has a history of gratuitous attacks on Democrats."

The list of hit pieces this guy has written on Novick is so long and ridiculous I'll save the time laying them out. But his history of gratuitously attacking Democrat Steve Novick is extensive, wracking up more than 20 in the past three months.

It's clear that Merkley's D.C. consultants realize they can't beat Novick on the issues. He's consistently a step ahead and offers a more detailed vision for the future. So they hope to bog him down in silly season doubt about his "loyalty." Sound familiar? It's what Bill clinton was trying to do to Barack Obama with his "who-has-proved-their-love-of-America" comments that included his wife and John McCain, but left out Obama as somewhat less than worthy.

I guess the question here in Oregon's senate race is this: How do people go to work in the morning knowing that they've been given marching orders to smear a fellow Democrat by saying he too freely attacks other Democrats -- after they've been ruthlessly and disingenuously attacking that very Democrat for months? Is that what they dreamed of doing when they were growing up?

Maybe this'll help:

WMD Stockpiles: Five Years In

(Click image to enlarge)

Sometimes we forget JUST HOW WRONG AND DECEPTIVE George W. Bush and his administration (with support from enablers like Gordon Smith) were about what was happening in Iraq. This little bit from a 2004 Bush/Kerry debate is just a small reminder.

JIM LEHRER: New question, Mr. President, two minutes. You have said there was a, quote, "miscalculation," of what the conditions would be in post-war Iraq. What was the miscalculation, and how did it happen?

GEORGE W. BUSH: No, what I said was that, because we achieved such a rapid victory, more of the Saddam loyalists were around. I mean, we thought we'd whip more of them going in. But because Tommy Franks did such a great job in planning the operation, we moved rapidly, and a lot of the Baathists and Saddam loyalists laid down their arms and disappeared. I thought they would stay and fight, but they didn't.