Why did Gordon Smith Lose to Jeff Merkley?

http://www.ktvl.com/news/brownlow_1187895___article.html/smith_votes.html

November 7, 2008 - 7:39AM
Third-party candidate Dave Brownlow won little more than 5 percent of the vote in his bid for the U.S. Senate.

And it's likely most of the Constitution Pray candidate's votes came at the expense of Republican Sen. Gordon Smith, a two-term incumbent defeated by Democratic challenger Jeff Merkley.

But did Brownlow make the difference?

He did best in rural, more isolated Oregon counties, where Smith also did well. And if all his votes had gone to Smith, the senator might be headed back for a third term.

But Portland pollster Tim Hibbitts says, "You cannot assume every Brownlow voter would have been a Smith voter."

Merkley had a 47,000-vote lead as of Thursday afternoon with about 16 percent of the expected vote yet to be counted. Brownlow had 86,000 votes.

Below is what I posted on another site. Please pay some attention to the point of the massage. Get involved if you want a real change.

Quote :

Our local radio station today was asking Gordon Smith why he lost his election for the Senate this week.

Smith (R)was speechless when I confronted him about his smear campaigning. (It has been stated that the Smith(R)- Merkley(D) campaign was one of the nastiest contests in the nation).

I had told him about the dozen or more emails I had sent to not just his campaign people, but to him as well, expressing my dsitain for these tactics, and to get onto even just ONE issue at hand. Since he wasn't responding, I continued to let him know, that as a Senate candidate, I expected some truth out of his mouth (after all his ads did say "I'm Gordon Smith, and I approve of this message).

Then I brought up my concerns about his outright slander of the CP candidate, Dave Brownlow, and Smith's slam that Browmlow was "too liberal" for Oregon, (as if there would ever be anything too liberal for Oregon). His out right lies about Brownlow's stance on marriage, spending....all across the board. Brownlow spent $0.00 on radion, or TV ads.

Then I reminded him of how he both bashed Bush, hugged Obama, and voted for the massive bail out program "because there was some lost timber revenue in it for Oregon (a mere few million $)". And also his most played commercial for his "being his own man", and voting the way HE felt best. While reminding him that he was to vote for his constituents, he decided he had had enough of me.

I want you all to know that I personally had an IMMEDIATE effect on at least 300 votes for Dave Brownlow. Those people, also fed up with Smith's lack of listening and response also went out and got votes.

Results

November 7, 2008 - 7:39AM


Third-party candidate Dave Brownlow won little more than 5 percent of the vote in his bid for the U.S. Senate.
And it's likely most of the Constitution Pray candidate's votes came at the expense of Republican Sen. Gordon Smith, a two-term incumbent defeated by Democratic challenger Jeff Merkley.
But did Brownlow make the difference?
He did best in rural, more isolated Oregon counties, where Smith also did well. And if all his votes had gone to Smith, the senator might be headed back for a third term.
But Portland pollster Tim Hibbitts says, "You cannot assume every Brownlow voter would have been a Smith voter."
Merkley had a 47,000-vote lead as of Thursday afternoon with about 16 percent of the expected vote yet to be counted. Brownlow had 86,000 votes.http://www.ktvl.com/news/brownlow_11...ith_votes.html

My point to all of this rambling is this.

1) You can make a difference. Am I responsible for his loss? Ultimately, Smith is responsible for his lack of backbone, and lack of listening to his constituents. Dave Brownlow listened, and was prepared to be held accountable.
2) Get off your duffs if you don't like what is going on in your geopolitical area. Build a base from the ground, upward.
3) If you don't like what your candidate has morphed into, do something or shut up.

The current two party system is broken. If I can make this little bit of a difference in just a few weeks time, look at what can be accomplished over the next two years.

Be an example. Don't be trampled.