OR Senate Primary Gets Interesting

An interesting scenario has developed in the Oregon Senate race ...  

Until recently, it has been assumed that Jeff Merkley would win the Democratic nomination to take on Republican Gordon Smith.  

But his Democratic opponent Steve Novick -- who proudly displays a metal hook for a left hand -- has come on strong, most recently by winning the endorsement of the Service Employees International Union.

From the AP:

"Novick fills a room the minute he walks into it," said Webb Thomas, a teacher from Beaverton. "That's what you need. Merkley is so out of central casting. If you took all the white, male, Democratic candidates and blended them together, then you'd have Jeff Merkley."

... Merkley is still favored, but appears to be in real danger, as is evidenced by a new NRSC webpage, which attacks Novick as "As tax-happy as Jeff Merkley ... only funnier."