Oregon Senate candidate Jeff Merkley is one of four Senate challengers speaking at the convention today in Denver. At 6:45 eastern time Jeff Merkley will take to the stage and lay out his vision for 2009 and beyond. Jeff is very thankful to be given the opportunity to speak at the convention. Here's what he had to say:

"I am honored to have the opportunity to address the Democratic Convention and speak to my vision to partner with Senator Obama and make Washington work for working families again," said Merkley.  "Oregonians are ready for the kind of change Senator Obama will bring to Washington."

Oregon Senate candidate Jeff Merkley has been given a speaking slot" at the Democratic Convention! On Wednesday night, Jeff will be one of four Senate candidates in the middle of highly contested races addressing the crowd. The other Senate candidates who will be speaking at the convention are Jeanne Shaheen, Tom Allen and Tom Udall. More below the fold....

Full disclosure, I am the netroots director for OR-Sen candidate Jeff Merkley

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Since Republican Gordon Smith doesn't want to address the real concerns of Oregonians, he's serving them another plate full of mud. In Smith's latest attack ad he calls House Speaker Jeff Merkley a hypocrite. More below the fold....

Full disclosure, I am the netroots director for OR-Sen candidate Jeff Merkley

Yipee! The Independent Party of Oregon has just nominated Oregon Senate candidate Jeff Merkley! This is great news for the Merkley Campaign considering the Independent Party boasts over 22,000 members and is growing rapidly. The Independent Party is now the third largest party in the state which is pretty impressive considering they just formed back in 2007. John Frohnmayer had been running for the Independent Party's nomination but he bowed out of the race back in June. More below the fold....

Full disclosure, I am the netroots director for OR-Sen candidate Jeff Merkley

Right now, millions of Americans are uninsured and millions more are under-insured. Seniors are having a difficult time being able to afford their prescription drugs. American families can't keep up with the high cost of hospice care and child care. Thousands of Americans die every year because they can't afford to get treatment. Bush and Republicans like Gordon Smith have done nothing but line the pockets of big pharma and the insurance industry at the expense of the health of American families.

Full disclosure, I am the netroots director for OR-Sen candidate Jeff Merkley

Republican Gordon Smith is running the most negative campaign in the entire country. Smith has spent over one million dollars attacking OR-Sen candidate Jeff Merkley. You'd think I wouldn't be surprised anymore with the Smith's campaign constant negative attacks and misleading ads, but today the Smith campaign reached a new low. Jeff Merkley released his rural economic development plan and this is how the Smith Campaign responded:

Jeff Merkley has a 10-year record of trying to beat rural Oregon into submission," Gilbride said. "His lackluster and disingenuous proposal is merely fruit from a poisoned tree. It is not credible for Merkley to propose things he spent a career opposing."

Wow.

Oregon Senate candidate Jeff Merkley flew out to Austin Texas to meet with bloggers from all across the country. He was very excited about the event as was I. Follow me below the fold to find out about Jeff Merkley's visit to Netroots Nation....

Full disclosure; I am the netroots director for OR-Sen candidate Jeff Merkley

Oregon Senate candidate Jeff Merkley is heading to Austin to attend Netroots Nation! Jeff has always believed that the netroots is a critical part of how we make progressive change in this country. He also knows that upstart, passionate Democratic challengers like Jon Tester and Sherrod Brown need the netroots to defeat entrenched incumbent Republicans like Gordon Smith.

The Merkley Campaign has been gaining momentum in the online community. Not only did Jeff out-raise Gordon Smith this past quarter, he also had an amazing showing online. He raised over $420,000 online which was twice the amount he raised online from all three quarters combined! Pretty amazing isn't it?

Follow me below the fold to find out more about Jeff's visit to Austin...

Full disclosure; I am the netroots director for OR-Sen candidate Jeff Merkley