Politicker Staff's blog

The Pindell Report, Politicker.com's political and campaign forecast, has released its final projections for Election Day. Using polling, historical and demographic trends, tracking campaign visits and spending, The Pindell Report ranks races in terms of their competitiveness and their status as either a toss-up or leaning or likely voting in a particular way.

In Oregon, The Pindell Report's final break down is as follows:

Both competitive federal races in Oregon will go Democratic in keeping with a national trend that will net Democrats at least seven U.S. Senate seats and sixteen House seats nationwide, according to James Pindell, the editor of Politicker.com's Pindell Report, which provides independent analysis of federal and state races.

One of those Democratic U.S. Senate pick-ups is in Oregon where Democrat Jeff Merkley is poised to defeat Republican incumbent Gordon Smith. 

Pindell also expects Democrats to keep the seat in the state's 5th Congressional District and for Barack Obama will carry Oregon and win its seven electoral votes.

As the Politicker network expands -- we currently have politics websites based in 16 states, with more on the way -- we'd like to get a better feeling of who is reading our sites so we can develop a better product as we grow. Please take a moment of your time to take this brief survey. Thanks.

The fourth and final day of the Democratic National Convention will be called to order at 5:00 PM EST on Thursday, with a theme of "Change You Can Believe In."

The final day's events will take place at INVESCO Field at Mile High, where over 70,000 people are expected to attend.

Featured speakers will include Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D), former Vermont Gov. and Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean (D), New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D), U.S. Rep. and U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D), former Vice President Al Gore (D) and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D).

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), the Democratic presidential nominee, is scheduled to address the convention at 10 p.m. EST.

The full schedule is below.

Below is a transcript of remarks made by U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Merkley (D-Portland) at the Democratic National Convention Wednesday evening, as prepared for delivery.

Oregon House Speaker and U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Merkley (D-Portland) will address the Democratic National Convention this evening between 2 and 4 p.m (PST).

Most recent polls show Merkley trailing incumbent U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Pendleton).

The third day of the Democratic National Convention will be called to order at 5:00 PM EST on Wednesday, with a theme of "Securing America's Future."

The day will begin with the nominating process for President, including nominating speeches for U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.), followed by a roll call vote.

The headline speaker will be vice presidential nominee, U.S. Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.).

Featured speakers will include President Bill Clinton (D), U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Gov. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.), U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), U.S. Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.).

The full schedule is below.

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden and his family: Getty Images PhotoDENVER - AUGUST 26: U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) (2nd L) and his wife Nancy (2nd R) hold thier kids William (L) and Ava Rose during day two of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the Pepsi Center August 26, 2008 in Denver, Colorado. U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) will be officially be nominated as the Democratic candidate for U.S. president on the last day of the four-day convention. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The second day of the Democratic National Convention will be called to order at 5:00 PM EST today, with a theme of "Renewing America's Promise."  Featured speakers include Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D-Kan.), U.S. Sen. Robert Casey, Jr. (D-Pa.), Gov. Deval Patrick (D-Mass.), and Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D-Mont.). The keynote speaker will be Gov. Mark Warner (D-Va.), followed by the headline prime-time speaker, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.).

The full schedule is below.

Oregon State Basketball Coach Craig Robinson: Getty Images PhotoDENVER - Craig Robinson, brother of Michelle Obama, speaks during day one of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the Pepsi Center August 25, 2008 in Denver, Colorado. The DNC, where U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) will be officially nominated as the Democratic candidate for U.S. president, starts today and finishes August 28th. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)