Merkley to talk economy in convention speech

U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Merkley said Wednesday he will talk about the economy in his speech Wednesday evening at the Democratic National Convention.

"When I've been on the road hitting 87 of my 100 town tour, everyone is really anxious because it seems like the price of everything is going up, and everything is going up except their paychecks," Merkley said.

The Speaker of the House, who is the only Oregonian slated to speak at the convention, stressed that he was given a limited amount of time to introduce himself from the podium to the Democrats gathered in the Pepsi Center, but he hoped to portray his race for Oregon's Senate seat as critical to the country's future.

"I get a whole 90 seconds tonight," Merkley said. "But, I want to clarify tonight that Oregon is a critical state, and if we are going to move this country forward we need to get rid of Gordon Smith."