John Edwards

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This week children's toys are a bit safer and the Erickson campaign is stirring up controversy at local county fairs. Here are this week's Winners & Losers.

At the very least, both the Merkley and Smith campaigns will likely keep us well entertained for the next three months.

John Edwards admission that he lied and dismissed reports of an affair with Rielle Hunter, a filmmaker hired to cover his presidential campaign, may have ended his public life, but did it also signify an end to the era in which the mainstream media controlled the agenda for national political journalism?

A recent poll showed U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) with a 10-point lead over U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for president in Oregon, but Jack Roberts, a Republican former labor commissioner, argues that what the poll really proves is that Obama needs help from his running mate to win.

Last week a SurveyUSA poll asked Oregonians: “If there were an election for President of the United States today, would you vote for Republican John McCain? Or Democrat Barack Obama?”

Forty-nine percent of respondents chose Obama, 39 percent chose McCain and 12 percent said they were undecided.

When the poll began adding potential vice-presidential candidates to the ticket, Obama’s lead fluctuated depending on the name-recognition of the ticket.

Barack Obama has a 49%-39% lead over John McCain in the race for Oregon’s seven electoral votes, according to a SurveyUSA/KATU-TV poll.   In a hypothetical matchup that includes John Edwards and Mitt Romney as vice presidential candidates, Obama’s lead goes to 50%-40%.

Steve Novick is running for the U.S. Senate in Oregon. But tonight he is talking about the Iowa caucuses.