Mark Udall

While U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Pendleton) awaits his fate in the 2008 election on Wednesday, his Democratic cousin who was elected to the Senate Tuesday attempted to stay above the fray.

Smith’s cousin, incoming U.S. Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) was asked his opinion on the Oregon senate race Wednesday at a press conference in Denver, where he talked about his family ties to Oregon’s junior Senator, and his opinion of both Smith and U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Merkley (D-Portland).

Senate candidate Jeff MerkleySpeaker Jeff Merkley's US Senate campaign received some support from New York Senator Hillary Clinton today.  Sending an email out to supporters asking for cash to support the Merkley campaign she opens up by stating, "Sixty is the magic number."  Meaning once Democrats have a sixty-member majority in the senate they will be able to "end GOP obstruction once and for all."

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.

U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Portland) told Oregon delegates on Monday that Colorado, the host state of the Democratic National Convention, was a state that was ready to vote Democratic after a long string of Republican voting.

The Bend Bulletin’s Keith Chu takes a must-read look at the relationship between Republican Senator Gordon Smith and his cousins, Democratic congressmen Mark Udall of Colorado and Tom Udall of New Mexico – all of whom will be running for the U.S. Senate in 2008.  read more »