Merkley gets a little help from his unknown friends

Democrats (or those who promote and build "a Democratic and progressive agenda) are swinging back at Senator Gordon Smith's recent television ad blitz. 

Since the primary election on May 20, Smith displayed non-stop ads that feature support from Democrats like former Rep. Elizabeth Furse and retiring state Sen. Avel Gordly and ads that talk about working with both sides of the isle in Congress.  Four weeks and $1 million later, a Rasmussen poll is released showing Smith beating his Democratic challenger, state Rep. Jeff Merkley, by nine points.  Ah, the comforts of having six years to build a $5 million war chest.

Not so fast Mr. Smith, say Democrats.  Two new ads were recently released by a liberal 527 organization called Majority Action.   These groups are created to undermine campaign finance laws and supplement campaigns that can't raise as much cash to stay competitive (say for a candidate still paying himself back for the $250,000 he loaned his campaign to win his Democratic primary). 

Such organizations are forbidden from working with the Merkley campaign or his friends at the DSCC in Washington, DC, however, it is clear they have some sort polling data that shows Smith losing his grasp on his nine point lead and weakened by the current economic straits facing the Oregon and national economy, or they wouldn't be spending their cold hard (or unregulated) cash in Oregon.