Interesting analysis from Steve Duin [1]of The Oregonian.
“…Merkley isn’t the issue in Oregon’s U.S. Senate primary, and he isn’t the story. The story is Gordon Smith. We won’t be arguing for the next four months about the character and complexity of Jeff Merkley. We’ll be debating the identity and authenticity of Sen. Gordon Smith. …In May, more than 91,000 Democrats who voted in the Obama-Hillary Clinton main event didn’t bother to vote in the Senate primary.”