Blue Oregon gets bloddy

I have to say I am disgruntled about the conversations on Blue Oregon lately. While I respect most of the people there even if I don't always agree with them (including Mr. Chisholm), I am hesitant to read some of the entries over there because of the on going squabbles about the Merkley/Novick campaigns.

Specifically, people have been going at each other's throats about Merkley's vote on a non-binding resolution. Supporters of both sides have acted poorly and said some pretty harsh things.

So here is a list of my personal observations:

1) As stated above the nasty bitch slapping between Merkley and Novick supporters whether or not Merkley's vote for a non-binding resolution counts or not as supporting the war.

I've read a lot of the comments (not all of them) and I have to say I'm extremely disappointed with everyone involved. I have no problem with people disagreeing, but when it turns into name calling and propaganda pushing, the discussion isn't even worth having.

2) The feeling that the Merkley campaign expects to be the presumptive nominee and that Novick has gotten a bum shake not only in terms of coverage in certain blogs, but also in polls and MSM. Yes, I have seen articles about Novick (so you need not post links) in several papers. However, now that Merkley has become the handpicked DNC candidate, where does that leave Novick?

Part of my worry is that a certain candidate in 1996 who was hand picked (no names mentioned) underperformed and got beaten by Smith, who won his first term in the US Senate. Granted that person had no experience in office, but the campaign was a disappointment (disclosure: I volunteered on that campaign as well as the 1996 coordinated DNC campaign).

3) I consider myself someone who decides who to back very early, long before the primary happens. In terms of Presidential Candidates I've done that. However, given the amount of information out there and the lack of a true debate between the two candidates, I foresee myself stuck in the undecided column (although I am leaning one direction that doesn't mean I couldn't change).

4) The feeling that Novick clearly will be pressured out of the race as the primary approaches and that Merkley supporters and his campaign will try to make this happen. Now I have no concrete evidence this will happen, as I stated it's a feeling.

My personal opinion is that both of the candidates have a good shot at beating Smith, which is the goal. Whether both will get a fair shake in the primary is yet to be seen.