Oregon Senate Watch

Word is that Chuck Schumer spent much of Wednesday bombarding Congressman Peter DeFazio's staffers with calls to try and set up a teleconference to lobby the Congressman to run for the Senate.  DeFazio relented, and word is that he was able to book an hour of the Congressman's time Thursday morning.  Meanwhile, Kos, who appears to be allied with Schumer in the effort to draft DeFazio, had a suspiciously well-timed (for Schumer) front page post on DeFazio around the time of the call.  So who will run for Oregon Senate against Smith?

Well, astute observors of Oregon politics just got an answer!

Just not from DeFazio.

One person challenging Smith will likely be John Frohnmayer, the brother of University of Oregon and former A.G. David Frohnmayer, and a former head of the NEA in the Bush I Administration.  He's probably the closest analogy that Oregon has to Webb.  Frohnmayer has made no bones about the fact that he's considering a run, albeit as an independent, and he telegraphed his intentions pretty clearly on the website for Oregon's public television station just a few days ago:

If we are to have a meaningful discussion about Oregon’s senate seat in 2008, how can we limit it to just who the Rs or Ds field? Both political parties are captive to big money, most of which will come from outside Oregon and will not have Oregon’s b est interest at heart. Moreover, the political parties have proved, before and after the 2006 election, that they are much more interested in bashing each other than in addressing our problems.

Oregon has a new Independent Party (IPO), statistics show that young people, in particular, registering for the first time are choosing not to be affiliated. Most of the people with whom I have talked are disgusted with partisanship and looking for another answer. I believe an Independent candidate could win this race. [e-mail]

Frohnmayer is a maverick.  He left the NEA as a result of a dust up with the religious right, and he left with both guns blazing (as recounted by the National Review):

The departing NEA chief warned ominously that the deadly hand of the religious Right would soon fall on public broadcasting, then on government funding for universities, then on science. Who knew where it would end?

If DeFazio elects not to run, which is how most in the know in Oregon would predict, than maybe Schumer should give some thought to recruiting Frohnmayer.  If DeFazio does run, then they better get Frohnmayer out of the race because he'll be running to the left of Smith - potentially dooming DeFazio's chances by sucking some of the key "moderate" votes.

Meanwhile, DeFazio continues to demonstrate why both Democrats and Republicans appreciate him, through his intelligent support of the troops:

The first wave of Iraq and Afghanistan student veterans are returning home after serving overseas, and now they have a physical meeting space in the Erb Memorial Union. Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) were on hand to celebrate the unveiling of the new Veterans and Family Student Association.

Nadine Clarke, the University's veterans coordinator, said there are around 187 self-reported Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who are students at the University. There may also be another 100 or so who have chosen to keep their veteran status confidential to the school, she said.

Where can these more than 200 veterans meet and be able to gain information on benefits, counseling or just share a cup a coffee? Until a few days ago there was no such place, but on Thursday the VFSA opened its office in the EMU.

"We have to do a better job on delivering," DeFazio said. He explained that the U.S. government routinely piles on promises to U.S. troops while they are enlisting and leaves them flat on their backs when they return from war. Student veteran Noah Mrowczynski was on hand to thank DeFazio for co-sponsoring the Military Readiness Enhancement Act that will help ease the Clinton era's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policies toward troops with same-sex partners.