[April 30th, 2008]

Steve Novick

Tattoo he'd get: “This machine kills fascists”—a reference to the sticker on Woody Guthrie’s guitar—on his prosthetic arm.

Fifteen months ago, longtime liberal activist Steve Novick wrote a cover story for WW titled “If I Ran” (Jan. 31, 2007). In 3,000 words, Novick outlined what it would take for a Democrat to challenge—and defeat—U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.). Eleven weeks later, he jumped into the Democratic primary. “The question is not: ‘How can I beat Gordon Smith?’” Novick said then. “The real question is: ‘How the heck can he possibly think that he can beat us?’”

Let’s be clear. Back in January 2007, Novick was little more than a placeholder. Novick has a rapier wit, a winning affinity for sports references and an impressive behind-the-scenes résumé working for worthy causes. But Oregonians were waiting for another, more credible Democratic challenger to Smith, a telegenic senator who’s raised boatloads of cash and worked to style himself in the moderate image of past Republican icons such as Mark Hatfield, Bob Packwood and Tom McCall. We all thought that other person would come along.

When Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley announced his bid in August, politicos greeted the news with an air of inevitability. Here it seemed was Merkley—a respected state legislator who’d regularly rated as a “good” or “outstanding” lawmaker in our unscientific-but-telling “Good, Bad and Awful” ranking of area legislators—to assume the candidate’s mantle.

Yet Merkley, like Novick, had his own baggage. He was, essentially, the Democratic establishment’s fourth choice after former Gov. John Kitzhaber, plus U.S. Reps. Peter DeFazio and Earl Blumenauer all said no thanks.

Meanwhile, Novick’s rookie campaign displayed some of his wonkish worst, prone as he is to didactic emails and phone calls peevishly haranguing reporters with post-publication parsing of his quotes. He sometimes made us feel like we were back in college poli-sci class with Professor Know-It-All. Yet this much is also true: In the past several months, Novick’s campaign has translated to politics what the ex-St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Joaquín Andújar said about America: “You never know.”

Novick’s outsider campaign has raised nearly as much money as Merkley’s camp, even without the help of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which tapped Merkley as its favorite. And Novick surprised many who can’t imagine a 4-foot-9 man with a hook for a left hand entering what’s known as the “world’s most exclusive club.”

We were hotly divided between the fun, speak-his-mind insurgent who calls to mind the late Sen. Paul Wellstone and the impassive Merkley, who calls to mind the widely respected Sen. Al Gore—the wooden version, before he became as steaming as the planet.

In the end, we rallied around Novick because we see a capacity for a refreshing independence and an unwavering willingness to tackle our toughest issues, like providing universal health care and ending the war in Iraq. We recognize, too, he could be a spectacular failure, a quotable firebrand for the left who is both alienating and alienated. Our hope is he commits himself to becoming the Senate’s best workhorse before shooting for the ranks of Sunday talk-show showhorse. Novick, please play nice.

We have three chief concerns with Merkley’s bid to take on Smith.

On the war, we think Merkley’s yes vote on House Resolution 2, the state measure to declare support for Oregon’s troops and “the victorious removal of Saddam Hussein from power,” would hamstring him from making the case that Smith’s flip-flops on the war were unconscionable.

On immigration, we think Merkley has acted not with courage but with calculation. As House speaker, Merkley last session didn’t allow a hearing for a bill that would have granted the children of undocumented immigrants in-state tuition at Oregon colleges and universities, even though he says he supports a similar federal proposal known as the DREAM Act. This isn’t an immigration problem, this is a civil-rights issue. Also, in the February special session, Merkley voted for a measure that blocks illegal immigrants from getting driver’s licenses and, as a result, car insurance. That’s punitive, not practical.

And on fiscal responsibility, Merkley is outshined by Novick, whose mantra about taxes needing to land much harder on the wealthy shows us he’s more frank about the need for a fairer tax system.

Candy Neville, a Eugene real-estate agent and Quaker minister, deserves praise for her willingness to stick her neck out. And we appreciate the focus on immigration brought by David Loera, a mental-health counselor. Fitness buff Pavel Goberman and Roger Obrist are non-starters.

The toughest and smartest guy in this race is Novick.

Video of WW endorsement interview (thanks to Portland Community Media)