John Frohnmayer

The direction of Oregon's US Senate campaign just took a 180.  The AP reports John Frohnmayer, independent candidate for US Senate, is leaving the race due to his inability to raise money and his lack of grassroots support.

John Frohnmayer is running as an Independent Party candidate for the Senate seat currently held by Sen. Gordon Smith. His website discusses changing the “politics of partisanship to the politics of remedy,” and advocates the necessity of a third party in American politics.

One would expect, therefore, that he would throw his support behind fellow third party candidate Ralph Nader in the presidential contest.

But then one would be wrong.

 Observers of the race for the Democratic nomination in the U.S. Senate race can probably say one thing with certainty, that Steve Novick is not afraid to speak his mind, even when it might be unpopular with the Democratic establishment.

Comments regarding Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, as well as Novick’s support of Independent candidate Ralph Nader back in 1998, have received lots of play in the press.

The most recent of the candidate’s comments to undergo scrutiny came in the form of an answer to a question posed during the Willamette Week’s endorsement interviews. Candidates were asked who they would support if they could not vote for themselves.

Last September when John Frohnmayer announced his independent bid for US Senate many pundits and commentators actually paid attention to his announcement and speculated he'd be a spoiler for the Democratic nominee.

The Novick campaign today sighted both Sen. Gordon Smith and Rep. Jeff Merkley in its crosshairs, in response to an article in the Willamette Week on the Senator’s support of repealing restrictions on carrying loaded guns in national parks.  read more »

10. John Frohnmayer – Find a credible pollster.

9. Greg Macpherson – Take the Sierra Club off my Christmas card list for next year.

8. Kate Brown – Share my exciting poll results with Wally Edge.

7. Vance Day – Find some statewide candidates to put on the ballot or find my own replacement.

6. Peter Defazio – Ruin all the SOS candidates future hopes by announcing my 2010 gubernatorial bid.

5. Sho Dozono – Come out of the campaign closet and officially announce my Portland mayoral candidacy.

4. Ted Kulongoski – Check for television cameras before pouting off stage.

3. Martha Schrader – Wait until the incumbent is out of the hospital before gunning for her congressional seat.

2. Gordon Smith – Hold my tongue at retirement parties.

1. Bernie Guisto – Learn when to fold ‘em.

The campaign for U.S. Senate candidate John Frohnmayer, who is running on the Independent ticket, is aggressively pushing out to reporters today a Riley Research poll finding that in a prosepctive general election race, Republican incumbent Gordon Smith receives 39%, with Frohnmayer picking up 14% - ahead of Democrat Jeff Merkley, who receives 12%. The poll of 401 Oregon voters was conducted between November 30 and December 12. It has a margin of error of 4.89%.

But Democrats express reservations about Michael Riley’s research. Advisers said that the poll – taken over a span of several weeks as opposed to the customary several days – fail to produce a “snapshot” of the electorate. “401 voters contacted over 13 days is some of the worst basic methodology I've seen in a long time,” said one Democratic campaign aide.

John Frohmayer is challenging U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith as an IndependentA popular refrain among those affiliated with one party or the other when it comes to Independent candidates, is that they don't stand a remote prayer of winning, which leaves only one realistic role, and that is the role of spoiler.

But John Frohnmayer, who is running for Sen. Gordon Smith's seat next year as an independent, firmly rejected both assumptions in an interview Monday.

"That's absolutely wrong," Frohnmayer insisted. "I'm in the race to win, and I have no desire for any other office, I'm not positioning myself for anything else, I just believe the voters need a legitimate choice in this race, and the Democrats and Republicans are not going to provide that." "I also think the word ‘spoiler' suggests a certain sense of entitlement, as if the Democrats or Republicans own the election, and are entitled to the seat," he said.