In the dreary industrial land of Northwest Portland on this cloud-spattered day, Steve Novick announced his candidacy in the United States Senate race against incumbent Republican Gordon Smith.
“I’m running because while George Bush was taking our country to hell, Senator Gordon Smith had his hand on the handbasket every step of the way,” Novick stated before a crowd of close to 200 people in the ILWU Local 8 Hall.
“Today is the beginning of the end of Gordon Smith’s career in the United States Senate,” said Portland City Commissioner Randy Leonard before introducing Novick. After a quick embrace, Novick took to the podium for a rousing 20-minute speech.
As the sun intermittently blasted through the windows, the crowd seemingly burst into applause whenever the slight Novick took a breath.
“The question is not ‘How can I beat Gordon Smith,’” he said. “It’s ‘How the heck can he possibly think that he can beat us?’”
During his speech he spoke of issues he would focus on if elected: an accessible and responsive government, cheaper health care, wealth inequality, the national debt and environmentally friendly technology.
“He’s kind of a Cinderella story,” said spectator Don Beal of Novick’s boy-genius rise to a fire-breathing populist. “We need somebody who’s aggressive, somebody to fight the fire.”
Near the end of his speech, Novik said that Smith reminded him of the Wizard of Oz. After finding the truth out about the wizard, Dorothy tells him he’s a very bad man.
“No, dear,” said the wizard. “I’m a good man, just a very bad wizard.”
With his candidacy, Novick seeks to show that Gordon Smith is just a man behind a curtain, and not a Senator at all.
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- Novick Trounces Merkley at OEA Endorsement Conference The Orego
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http://www.wweek.com/editorial/3312/8503/