Candidate gets warm welcome.

Byline: David Steves The Register-Guard

He arrived in a 20-foot motor home decked out from bumper to bumper in the green-and-blue hues and the slogans of his campaign for the U.S. Senate.

Local officials, including the mayor and four legislators, were there Tuesday to root on Senate candidate Jeff Merkley. The county's Labor Council president passed out his campaign placards to the 80-person audience.

Throw in the campaign staffers running a video camera or talking on BlackBerrys and the scene at Eugene's Skinner Butte Park had all the trappings of a candidate with the muscle of the Democratic Party and its constituent groups flexing to deliver him the nomination to challenge Republican incumbent Gordon Smith.

Merkley's 15-minute speech gave the impression he'd already secured the Democratic nomination. He mentioned Smith - linking him early and often to President Bush and the war, and policies that have been unpopular with Democrats among others.

"George Bush and Gordon Smith have not pursued the land of opportunity for all, but the land of opportunism for a few," Merkley said. "We need to change that."

But not once did Merkley mention the rivals he must first defeat in the Democratic primary.

Officially, spokesmen for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Oregon and Lane County Democratic Parties said they're not taking sides in a contested May 20 primary. Merkley is running against activist and former federal lawyer Steve Novick and newcomer Candy Neville. Party officials say it's both policy and tradition to stay out of such multi-candidate races until the voters decide who they want.

But between the endorsements from notable Oregon Democrats - including Gov. Ted Kulongoski and former Gov. Barbara Roberts - and Merkley's recruitment and promises of campaign fundraising help from the senatorial campaign committee and its chairman, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., it appears that unofficially, the party apparatus is starting to turn its cogs on Merkley's behalf.

It is common for party leaders in Washington, D.C., to work behind the scenes on behalf of one candidate in a contested primary - but rare to see them overtly take sides, said Quinn McCord, state editor for The Hotline in Washington.

"The (senatorial campaign committee) is fairly loathe to outwardly endorse," said McCord, who expects the national Democrats to keep a low profile while quietly helping Merkley in areas such as fundraising.

"Certainly I would expect Schumer and the (senatorial campaign committee) would be steering donors to the Merkley campaign," he said. "That's not uncommon at all."

Senatorial campaign committee spokesman Matt Miller acknowledged only that Schumer met with Merkley before the Portland Democrat and Oregon House speaker entered the race this summer, and that "we do believe that Jeff Merkley is a great candidate and that Oregon is hungry for change."

When it comes to Democrats in Oregon, Novick said he's still getting a fair shake. When Novick held a campaign event here last spring, he said he received help from local Democratic leaders similar to what Merkley had for his stop.

While Merkley is locking up endorsements, Novick has won the backing of current and former elected officials, including state Sen. Bill Morrisette of Springfield and former state Sen. Tony Corcoran of Cottage Grove.

`The question is, are Oregonians going to let people in Washington, D.C., choose their nominee, and to that I think the answer is going to be `no,' ' Novick said.