IT's hard to say someone should not express their political opinion, no matter who that person is. After all, a lot of actors and musicians on the left are told, by the righties, that they have no right to "abuse" their celebrity and should shut up. All Americans have the right, the absolute right, to state their political opinion and preferences.

That said, I'm not very happy about Kulo and Barbara Roberts endorsing Jeff Merkley today. I think Jeff would be a great Senator, but I'm supporting Steve Novick in the primary. And it's not that Jeff got this endorsement and Steve didn't; I would expect Ted to back Jeff. It's the timing that bugs me.

We're over 9 months away from the primary. Jeff's been in the race for about two weeks; we have had no time to compare the two candidates, and we haven't had any debates. The voters have a long way to go, and a lot to hear and read, before needing to make up their minds.

That apparently doesn't matter to the current and former governors. By stating their support for Merkley right now, the obvious point is to undermine the primary process. There are a lot of Dems who don't want a contested primary, not now that we have "the" candidate in the race. Given how expensive and hard-fought the general election is going to be, the people with the deep pockets in the party want Novick's candidacy to disappear as quickly as possible so that the money can be saved for the general.

This assumes that Merkley is the better candidate. That's not for the insiders, or the govenors, or anyone but the voters to decide. The endorsement of Merkley by Kulongski and Roberts is not a statement of their opinion. It's a political action. The endorsement has a single purpose: the undermine Steve Novick's candidacy.

It is as ugly as it feels.