This is a good one. Check out this new ad that GOP Senator Gordon Smith, who's locked in a tough re-election fight in Oregon, has just released. The spot highlights his work with Barack Obama, who, last we checked, is the Democratic standard bearer...

"Who says Gordon Smith helped lead the fight for better gas mileage and a cleaner environment?" the ad asks. "Barack Obama! He joined with Gordon and broke through a 20-year deadlock to pass new laws which increase gas mileage for automobiles."

This obviously is helpful to Obama, who can cite it as proof that even Republicans agree that he has been successful working across party lines.

Late Update: The ad is also further proof of just how far Smith will run away from the Republican brand in this blue state. -ek

Late Update: The Obama campaign has now responded in a statement e-mailed out to reporters:

"Barack Obama has a long record of bipartisan accomplishment and we appreciate that it is respected by his Democratic and Republican colleagues in the Senate. But in this race, Oregonians should know that Barack Obama supports Jeff Merkley for Senate. Merkley will help Obama bring about the fundamental change we need in Washington," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.

NYT Goes After Obama On Ethanol
Barack Obama's squeaky-clean image is targeted in a new article this morning in the New York Times, challenging his support of corn-ethanol subsidies. "And when it comes to domestic ethanol, almost all of which is made from corn," the paper says, "he also has advisers and prominent supporters with close ties to the industry at a time when energy policy is a point of sharp contrast between the parties and their presidential candidates."

McCain To Propose Cash Prize For Clean Car Technology
John McCain is set to deliver a speech today in Fresno, where he will lay out his proposals to encourage cleaner cars. The key proposals will be to offer a $5,000 tax credit to the auto companies for every customer that buys a yet to be developed zero-emissions vehicle, and to offer a $300 million prize for the successful development of battery technology that can overtake current plug-in auto solutions.

Obama Courting Women Voters In New Mexico
In a further act of outreach to women voters who supported Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama will be holding a campaign event in Albuquerque today to discuss "the unique economic challenges facing working women," according to his campaign's morning e-mail to reporters.

Obama Campaign Working To Turn Out Black Voters
The Obama campaign is working to boost African-American turnout in crucial swing states like Florida, Virginia, North Carolina and others in order to turn those states from red to blue. It will be a delicate balancing act, though -- while Florida has more than half a million black voters who didn't turn out in 2004, for example, the campaign will have to focus on that community without embracing identity politics and alienating white voters.

SurveyUSA: Obama's Lead Slipping In Oregon
A new SurveyUSA poll of Oregon gives Barack Obama only a 48%-45% lead, within the ±4.3% margin of error. Their last poll from three weeks ago gave Obama a 49%-39% lead.

Alaska AFL-CIO Endorses Dem Against Ted Stevens
In a blow to the re-election campaign of GOP Sen. Ted Stevens, the Alaska AFL-CIO has endorsed his Democratic opponent, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich. Unlike most states, unions in Alaska often endorse the dominant Republicans, and the AFL-CIO has endorsed Stevens in all his past re-election campaigns -- but his lagging both numbers and ethics investigations may have changed the calculations this time.

Barack Obama just got some good election news to balance out his big loss tonight in Kentucky: Almost immediately after voting ended in Oregon, the news organizations have called it as a big win for him in this particular swing state.

This should further pad out Obama's numbers on pledged delegates, with the campaign already having claimed a full majority of pledged dels after Kentucky alone.

This is a big day for the presidential campaign, with the primaries in Oregon and Kentucky practically guaranteed to clinch a majority of pledged delegates for Barack Obama.

Polls in Kentucky show Clinton on track for a two to one win in Kentucky, as she has performed best against Obama in the Appalachian region. Obama, meanwhile, is favored to win Oregon by a strong margin. Kentucky has 51 pledged delegates, and Oregon has 52 -- and with Obama only needing less than 20 delegates to clinch the pledged majority, he'll get more than he needs to reach that goal.

The question then becomes how the two camps spin the results, and whether the Obama camp plays it up as a genuine victory mark for the campaign. Obama himself has said he won't, but the Hillary camp has already been pre-rebutting that idea, calling it a "slap in the face" to the millions of people who have voted for her.

The first polls close at 6 p.m. ET in Kentucky, followed by western Kentucky at 7 p.m. ET. Oregon's mail-in voting ends at 11 p.m. ET.

A new pair of polls in Oregon give Barack Obama a big lead going into tomorrow's primary, a contest that is expected to clinch a majority of pledged delegates for him:

SurveyUSA
Obama 55%
Clinton 42%

Sample size: 627 likely and actual primary voters.
Margin of error: ±4%.

Public Policy Polling (D)
Obama 58%
Clinton 39%

Sample size: 1,296 likely and actual primary voters.
Margin of error: ±2.7%.

From PPP's analysis: "Obama has likely pretty much won the election already. Oregon votes by mail, and he is polling at 59% with the 74% of poll respondents who reported already having cast their ballots."

These polls both run counter to a Suffolk poll from earlier today, which had shown it to be a close race.

Although Barack Obama is on his way to clinching a majority of pledged delegates tomorrow, a new round of polls from Suffolk University shows that it might not be by much on the day it actually happens.

Obama is headed for a landslide loss tomorrow in Kentucky, while it could be a close race in Oregon, where he's favored:

Kentucky
Clinton 51%
Obama 25%

Sample size: 600 likely primary voters.
Margin of error: ±4%

Oregon
Obama 45%
Clinton 41%

Sample size: 600 likely primary voters.
Margin of error: ±4%

Obama's popularity varies immensely between states -- he's viewed favorably by only 43% of Democratic respondents in Kentucky, and by 73% of respondents in Oregon.

If today's crowd in Portland is any indication, the Obama campaign can have some confidence in their expectation of clinching a full majority of pledged delegates with the Oregon primary on Tuesday -- Obama spoke to an estimated 72,000 people, according to the city's fire officials.

To put this in perspective: That one mega-crowd has almost as many people as there were in West Virginia who voted for him, and the audience size is a new personal record for Obama.

In a further sign that Barack Obama is looking past the primary season and onward to the general election, the Obama campaign has announced that he'll be spending Tuesday night not in Oregon or Kentucky -- where primaries will be held that day -- but in Iowa.

The Obama campaign is very likely to clinch an overall majority of pledged delegates with Tuesday's contests, so the symbolism of his swing-state rally should be obvious: That he considers himself the popularly-elected nominee, and the race is on to fight John McCain.

Hillary Clinton's campaign has yet to announce where she will be on Tuesday.

Hillary goes up on the air in Oregon with this new spot that uses Washington pundits -- who have largely pronounced the race over -- as foils...

"In Washington they talk about who's up and who's down," the narrator says, a rather charitable (to her) description of the Washington chatter that has largely written her off.

So is this a positive spot -- a sign that Hillary recognizes the race is largely decided and has decided to lay off harsh tactics? The spot makes no mention of Obama.

It does, however, say that "she's the one" who voted against the Bush energy bill and is insisting on "health coverage for every American" -- implicit contrasts with Obama.

Still, this hardly belongs in the same category as the red-phone ad or the gas-attack spots. It would be hard to call this a negative ad.

Late Update: Hillary also has two new ads in Kentucky, which are also both positive spots. She's way ahead in that state's primary, so there isn't any obvious need to go negative against Obama.

Here's the spot that the pro-Hillary 527 American Leadership Project is airing in Oregon, starting today...

ALP will spend up to $500,000 on the buy, as I reported below.

The spot is an all-positive one touting her strength on the economy, a major departure for the group, which had aired a string of ads attacking Obama in other states.

The shift to a positive spot suggests that ALP's major backers -- unions and big Hillary donors -- may recognize that the contest is all but over, don't want to damage Obama in advance of his inevitable general election candidacy, and don't want to further alienate the party's all but certain nominee.

The American Leadership Project -- the big pro-Hillary 527 put together by major Hillary-backing unions and major donors -- is buying $300,000-$500,000 worth of TV time in Oregon for a new ad touting Hillary's record on the economy, I'm told.

Tellingly, the spot -- unlike past ALP-sponsored ads, which attacked Obama -- will be uniformly positive, with no mention at all of Obama or even any implicit contrast between his and Hillary's economic record. The ad will begin running today.

ALP's decision to go positive at this late date is significant. It suggests that ALP -- one of the top independent groups backing Hillary -- may recognize that the contest is all but decided and that there's no percentage in attacking Obama, something that could damage him in advance of the general election.

It also suggests that ALP's major labor and financial backers are now reluctant to alienate the party's all-but-certain nominee.

Contacted for comment, ALP spokesperson Jason Kinney confirmed the buy and its particulars.

We'll bring you the ad as soon as we have it.

Late Update: Watch the ad right here.

As I've noted here before, one key thing to watch is this: Will the big pro-Hillary third party groups continue putting money into ads on her behalf in remaining states, or will they quietly abandon such efforts?

Well, one of her top third-party supporters -- the American Leadership Project, the group put together by Hillary-backing unions and major financial supporters -- is still looking to spend money on TV for her.

I'm told reliably that ALP is looking to make an ad buy in Oregon. The size of the buy is as yet uncertain, but for now, this group is still prepared to shell out money on her behalf. I'll bring you details when I have them.

With the Oregon primary a week away, two new polls show Obama holding a commanding lead:

Portland Tribune
Obama 55%
Clinton 35%

Sample size: 400 likely primary voters.
Margin of error: ±4.8%.

SurveyUSA
Obama 54%
Clinton 43%

Sample size: 615 likely voters.
Margin of error: ±4%.

The Obama camp expects that on May 20, they shall have secured a majority of pledged delegates for the whole cycle.

In an attempt to expand his base and reach environmentally conscious voters, John McCain has a new ad laying out his position on global warming.

The ad positions McCain as a moderate between left-wing extremists who'd like to increase taxes and regulation versus right-wing extremists who deny the problem:

The ad is set to air in Oregon, a key swing state that has voted Democratic since 1988, but often by narrow margins.

A new Rasmussen poll of Oregon give Barack Obama a double-digit lead in this May 20 contest:

Obama 51%
Clinton 39%

Sample size: 867 likely primary voters.
Margin of error: ±3%

The internals show a class divide here: Obama does best among upper-income voters, while Clinton does best among those earning less than $40,000 per year.

Hillary Clinton has a new ad in Oregon, a largely positive spot in which she re-introduces herself to a state that will vote May 20:

"It's going to take a fighter to meet these challenges," Clinton says, invoking her theme that she's the one who will get things done. "If you give me the chance, together we'll turn our country around."

Meanwhile, Clinton has picked up a new super-delegate, Jaime Gonzalez of Texas.

A new SurveyUSA poll of Oregon shows Barack Obama ahead in this upcoming primary, but the result is within the margin of error. The numbers, compared to the previous poll from April 7:

Obama 50% (-2)
Clinton 44% (+4)

Sample size: 650 likely primary voters.
Margin of error: ±3.9%

The Oregon primary will be held on May 20, the same day as the Kentucky primary, which Obama looks likely to lose by a wide margin.

A new SurveyUSA poll of Oregon — the first major poll for this May 20 primary — shows Barack Obama leading Hillary Clinton by a significant margin. The numbers: Obama 52%, Clinton 42%.

The Oregon primary will be held on the same day as the Kentucky primary, where another poll has Clinton way ahead.