Interesting visuals... The Merkely map is actually a fairly good demonstration of traditional Oregon voting patterns with Metro Portland+ Benton/Lane essentially opposed to most of the rest of the state. It is this pattern which has kept the state competitive for Republicans over the past few decades.
Part of the reason Democrats selected Merkely for their Senate candidate, was because he was seen as able to compete "downstate" by virtue of his Southern Oregon and timber industry background. In that regard, he was a failure.
What is truly interesting is that Obama was able to compete so well in medium-sized counties such as Marion (Salem), Jackson (Medford), and Deschuttes (Bend), as well as totally dominating in the normally 50-50 Portland suburbs. These are normally the areas, which combined with the Pdx suburbs can make the state competitive for Republicans in the first place.
