DENVER -- U.S Senate candidate Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley (D-Portland) took center stage at the Democratic National Convention for a short time Wednesday ready to convince party members nation-wide that he was a candidate prepared to help out the Democratic effort in Washington.

"Oregon needs a senator who will fight for affordable health care, living wage jobs, an end to the war and a smart energy policy - not a senator who will give us more of Bush-McCain's failed policies," Merkley told the crowd.

Merkley only had 90 seconds in the limelight, and it may not have been enough to get into the intricacies of his campaign that have ranged from a battle with incumbent U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Pendleton) over healthcare and the Iraq war to controversies over furniture purchases for the legislature. But it was enough time for him to try to convince his party that electing him would take the country a step in the Democratic direction.

"If my opponent Gordon Smith returns to Washington, it's just more of the same, and we can't afford that," Merkley said. "Not in Oregon, not in America."