DENVER -- Oregon Republican Party chairman Vance Day said Thursday that U.S. Senate candidate Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley's (D-Portland) speech before the Democratic National Convention didn't seem to be a very big deal.

"I really don't think the Democrats gave a whole lot of emphasis to Jeff Merkley's speech," Day said via phone from Minneapolis, where he was preparing for the Republican National Convention. "They gave him an odd time to speak, and it was kind of hard to hear him with all that clamor. I'm really not sure if he was up there to give a speech or take up podium space."

Merkley may end up being the only Oregonian to address any convention. Day said that neither U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Pendleton) nor U.S. Rep. Greg Walden would be speaking at Republican convention. Both statesmen confirmed earlier in the month that they would not be attending at all.

"Most of the speakers at the Republican convention are from a whole swath of different perspectives," Day said. "Reaching down into Oregon is not a huge priority."

The Republican National Convention begins Sept. 1 in St. Paul, Minn. Watch PolitickerOR.com for continuing coverage from that convention.