I suppose you could argue that Washington campaigned on the ultimate change platform.

From Blue Oregon

The Oregonian

Oregon Democrats have long coveted the seat of Sen. Gordon Smith, the only Republican currently holding statewide office. They consider him vulnerable because of the way he has supported the policies of an unpopular president while managing to rile many in his party. And in a year in which Democrats are expected to gain ground in Congress, they just may be right.
Novick declared his intention to run against Smith early on, but Merkley, thanks for his party organization's support, became the automatic front-runner when he entered the race. Yet Novick has gained national attention as Merkley's campaign has stumbled. Novick clearly is a smart campaigner and has an untypical but convincing record of productive achievement.

Leading the team of lawyers working on the federal government's case against Occidental Petroleum in the matter of Love Canal, Novick won a settlement that saved American taxpayers some $129 million in cleanup and relocation costs. He helped unite a fractious caucus in the Oregon Senate at a time when Democrats were a badly outnumbered minority.

He exposed some fuzzy thinking by the Oregon Lottery Commission in setting its formulas for paying retailers who hosted lottery games, achieving administrative gains although his side's victory in appeals court was later overturned by the Oregon Supreme Court. Novick managed campaigns that defeated such measures as 2000's Measure 91, which would have had a dramatic, destructive impact on the state's budget, thanks to its unresolved technical and legal questions.

We think Novick represents a bold choice for Democrats who seek to dislodge a veteran incumbent. He has the potential to press Smith as he has done Merkley. And, should he pull off what would be a major electoral upset and go to Washington as the new junior senator from Oregon, he has the potential to make Oregonians proud.