One of the most extraordinary and consequential races to be decided Nov. 6 is the challenge to powerful 13-term "progressive" Rep. Peter DeFazio by renowned scientist Art Robinson in Oregon's 4th Congressional District.

Art Robinson, Ph.D.

This particular congressional race epitomizes everything that is rotten – and wonderful – about America today, and about the historic choice Americans will make Nov. 6.

Consider: Peter DeFazio is one of Congress's most influential progressives, having co-founded the Congressional Progressive Caucus and served as its chairman. A true left-wing radical with a folksy Oregonian exterior, DeFazio supports socialized medicine (he voted for Obamacare) and partial-birth abortion. Just recently, as WND reported, he proposed a “Robin Hood Tax” on financial trades, a key demand of the Occupy movement and heavily supported by billionaire leftist George Soros.

Even worse than all this – and I'm choosing my words carefully now – DeFazio is a deceitful political hack, so desperate to hang on to his coveted congressional seat he's occupied for 26 years that he's willing to blatantly libel and slander his opponent with wild untruths, all crafted to scare voters right before election time – just as he did in 2010 when Robinson first challenged the long-entrenched Democrat.

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Indeed, two years ago, DeFazio’s attack machine ran a series of outrageous television, print and online ads accusing Robinson of being funded by Big Oil, of being in the pocket of Wall Street, of planning on shutting down the nation's public schools, of planning the demise of the Social Security system – and even of plotting to put radioactive waste in Americans' drinking water! Oh, and he was also called a racist (of course).

DeFazio is one of Congress’s top progressives. But since so many voters now recognize that progressivism – a cuddly name for socialism and Marxism – has been utterly destroying America, DeFazio’s one and only re-election strategy mirrors that of the progressive-in-chief Barack Obama: Do everything possible to demonize your opponent as a truly dangerous wacko, since most voters are so totally disgusted with you they wouldn't send you back to Washington under any other circumstance.

Please bear with me for a moment while I tell you what kind of a man Art Robinson – whom I've known personally for many years – really is.

A Ph.D. research scientist of international stature, Robinson co-founded, with Nobel-winner Linus Pauling, the Linus Pauling Institute in Menlo Park, Calif. Then in 1980, with the help of his chemist wife Laurelee, Robinson, famed biochemist Martin Kamen and Nobel Laureate Bruce Merrifield founded the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine. While carrying out influential research, Art and Laurelee also raised and homeschooled their six children on 350 idyllic acres in southern Oregon.

Then tragedy struck. In 1988, Laurelee died suddenly from hemorrhagic pancreatitis, leaving Art alone to care for all those children ranging from 18 months up to 12 years of age. What did he do in such a terrible, crushing circumstance?

Art restructured their homeschooling curriculum in such a way that his children could, to a considerable extent, teach themselves. He also eventually packaged the curriculum and offered it to the homeschooling world. "The Robinson Curriculum" apparently works pretty well, as today all six of Art's children either have doctorate degrees or will shortly. One has a chemistry Ph.D., two have doctorates in veterinary medicine, and one just received his Ph.D. in nuclear engineering, while the last two are in the Oregon State University graduate program working toward their own nuclear engineering Ph.D.s.

Oh, and how'd they pay for all that expensive college and postgraduate schooling – six times? Sales of "The Robinson Curriculum," which remains very popular among homeschoolers and is used as a supplement by many public schoolers. It currently has 60,000 users.

Talk about the American can-do spirit!

More important, at least as it pertains to the upcoming election, Art Robinson is a straight-shooting, problem-solving Reagan conservative who not only loves this country, he understands this country – what makes it work – and is willing to fight the good fight to restore it to greatness and prosperity.

One example of his can-do attitude: Robinson has single-handedly documented the utter lack of unanimity in the scientific community on manmade global warming through a petition he started – not an online petition, mind you, but an actual document physically signed – that to date has been signed by more than 31,000 scientists, including more than 9,000 Ph.D.s. All 31,000 agree "there is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth's atmosphere and disruption of the Earth's climate."

So that’s my view of Art Robinson. And while DeFazio’s view is that Robinson is – and I quote – a “pathological nut-job,” some of the nation’s most credible people think otherwise:

“Dr. Robinson is one of the most gifted scientists I have ever met.” – Martin Kamen, Fermi Prize recipient and discoverer of Carbon 14

“Arthur Robinson has the respect of a very significant portion of the scientific community.” – Frederic Seitz, former president of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences

“I strongly endorse Art Robinson for election to the U.S. Congress. In the 15 years I have known Art, I have found him to be an outstanding scientist, a man of uncompromising integrity. Art’s depth of knowledge of the economic, scientific, energy, and industrial challenges that face our nation is unparalleled. Men of his ability are urgently needed in Washington.” – Steve Forbes, publisher and entrepreneur

“In my experience with space flight, I have come to know many men of excellence. Art Robinson is the best can-do guy I know. He’s what we need in Washington, and I think Oregon voters should elect Art Robinson. He’s a treasure.” – Scott Carpenter, Mercury astronaut

“Art Robinson’s philosophy is that the government is far too intrusive in our lives. He understands we have to stop the spending in Washington, the growth of the national debt, and allow the Constitution to function. I strongly recommend the 4th congressional district of Oregon put Art Robinson in the Congress of the United States.” – Harrison Schmitt, Apollo astronaut and former U.S. senator

Racist? Mad scientist? Big Oil?

All that sounds great, you might be thinking, but what about those allegations from DeFazio and his proxies that Robinson is a dangerous, wacko extremist? Any truth to them?

Let's take a look:

One part of "The Robinson Curriculum" is a recommendation that students read as many as possible of the 99 short, classic historical novels for children penned by celebrated British author G.A. Henty (kind of like the "Hardy Boys" books). Now it happens that in one of these 99 Victorian-era books – all of which Robinson personally reprinted on his own printing press and offered to the public as an adjunct to his homeschooling curriculum – one fictional character makes a two-sentence remark while in Africa that could be considered racially insensitive by today's standards. Because of this, candidate Art Robinson is being labeled a racist.

Yes, I know, it's insane. But wait – there's more.

Robinson discusses in his newsletter "Access to Energy" an emerging field of science called "hormesis," which hypothesizes that very low levels of ionizing radiation (which occurs naturally most everywhere, though to different degrees) may be beneficial to human health, so that one day human beings may actually control the level of background radiation in their environment for optimal health. DeFazio translation: Robinson wants to poison your drinking water with radiation.

Robinson has said one way to help America attain energy independence as soon as possible and end its dangerous slavery to hostile foreign sources is to reduce or temporarily eliminate the tax burden on all energy industries, from oil, gas and coal to wind, solar and nuclear. DeFazio translation: Robinson is in the pocket of "Big Oil."

Robinson's campaign is funded almost exclusively by large numbers of small donations from individuals, but DeFazio has fabricated the notion that Robinson is being bought off by Wall Street. One of DeFazio's main 2010 TV ads ended with this: "Tell Art Robinson and his big-money special interests that this election isn't for sale."

These are the ridiculously defamatory attacks on Robinson that – in the closing weeks of the 2010 election campaign – inundated the airways in Oregon’s 4th Congressional District and frightened enough voters into reelecting DeFazio.

This time around, to counteract DeFazio’s grotesque lies and to better familiarize the public with his views, Robinson wrote a book, “Common Sense in 2012,” which he has distributed free to many voters in his district. It is also available for download free on his website. In it, alongside some of the clearest, straightest, smartest analysis of our nation’s problems and their solutions I have ever seen, Robinson simply and elegantly obliterates DeFazio’s lies about him. (Go right to “Correction of DeFazio Misrepresentations” on page 367 to witness the disintegration of DeFazio’s libels. It’s entertaining – kind of like watching “The Expendables.”)

Friends, in this era when socialist "progressives," environmentalist wackos and radical change agents of all stripes are attempting to "transform" America, there's a lot of talk among normal folk about the Founding Fathers. As they strive to reconnect with our country's roots and set it back on a right course, they often invoke the men of America's founding generation for guidance and inspiration.

Let me tell you, in this election, Art Robinson reminds me more of the Founding Fathers – principled, multi-talented Renaissance men, some of them scientists like Jefferson and especially Franklin – than anyone else in the current candidate field. Think about it: Ben Franklin was a scientist, writer, printer, political theorist, inventor, civic activist and statesman. Art Robinson is all of these things – except the last one, statesman. He needs your help to make that happen.

Art Robinson loves his beautiful farm and his kids and his science work and doesn't really dream of power and Washington and living at the public trough. That's exactly the kind of person we need in Congress. Believe me, it'll be worth electing him just to watch a real scientist stand up in the House chamber and verbally annihilate the silly rhetoric of all those Congress members touting "global warming" and cap-and-trade.

Here’s the bottom line: Art Robinson stands an excellent chance of winning. He is in need of only one thing: He must counteract the wall-to-wall libelous TV, radio and Internet ads that will soon be unleashed during the final few weeks of the campaign to once again scare voters to death about a racist mad scientist who wants to eliminate Social Security and irradiate everyone’s drinking water. You can easily help stop this evil and elevate a modern-day Ben Franklin to the United States Congress.

Right now – while there's still time – you can donate to his campaign the funds needed to run the TV and print ads necessary to refute the outrageous lies of his opponent in the few critical weeks prior to Election Day.

Please, help Art Robinson, support him financially, campaign for him and tell others about him. And if you live in his district, vote for him.