Oregon Republican Tries To Hitch A Ride On Obama's Coattails

If you cast your mind back to the May special election held in Mississippi between Democrat Travis Childers and Republican Greg Davis, the GOP thought the best way to maintain their hold on that traditionally ruby-red district was to run advertisements linking Childers with Barack Obama. Famously, the effort failed. Perhaps that's why Oregon Senator Gordon Smith is embracing a fully different tactic: running ads that compare himself to the Democratic presidential nominee.

Over at Time's "The Page," Mark Halperin is selling this item as something awkward that Obama has had to "distance" himself from, asserting that Smith was "aligning himself with Obama," making things uncomfortable for the Democratic challenger, Jeff Merkley. But if you watch the ad, you'll see it's really not that complicated. The ad merely notes that Obama praised Smith's leadership on a single issue, and goes on to play up Smith's willingness to "work together across party lines." There's no mention of an endorsement in either direction, so while Bill Burton issued a statement attesting to Obama's support for Merkley, it's hardly an example of Obama frosting a key supporter.

Still, it's interesting to see the recognition on Smith's part that Obama has proven to be a popular enough figure in his home state that it's worth it to hitch his wagon to the Democrat's star. Now, if Gordon Smith could somehow win himself the support of powerhouse indie-rockers The Decemberists, he'd really be sitting pretty.

[WATCH.]

Comments

[piper1233]

Barrack Obamas historical run for the White House is not anti-Republican and pro Democratic, it's anti - business as usual and pro change. This embracement by a Republican Candidate is a very refreshing start of things that could be. People voting totally by issues, not by party. And politicians voting by conscience, not by polls.

[JennyJay]

I think what we have here is - - - rats deserting a fast sinking ship. . . . Smith may be a Republican, but clearly he ain't no dang dummy. His choice is to take the elevator UP WITH OBAMA or all the way DOWN TO THE SEWER WITH MCSAME.

[Toonadude]

The Oregon "political tradition":

Be a political wind sock

Defer to the ballot initiative whenever possible

Reinforce your constituent’s belief that you really are not fully subject to the laws made "back east" in
D.C. (you know...that constitution thing)

Stand for nothing

Be accountable for nothing

Call yourself independent and progressive

Point to natural splendor as evidence of your superior character traits

[TommyMcCarthy]

To the moderator: I have two comments to this post pending. I keep hearing references (on other posts today) about some sort of new moderation system that scrubs comments if candidates names are included. Can this be true?

[TommyMcCarthy]

I give up

[research]

The Rethugs are also trying to keep (R) or "republican" off the ballot.

[theone718]

Talk about dismissing the republican brand. I guess you do what works.

[TommyMcCarthy]

Anyone familiar with Oregon politics (It helps to be an Oregon resident) will find little to be surprised about in Smith's ad.

Simply put, Smith has much more in common with Obama and many other Democrats than he does with the majority of his own party.

Perhaps foremost among these is the fact that Gordon Smith is a person of strong faith that seems to take seriously the separation of church and state, and does not seem to believe that HIS faith requires him to seek to legislate the morality of others who do not share it.

Smith took a fair amount of heat from his Republican cohorts for coming out very publicly and strongly AGAINST the Iraq war and calling for it's end well before the prevailing winds made it politically expedient to do so.

Smith also works efectively with Oregon's Democrtic Senator, Ron Wyden on issues of interest to Oregonians and the Northwest generally.

In short, the thoughtful Smith represents Oregonians first, and could in no way be described as a Republican Idealogue. This is well in keeping with the Oregon tradition and the legacy of Senators Mark Hatfield an Bob Packwood.

The INVISIBLE Jeff Merkley, Oregon House speaker, had better get on his horse and introduce himself to everyday Oregonians soon if he hopes to unseat Smith. Simply having a "D" next to his name will not suffice in our state where, by national standards, EVERYONE is an independen­t.Regards.­..........­..........­..........­..........­..........­..........­..........­..........­..........­..........­......tm

[sarahlane]

Ron Wyden endorsed Jeff Merkley for Senate and is campaigning for him. Gordon Smith votes with Bush/Cheney 90% of the time, so he can hardly be considered a moderate Republican who works with Democrats. This is how Smith works, when he's up for re-election he tries to paint himself as some sort of moderate, but in reality he's a politician who governs for the special interests and not for Oregonians.

Gordon Smith has voted against the minimum wage countless times yet he'll vote for billions in tax breaks for the oil companies. Need I say more?

Gordon Smith voted for the Iraq War and has continued to vote for it and continued to vote to fund it for years. Gordon Smith gave that so-called anti-war speech after his Republican colleagues lost their re-elections bids.

Merkley opposed the war from the very beginning, he had the judgment to know that Iraq was a manufactured threat to our national security not a real threat.

sarahlane, netroots director for OR-Sen candidate Jeff Merkley

[Russycle]

Smith always becomes more liberal before an election. Anyone remember his impassioned critique of the Iraq war on the senate floor a few years back? Didn't take long for him to fall back in to the Republican line on just about everything, including Iraq.

As the Decider once said, Gordon,"Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice...you can't get fooled again." And in this case, he might actually be right.

[TommyMcCarthy]

I remember it well......I just don't remember the "falling back in line" part. Anything specific?......tm

[Russycle]

Check his voting record. If he's opposed any of Bush's policies, I'll be surprised. I do recall that he voted for the next Iraq funding bill. Sad thing is a lot of Democrats are no better.

[bygollymissmolly]

Jeff Merkely better start running for Senator soon because Smith is all over the airwaves. He even has an ad with a couple of older women who say they are Democrats who are voting for Smith. Smith is a snake and he is only a "moderate" for the year or so before re-election. Then he goes right back to being a staunch conservative.

Merkely, where in the hell are you?

[RaraAvis17]

I live in Oregon where Gordon Smith's new ad has two Democratic women voting for Gordon Smith one a Senator and one a former congress woman, and that ircked my butt listening to them sell their bull, and I knew what they were saying was not true and now it has come out. I thought how much did he pay these women to say they were voting for him. I would be embarrassed if I were them.

And then this comes out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcOnOm7Cp0s

[TommyMcCarthy]

Thanks for the link........

Fact is though, Smith WAS out early questioning the administration on numerous aspects of troop protection and care, and it was pretty well known that Smith had HAD IT with the administration's lies and incompetence by early 2006.

There was a rumor that Smith would take to the Senate floor, denounce the war, and call for withdrawal BEFORE the election......but Smith (a politician after all) erred on the side of caution and did so immeditely after, making him one of the very early REPUBLICAN voices so raised.

As far as consistently failing to vote to de-fund the war?.....well Smith has alot of Democratic company there. In fact it's one MORE thing he has in common with none other than Barrack Obama.

Look, I'm a partisan Democrat and was really hoping John Kitzhaber (popular former Governor) would challenge Smith but "Doc" just doesn't want to leave Oregon for D.C. Can you blame him?

All I'm saying is that if Merkley can't bestir himself to say hello to the Oregon electorate pretty soon he might as well just endorse Smith.

It'll take some convincing to get we notoriously independent Oregonians to dump Smith...who even many die-hard Dems like me will admit hasn't done too badly for us.

Regards...­..........­..........­..........­..........­..........­.....tm

[miriam525]

As a former Oregonian, I agree completely. I didn't vote for Smith when he ran the first time, but he pleasantly surprised me by proving everything I suspected about him wrong. He has been independent and and done the right thing from the start.
People are so used to ideologue lock-step republicans, they don't realize there are still still some around with the capacity for critical thinking and ethics. Smith has gone a great job for Oregon, and he is in fact far closer to Obama than Bush politically. I'm a die-hard progressive democrat, but if I still lived in Coos Bay, I'd have no trouble voting for Smith.
Oregon's state motto says it all -- "she flies with her own wings." Hard to understand for some people who toe the party line.

[DieHardObamaSupporter]

I'm not mad at Smith. Hollywood couldn't write s h * t this good. Heeeheee

Wow, I needed a good laugh for today.

[DieHardObamaSupporter]

Now I have seen everything in the world of politics. This is the icing on the cake. The enemy is afraid of being left in the dust and decides to grab BO's coat tail. LOL

[Alfannell]

Heck Maybe Obama could pick Gordon Smith for V.P.

[Lemeritus]

11:05 PST - FISA being debated on C-SPAN 2.

[larry278]

This is not a good day for HP. Try posting NYT & NY POST "p 6" stories till midnight.