Of late, Gordon Smith has been tagged many times for trying to run from his conservative voting record and mislead voters into thinking he works well with Democrats:
Sen. Wyden asks Gordon Smith to pull ad with his signature
Harry Esteve, The Oregonian
10/10/08
Oregon's senior U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden has been appearing in TV ads praising Jeff Merkley, a fellow Democrat running against Republican Sen. Gordon Smith.
So what's Wyden doing in a new Smith ad?
Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden appears in campaign ads - willingly - for Jeff Merkley, speaker of the Oregon House, and - not so willingly - for incumbent Sen. Gordon Smith. Wyden, who supports Merkley in the Senate race, is asking the Smith campaign to pull the ad because it uses his signature without permission.
...
Wyden, however, doesn't find much humor in the ad. He's particularly upset that the ad includes his signature at the end, superimposed on a photo of the two senators, and he's asking the Smith campaign to pull the ad.
"I guess we should be flattered by all the attention," said Josh Kardon, Wyden's chief of staff in Oregon. "But the unauthorized use of Ron's signature is no laughing matter. Its use will confuse voters about who Ron supports in this race, and the ad should come down."
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August 1, 2008
Smith Cites Work With Obama and Kerry in New Ad
@ 2:40 pm by Walter Alarkon
Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) has already run one ad featuring the Democrats' 2008 standard bearer, Barack Obama. Facing a tough re-election race against Democrat Jeff Merkley in a blue state, Smith has just released another ad that features both Obama and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.).
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Chuck Schumer and the DSCC have been ALL OVER this race, with lots of ads, for months. And they are all over this issue as well. I just saw this great ad from the DSCC running here in Oregon:
Nothing could be further from the truth than comradery between Smith and his colleagues across the aisle. In fact, Gordon Smith has the habit of hurling the label "socialist" at Democrats as if it was the worst epithet he can think of:
As I mentioned earlier, I love the compassion I hear from my Democratic friends. Yet when I look at some of the policies that are advanced, what I see are policies designed to make the United States more like Western Europe, more like socialist democratic welfare states.
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And:
The senator quickly dismisses Democratic criticism of his votes.
"I've beaten them more than they've beaten me," he says. "The Democratic Party is not my constituency. These are people that believe in socialism. I don't."
That last line has special irony given his recent campaign ads. What a jerk! Smith has since scrubbed that interview from his website after it was pointed out in the blogs a few weeks ago. link to scrubbed page
Smith certainly seems to be on the same page in his thinking as his BFF John McCain, who, just this morning as diarist briefer pointed out, called Barack Obama a "socialist" in his radio address and in a speech to supporters:
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Saturday accused Democratic rival Barack Obama of favoring a socialistic economic approach by supporting tax cuts and tax credits McCain says would merely shuffle wealth rather than creating it.
"At least in Europe, the Socialist leaders who so admire my opponent are upfront about their objectives," McCain said in a radio address. "They use real numbers and honest language. And we should demand equal candor from Sen. Obama. Raising taxes on some in order to give checks to others is not a tax cut; it's just another government giveaway."
UPDATE: McCain was just on MSNBC giving a speech before the faithful. It does look like he is pivoting to a full "he's a secret socialist" theme. The crowd was going way nuts. This will energize the base. What will it do for moderate republicans and independents? Tune in next week folks..
Send Gordon Smith back to his frozen peas. DONATE TO JEFF MERKLEY!
DONATE TO JEFF MERKLEY!
DONATE TO JEFF MERKLEY!
DONATE TO JEFF MERKLEY!
DONATE TO JEFF MERKLEY!