Well this is interesting news indeed. Will incumbent republican senator Gordon Smith switch parties next? He's been running from the Republican party since May.

Yesterday I wrote about how Gordon Smith and the Oregon Republican party had released a web ad and website smearing Jeff Merkley's record.  Today, the DSCC fired back with a brilliant ad nailing Gordon Smith on the war on Iraq.  See more below the jump...

Cross-posted from Loaded Orygun: http://www.loadedorygun.net/...

Proof that Jeff Merkley is gaining fast in his quest to be the next Senator from the great state of Oregon increases by the day.  In the latest, the Oregon GOP goes after Merkley's supposed campaign finance violations and then puts up a pathetic website attempting to smear Merkley's tax record.  More below the jump.

Cross-posted from Loaded Orygun: http://www.loadedorygun.net/...

This will be fairly quick, because I am only on a ten-minute break teaching my summer school economics class.

Rasmussen just released a new poll on the Oregon Senate race.

Jeff Merkley now LEADS incumbent Republican Senator Gordon Smith, 43%--41%. If leaners are factored in, the race is all even at 46%.

They also polled the presidential race, giving Barack Obama a nine-point edge in the state (46-37, 49-40 with leaners).

Oregon Senate candidate Jeff Merkley is heading to Austin to attend Netroots Nation! Jeff has always believed that the netroots is a critical part of how we make progressive change in this country. He also knows that upstart, passionate Democratic challengers like Jon Tester and Sherrod Brown need the netroots to defeat entrenched incumbent Republicans like Gordon Smith.

Follow me below the fold to find out more about Jeff's visit to Austin...

Full disclosure; I am the netroots director for OR-Sen candidate Jeff Merkley

Amid skyrocketing oil, gasoline, coal, and electricity (coming to a neighborhood near you) prices, 2008 offers Americans quite serious and stark choices between knowledgeable, impassioned, and thoughtful candidates when it comes to finding paths toward a prosperous 21st century economy, on the one side, and Fossil-Fool candidates focused on tightening our shackles to the ever-more costly (pollution, financial, otherwise) and archaic oil-coal based energy system.

One of these choices comes in Oregon, where Speaker of the House Jeff Merkley against so-called "moderate" Republican Gordon Smith.  

Jeff was an easy choice for membership in the ranks of the Energy Smart Act Blue page. Join me after the fold for some indications as to why.

In the North Carolina and Oregon Democratic US Senate primaries this year, two great progressive candidates ran for the nomination: Jim Neal (NC) and Steve Novick (OR).  The DSCC, who is not supposed to pick sides in a primary, appears to have secretly funded their preferred candidates anyway (Kay Hagan (NC) and Jeff Merkley (OR)).

If the DSCC leaders personally had a preference, that’s fine.  BUT IT IS NOT OK TO FUNNEL MONEY TO ONE CANDIDATE OVER ANOTHER IN A DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY!!!!  That's unfairly taking sides and deliberately influencing an election, and that is not what the Democratic Party is about.

Okay then.
This morning, I called Sen. Smith's office and asked if he had changed his mind about supporting the FISA amendments.  I was told by his staffer that he was prepared to vote yes on the bill.  I informed him that if Sen. Smith voted this way, I would make it my life's work to see that come this January, he'd be looking for a job in the private sector.  I, of course added a reminder that he was polling below fifty percent.  And I also let him know that I have both a blog and a web show that I distribute on YouTube, MySpace and Funny or Die and that I have begun posting episodes on Daily Kos.
Sen. Smith voted for against all three amendments.
Perhaps mentioning Funny or Die undercut the seriousness of my threat.

When I woke up this morning, I turned on C-Span to watch the inevitable. A handful of courageous Senators like Feingold and Dodd standing up for what's right while other Senators folded to political pressure. I remember when I first read the constitution of the United States. I was just a kid in public school, maybe 13 years old. We reviewed every amendment and why each amendment was an important part of our democracy. Never in my life did I believe that one day, not too many years later, the U.S. government would completely disregard that sacred document.

Full disclosure, I am the netroots director for OR-Sen candidate Jeff Merkley

John McCain recently demonstrated how freely he will lie about his record on veterans' issues.  

He will lie right to a veteran's face, in fact.

What about his Oregon BFF, Senator Gordon Smith?

Smith has nothing to be proud of when it comes to his voting record on veterans' issues, either.

For example, Smith has an abysmal 40% rating from Disabled American Veterans.

A NY Times profile on the Udall cousins (Mark and Tom), storied Democratic officials from the West, and both with active Senate campaigns, buries an interesting and very disappointing nugget of information way down deep: the two Udalls, despite runnings as Democrats, will support Gordon Smith (R-OR) in his campaign against challenger Jeff Merkley. The reason? He's their cousin.

Here's the relevant passage:

The Smith Campaign has reached a new low in the race for Oregon Senate. Nevermind the misleading ad touting Smith's so-called environmental leadership. The Smith campaign just attacked Jeff Merkley's leadership on the Rainy Day Fund for public schools. The Rainy Day Fund is a savings account for public schools paid for by using the corporate income tax kicker. Here's a snippet from the Merkley Campaign:

On Friday, following a private event hosted by the Oregon Farm Bureau, Senator Smith attacked Merkley for championing House Bill 2707 and "raiding the 'corporate kicker'".

Smith spokeswoman Lindsey Gilbride wrote that, "the Kicker raid took $290 million out of the pockets of hard working Oregon businesses."

Smith's campaign is wrong.  More than 85 percent of the corporate kicker flows to companies who operate outside of Oregon, according to a 2006 analysis by the nonpartisan Oregon Center for Public Policy (OCPP).

Full Disclosure; I am the netroots director for OR-sen candidate Jeff Merkley

Gordon Smith has his story, and he's sticking to it, no matter that it's, well, a lie.

A few weeks ago, I posted on Gordon Smith's deceptive ad, in which he tried to claim that he was just like Barack Obama. He's a little like Charlie Crist who becomes completely heterosexual just before every election, but Gordon Smith miraculously becomes a Democrat before every election.

Local news programs have called him on it more than once. The latest is from a Eugene station, in which Smith once again claims the mantle of Obama-ism for his own.

This appears to be the Obama press release Smith is saying proves that he's just like the Democratic nominee for President.

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Barack Obama (D-IL), Richard G. Lugar (R-IN), Joseph Biden (D-DE), Gordon Smith (R-OR), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Norm Coleman (R-MN) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) today introduced legislation that would reduce U.S. gasoline consumption by nearly half a trillion gallons by 2028 and greatly decrease our dependence on foreign oil.

Yup, Smith really is singled out there, isn't he. He's in pretty good WINO company there, with Lugar who can never quite make up his mind to actually vote against the president, and Coleman, who's just as desperate to keep his day job as Smith.

Here's a reminder for Oregon voters, and especially for Gordon Smith:

Here's the Obama campaign's response to the ad:

"Barack Obama has a long record of bipartisan accomplishment and we appreciate that it is respected by his Democratic and Republican colleagues in the Senate. But in this race, Oregonians should know that Barack Obama supports Jeff Merkley for Senate. Merkley will help Obama bring about the fundamental change we need in Washington," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.

And when he was actually in Oregon in May, here's what he had to say about Gordon Smith:

"Gordon Smith's problem is that he rarely breaks away from George Bush and the Republican agenda that I think has done this country great damage."

Just to set the record straight. The actual Democrat in the race is Jeff Merkley, who also happened to post here today on his opposition to the FISA bill.

Race tracker wiki: OR-Sen

If the Senate had to be associated with a political color, IMO, it would be purple. We have a 51-49 Democratic majority, which doesn't even feel like much of a majority. Without a strong progressive Democratic majority in the Senate, we witness milquetoast bills being championed and real reforms being shelved. If there is one candidate running for the Senate that can influence our Democratic Senators to move to the left, it's Jeff Merkley.

Full disclosure, I am the netroots director for OR-Sen candidate Jeff Merkley

Gordon Smith (R, OR-Sen) is advertising as being in line with Obama in Oregon.  Lincoln Chafee (who lost his Republican RI Senate seat in the 2006 midterm) has left his party.  Today he published a short piece on TPM today which got me thinking of 1980.

Democrats in Congress developed their "Stockholm Syndrome" after Reagan swept to power, caving to him on issue after issue.  It was infuriating.  Chafee's got me thinking that maybe that pendulum is swinging the other way.  President Obama's gonna get bipartisan votes passed in Congress.  The Republicans are going to get thrashed with Obama's coattails.  Mitch McConnell's not going to get iron-fisted discipline out of his caucus any more.  Even if he's still got 42 or 43, I'm thinking filibusters are going to decline dramatically.

I think we've got signs of some really good news here.

Gordon Smith, a Republican from Oregon, has made a commercial where he points out his ability to cooperate with Barack Obama. Check it out below...

Many of my fellow Kossacks are most likely aware of Oregon Senate candidate Jeff Merkley's work in the House on equal rights, workers' rights and combating climate change. Jeff Merkley was the director of Habitat for Humanity and became one of the most effective progressive legislators my state has ever seen. He has a very impressive record on domestic issues, but I'm not sure my fellow bloggers know that Jeff Merkley is one of the strongest national security candidates we've had in a long time. Follow me below the fold to learn about the progressive legislator from Oregon who has serious foreign policy chops.....

Full disclosure, I am the netroots director for OR-Sen candidate Jeff Merkley

This is how shameless Gordon Smith can get. He's trying to tell the people of Oregon that he's Barack Obama's choice for the Senate in Oregon.

"Who says Gordon Smith helped lead the fight for better gas mileage and a cleaner environment?" the ad asks. "Barack Obama! He joined with Gordon and broke through a 20-year deadlock to pass new laws which increase gas mileage for automobiles."

In addition to that ad, his campaign sent out this e-mail (via e-mail, no link):

Gordon Smith: Setting the Record Straight on Energy Independence
Smith teams with Barack Obama to raise gas mileage standard earning praise from Governor Kulongoski
Lake Oswego - Senator Gordon Smith responded to the false attacks from Jeff Merkley's special interest allies today, releasing a new ad setting the record straight on Smith's energy record. Smith teamed with Senator Barack Obama to craft a new and innovative approach to increase fuel mileage standards, reduce foreign oil consumption and protect the environment.

"Gordon Smith and Barack Obama joined forces to protect the environment and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. That's a reality that Jeff Merkley and his special interest allies would like to ignore," Smith campaign spokesperson Lindsay Gilbride said. "The truth: Gordon Smith is a leader in the fight for energy independence."

While campaigning in Oregon during the May Presidential primary, Obama declared their plan "won the support of lawmakers who had never supported raising fuel standards before" in the Salem Statesman Journal. Governor Ted Kulongoski issued a press release praising Smith and Obama for their bipartisan leadership on such a critical issue. Their innovative plan led to a new law (PL #110-140) raising fuel standards by 100 percent.

Here's the Obama campaign's response to the ad:

"Barack Obama has a long record of bipartisan accomplishment and we appreciate that it is respected by his Democratic and Republican colleagues in the Senate. But in this race, Oregonians should know that Barack Obama supports Jeff Merkley for Senate. Merkley will help Obama bring about the fundamental change we need in Washington," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.

And when he was actually in Oregon in May, here's what he had to say about Gordon Smith:

"Gordon Smith's problem is that he rarely breaks away from George Bush and the Republican agenda that I think has done this country great damage."

Just to set the record straight. The actual Democrat in the race is Jeff Merkley, who also happened to post here today on his opposition to the FISA bill.

Race tracker wiki: OR-Sen