Blue, Blue Oregon
Over at Newshoggers, my old colleague Ron Beasley shows up with one of the more arcane bits of political news in a season already ripe with weirdness. It appears that Republican Senator Gordon Smith is running television ads for he reelection bid showing how much he is in line with… Barack Obama?
In the ad, Smith, running hard away from Bush, associates himself at length and explicitly with Obama.
“Who says Gordon Smith helped lead the fight for better gas mileage and a cleaner environment?” the female narrator asks. “Barack Obama.”
The ad shows Obama’s face and an image of his website.
“I approve working together across party lines and this ad,” Smith closes.
As Ron points out, however, Obama isn’t exactly giving a warm welcome to his newest fan.
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.
We interviewed Jeff Merkley on our radio show a few months ago. He seem like a pretty level headed fellow. Should he succeed in his bid to unseat Smith, he will have removed the last Republican Senator on the west coast. The GOP is certainly having brand image problems when you see ads like this running. Did I mention that Gordon Smith is also John McCain’s campaign manager in Oregon? Political theater meets Twilight Zone.
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3 Responses to “Blue, Blue Oregon”
I'm surrised he can do that, hijack Obama's brand to promote himself.
I'm really surprised that's legit.
That's terrific. The state campaign manager for McCain using Obama as a pseudo-endorsement. I wonder if Smith will next run ads for McCain where Obama pseudo-endorses the Arizona Senator.
I don't see why Smith can't use an ad mentioning Obama in a positive way. After all he is saying that he worked with Obama in the past and in a bipartisan way. It may be a lose for McCain, but the campaign ad is for Smith's reelection.
If I were Obama I'd trot out the ad anytime any other Republican claimed that Obama did not work across party lines. I mean what greater proof can you offer than a Republican ad, and it's on an issue, the environment, that is a big concern to a lot of folks. Obama can show the ad in places like Georgia- after all Smith is only running in OR, the folks in GA can't vote for him… and what's Smith going to do? Complain that his ad is receiving too much air time?