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.