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

It is difficult to feel good this 4th of July given the mess the Bush/McCain Republicans have led this nation into. This year alone 438,000 people who lost their jobs. We are well into the Bush's SECOND recession (first president ever to preside over two recessions) with almost no recovery between them. We are officially in a bear market. Food prices are rising worldwide. Oil is at record highs suggesting Americans will have a very, very tough winter. The deficit is WAY above where it has ever been before and no end in sight. And I am not even going into the inept, idiotic and completely useless Bush/McCain Iraq war.

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

Strange week. Saw my first McCain ad this week...and it is clear he is running as a Democrat. Healthcare, alternative energy, environment...all Democratic talking points. We have gone from Democrats feeling like they have to run as Repub-Lite to Republicans trying to hide behind a Democratic facade. You even have a Republican running for Senate in Oregon trying to claim (falsely) that Obama supports him. This is desperation for the Republicans! It sounds like racist attacks have failed them, though I am sure they will try more as time goes on.

Meanwhile yet more polls show Obama ahead in Virginia and Missouri, tied in Florida, AHEAD IN INDIANA (wow!) and within 1-2 points of McCain in North Carolina, Alaska and Georgia. Each and every one of these states was solid Bush in 2004. Now they are either leaning Obama or effectively tied.

More Iraq Moratorium #10 reports. Meg Oldman of Point Arena CA checks in:

Friday, June 20, 2008  was a warm, sunny day; the best kind for protest.  

I represented Iraq Moratorium, and Women in Black by myself, this time.  A good number of people stopped and talked with me about the war, elections coming up later in the fall, and the economy. Drivers going by(more than usual due to being the first day of Summer) honked, whistled and raised their fists high in solidarity.

Overall, I feel that one person DOES make a difference, as witnessed above.  I am excited to sense the populace taking a deep breath and preparing to change the paradigm from one of fear and apathy, to one of focus and and unity.  I am fulfilling my role to facilitate standing together, all over the world, one the same day, at the same time.

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

The following is a preview of the initiatives that are expected to/may qualify for the 2008 fall ballot.  All signatures are due by July 3, 2008 if they have not already been submitted.

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

From oregonlive.com we get this story about a woman claiming GOP candidate Mike Erickson paid for her abortion. Erickson faces state Sen. Kurt Schrader, D-Canby, Nov. 4th. This CD went 54-43% in 2006 but with an incumbent Dem, Darlene Hooley against Erickson (30K vote differential). Sure to be a story not only in Oregon:

An Oregon City woman who dated congressional candidate Mike Erickson seven years ago said she asked him directly whether he wanted to have a baby. He shook his head no, she said, and paid for her abortion.

Now this is something. Gordon Smith has been doing his damnedest for the past two years--knowing how much of a target his Senate seat was going to be--to pretend like he's the Democrat in the race.

And now, here's this ad, with Smith claiming to have been "one of the first to stand up to George Bush and other Republicans to end this war."

(Hint to Democrats--think the Iraq war still doesn't strongly resonate with voters? Obviously, Gordon Smith and the Republicans do.)

Let's just set the record straight. Smith might have been the first Republicans in the Senate to oppose the war, but that was an obvious political calculation, as pointed out in this story by Oregon political report Jeff Mapes:

[Former Oregon representative] Furse might have been accurate if she called Smith one of the first Republicans to oppose the war. But Smith backed the war for more than three years before first speaking out against it days after the 2006 election.

In contrast, all four Democrats in the House delegation voted in 2002 against giving Bush the authorization to go to war. [emphasis mine]

In fact, we saw this coming. Markos, in December, 2006.

Iraq seemed like a great idea to Gordon Smith, until he realized he had to run for reelection.

In an emotional speech on the Senate floor Thursday night, Sen Gordon Smith, a moderate Republican from Oregon who has been a supporter of the war in Iraq, said the U.S. military's "tactics have failed" and he "cannot support that anymore."

Smith said he is at, "the end of my rope when it comes to supporting a policy that has our soldiers patrolling the same streets in the same way, being blown up the same bombs, day after day....

"I, for one, am tired of paying the price of 10 or more of our troops dying a day. So let's cut and run or cut and walk, but let us fight the way on terror more intelligently that we have because we have fought this war in a very lamentable way," he said.

Whoever runs against Smith in 2008, and we have good options who will make this a top-tier race, needs to remind voters that Smith enabled the Bush/Lieberman/McCain war until it was time for his job evaluation.

Jeff Merkley is the candidate making this race top-tier, and he is also on top of Smith's false claims. He's joined by a number of Oregon's high profile Dems, and, happily, local news.

Race tracker wiki: OR-Sen

SUSA has new polling from our three West Coast states. Washington continues its path to Solid Blue status by giving Obama a 55-40 lead. The Pollster.com composite is 54.8-37.6 Obama.

California is similarly safe for Obama, 53-41. The composite also looks good at 52.4-38.9 McCain.

Then there's Oregon...

SurveyUSA. 6/17-22. Likely voters. MoE 4% (5/16-18 results)

From last week:

SurveyUSA. 6/11. Likely voters. MoE 4% (5/7 results)

Both pollsters show an eroding Obama lead, minus seven points according to SUSA, minus six according to Ras. But the polls differ on why that's happening. SUSA has Obama holding steady, with McCain rising, while Ras has McCain steady while Obama drops. The joys of trying to make sense of polling...

Let's look at the internals from the two polls:

SUSA:

Rasmussen:

Look at those crosstabs for men. The two polls couldn't be further apart. The movement in Ras' numbers come from Republicans coming home to McCain. In the SUSA poll, the partisan crosstabs are remarkably stable among the two polls. So why the big McCain gain? A month ago, Republicans were 32 percent of the sample. In the poll released today, they are 41 percent. Remember, SUSA doesn't weigh for party ID, considering it a fluid measure. Ras weighs.

So who has the better system? Both pollsters have excellent track records, so it's a crap shoot. That's why the composite score is still the most accurate measure of the status of a race.

As for Oregon, this means is that my race outlook from earlier this morning is already obsolete -- Oregon is now a yellow single-digit state, with the poll composite score at 47.6-40.5 Obama. This state certainly leans Obama, and he should do fine here, but it can't be taken for granted.

The following is a preview of Oregon's delegates who were recently selected to attend the National Convention (excluding state-level delegates whose results are not posted yet).  More information is available by going to: http://restricted.dpo.org/....  Delegates are listed below by District and Candidate whom they support.

On Sunday, I co-hosted a bake sale to raise money for MoveOn.org's efforts to put progressive candidates in office. Wait, what did you think I meant? Something else?

With 35 Senate seats being contested this year (33 plus 2 special elections), Democrats have only 4 female candidates: Jeanne Shaheen (NH), Kay Hagan (NC), Vivian Figures (AL) and incumbent Sen. Mary Landrieu (LA). That's a shamefully low number. The Republicans only have 2 incumbents, Elizabeth Dole (NC) and Susan Collins (ME), and one sole challenger, Christine O'Donnell (DE).

Overall, this is not a great year for women in the U.S. Senate. The overall outcome will be somewhere between minus 2 and plus 4 female Senators. The most likely outcome is somewhere between minus 1 and plus 1.

So, let's look ahead to 2010. Specifically, to which Democratic female politicians might or should run for the U.S. Senate in 2010.

The floods in the Midwest have continued and I include some information where I can in the Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin sections. Best of luck to all readers in the hard hit areas.

This week I return to an issue I discussed before: Republican cronies litterally killing our troops with no government oversight. This week Democratic Sentor Bob Casey is demanding an investigation of the electrocutions due to bad wiring that have been plaguing our military bases managed by a Hallibruton subsidiary. More below.

Don't you just love it when you can take what was really said on the Senate (or House) floor and tell the real truth to counter some of the lies and misrepresentations put out against our progressive candidates?

There, I said it.  
It's a little far-fetched but there is some solid thinking behind my proposal.
Kitzhaber is the still-wildly popular former governor of Oregon. He's got environmental and health care-reform chops that few can rival.  He's a Caucasian male who has universal appeal in terms of gender and economic strata. Men, women, children and furry woodland creatures all love him. He is equally at home in boots and jeans (and can actually carry it off) as he is at being a stellar legislator (was a State Senate President too).  He leads by thoughtful consensus, is terribly smart and funny, and has strong progressive and populist values.  He may not be Southern or military but has charisma and gravitas to burn.  He's a Dartmouth-educated emergency room doc who hails from a small Southern Oregon town and can fish better than Obama can bowl.  
I say Kitzhaber's hat should be thrown in the Veepstakes mix. (And Earl Blumenauer would make an awesome Transportation Secretary too)