Bob Saget? More like Mitt Romney

How did comedian Bob Saget get dragged into the Stop Gordon Smith Campaign's discussion about Gordon Smith's record of contradictions, fact bending and inaccuracies?

Let's let the Gordon Smith Campaign explain.

Smith Campaign Invokes Bob Saget To Make Light of Smith Tracking Operation

While trying to distance the Gordon Smith campaign from news that a Republican Party operative is using aliases when trying to get information on Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Merkley’s campaign events, Smith’s spokesman R.C. Hammond joked about why the DPO would track Gordon Smith.

“Asked about Lussier’s deep-cover espionage tactics, Hammond said: ‘Our experience with trackers during this campaign has come from watching the Democrats and their effort to catch the Bob Saget moment of Gordon Smith somewhere running around Oregon.’”
(The Register-Guard, 1-20-08)

Why The DPO Tracks Gordon Smith

“The Say Anything Senator’s contradictions, fact bending and inaccuracies may be amusing to his staff, but they are no joke to Oregonians,” DPO Chair Meredith Wood Smith said. “We’re tracking Smith for the same reason editorial writers, Smith’s supporters and political activists throughout the state have criticized him. He will say anything to win re-election.”

Here’s just a few examples of why it’s necessary to closely track Smith’s comments. Note that even his allies have groused about his authenticity and accuracy:

1.Smith told Oregonians during his 2002 campaign he would oppose drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He got elected, and then ended up voting to drill in ANWR.

“Smith has been running spots in Portland that emphasize...his opposition to oil drilling in the arctic wilderness.”
(The Oregonian, 10-10-02)

2.After boasting about his coordination with Dick Cheney and the White house during his 2002 campaign – including running TV ads on the subject – Gordon Smith backtracked in 2007 on his coordination with the White House on diverting Klamath River water that decimated coastal fishing economies.

3.Last month, The Oregonian questioned Smith’s contradictions on U.S. Sen. Trent Lott and segregation.

“The senator's tribute to the GOP leader could have been more clearly, and less contradictorily, expressed.”
(The Oregonian Editorial, 12-20-07)

4.Early this year, former Portland area television host and 2006 Constitution Party gubernatorial candidate Mary Starrett questioned if Smith is “genuine in his opposition to the war.”
(Mapes on politics, The Oregonian, 1-3-08)

5.In November, a loyal Smith supporter, Bend Republican Dave Eaton, said Smith “doesn’t stand for anything other than his own re-election.”
(The Bulletin, 11-27-07)

6.An August editorial by The Register-Guard criticized Smith for bending and omitting key facts when discussing the Klamath River water diversion that decimated coastal fishing economies.

7.Earlier in August, Smith’s own allies said they did not believe Smith’s version of events regarding the Klamath River water diversions.

“Commercial fishing advocate Glenn Spain said Smith has been an ally over the years. But after reading the senator's comments, Spain said Smith's version of those events in 2002 did not square with his own.”
(The Register-Guard, 8-11-07)

“Let’s leave Bob Saget out of this debate,” Wood Smith said. “Mitt Romney, who has taken flip flopping, backtracking and contradiction to new heights during his presidential campaign is a more apt comparison for Gordon Smith. Both Mitt Romney and Gordon Smith will say anything to get elected.”

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