Parties Debate Smith’s Independence on Oregon Senate Trail
CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
April 10, 2008 – 5:46 a.m.
Parties Debate Smith’s Independence on Oregon Senate Trail
By Annie Johnson, CQ Staff
Oregon Sen. Gordon H. Smith is banking on this strategy to bolster his re-election chances in a year shaping up as a grim one for Republicans: Craft a profile as an independent thinker and put distance between himself and party policies when necessary as he did in breaking with President Bush over Iraq.
With public approval of the national GOP at a rather low ebb, it’s a tough time for even a relatively popular incumbent such as Smith to run as a Republican in Oregon, a swing state that has nonetheless leaned Democratic in recent elections.
Yet Smith’s efforts appear to be enough for the incumbent to stay ahead of the pack. CQ Politics currently rates the race as Leans Republican, though that rating is subject to change based on campaign developments between now and November.
The picture for the race going forward will be clearer after May 20, the closing date for Oregon’s vote-by-mail primary. The state Democratic Party establishment has rallied around state House Speaker Jeff Merkley as its favorite to challenge Smith, citing his experience as a candidate and a legislator. But Merkley is facing a spirited primary contest with liberal activist Steve Novick, best known for leading an effort in 2006 to defeat a conservative-spawned anti-tax ballot initiative and also for his ability to address his personal life challenges with a sense of humor. Other candidates include Candy Neville, whose campaign is centered around her staunch opposition to the Iraq war.
Novick, who stands 4 feet and 9 inches tall and uses a hook to supplant the left hand he was born without, has been selling beer labeled “Left Hook Lager” for $10 a bottle to raise money for his campaign.
The identity of the Democratic nominee also will help election analysts get a better feel for the ultimate impact of the wild card in the race: the independent candidacy of John Frohnmayer, a former chairman of the federal National Endowment for the Arts. Frohnmayer comes from a Republican background — he was appointed to head the NEA by President George H.W. Bush — but it is not yet clear if he will take more votes from Smith or cut into the anti-Smith vote that would normally go to the Democratic nominee.
Smith, who turns 56 years old on May 25, underwent something of an image overhaul earlier in his career as a statewide political figure. When he first ran for the Senate in a January 1996 special election, Smith was best known for his socially conservative views that reflected his Mormon faith.
But after losing that race by a razor-thin margin to veteran U.S. House Democrat Ron Wyden , Smith quickly shifted to a regularly scheduled, open-seat Senate race that was held later than same year. In that contest, he played up his views on economic issues and played down his socially conservative views somewhat. He won a close victory over Democrat Tom Bruggere, who, like Smith, was a wealthy business entrepreneur. Working in cooperation with former rival Wyden on Oregon issues after his arrival in Washington, Smith developed a more moderate image by the time he ran in 2002 for a second term, and he breezed to an easy win by 56 percent to 40 percent over Bill Bradbury, Oregon’s Democratic secretary of state.
While he still projects himself as a “pro-life” candidate, Smith has surprised some observers with his votes on hotly debated social issues in recent years. For example, he has sponsored legislation to expand federal funding for medical research on stem cells taken from surplus embryos at in vitro fertilization clinics. Some researchers say Parkinson’s disease, which runs in Smith’s family, is one of the ailments that could be ameliorated through stem cell research.
Smith also puzzled some party conservatives by joining with Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy on a measure to designate attacks against homosexuals because of their sexual orientation as “hate crimes” under federal law. Smith, though he has voted for proposals to amend the Constitution to effectively ban same-sex marriage, said gays must be protected from crimes motivated by “bias and hate.”
The biggest rift between Smith and most members of his party, though, is over how to proceed with the war in Iraq. In 2002 Smith voted in favor of authorizing the war in Iraq. In 2006, as popularity for the war began to plummet, Smith was still among those to vote against a phased withdrawal of troops beginning that year. But in December 2006, he stated on the Senate floor that U.S. “tactics have failed” in Iraq. He said that “supporting a policy that has our soldiers patrolling the same streets in the same way, being blown up the same bombs, day after day,” is “absurd,” adding, “It may even be criminal.”
More recently, Smith voted against providing $70 billion in unrestricted funds for Iraq and Afghanistan, opposing the will of a president he has historically supported.
Despite the discomfort some in his party may feel about Smith’s breaks with the party line, GOP strategists say the incumbent’s actions put him in strong position to win another term in Oregon. “Gordon Smith fits Oregon very well,” said Brianne Hyder, communications director for the Republican Party of Oregon. “He has an independent streak that Oregonians appreciate.”
But Democrats argue that Smith has not been seriously tested since his two Senate contests back in 1996, and portray him as vulnerable this year. “He hasn’t been in a real race for 12 years and now he has a record to defend,” said Marc Siegel, communications director for the Oregon Democratic Party. “That is something we’re talking about.”
A Democratic-associated Web site, www.StopGordonSmith.com, charges that the incumbent has raised nearly $1.5 million from interest groups who these critics portray as controlling his vote on issues related to climate change. They also cite Smith’s reluctance to co-sponsor a bill on climate change with Wyden as evidence that the two do not, in fact, get along.
“Gordon Smith runs from his record faster than an Olympic sprinter,” said Siegel in a post on the Web site. “It’s established that Smith disguises his record. It’s established that he rakes in the special interest money and churns out their legislation. It’s established that Gordon Smith opposes Ron Wyden on the important challenges facing Oregon.”
Democrats also contend that Oregon, while still politically competitive, is a place where voters increasingly have been giving Democratic candidates the benefit of the doubt. The Democrats have carried the state in the past five presidential contests dating to 1988. Democratic nominee Al Gore defeated Republican George W. Bush there by just half a percentage point in 2000, but his margin may have been reduced by the 5 percent of the vote claimed that year by liberal activist Ralph Nader running on the Green Party ticket. Democrat John Kerry won the state in 2004 by the close but more comfortable margin of 4 points.
Along with Wyden holding one of the state’s two Senate seats, Democrats currently represented four of the state’s five House districts; Democrat Theodore R. Kulongoski is in his second term as governor; and his party holds majorities, albeit narrow ones, in both chambers of the state legislature.
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