Smith’s Franking Mail Fiasco

If you were Gordon Smith, with an unhappy base and vulnerable, would you send an a direct mail piece to Eastern Oregon bragging about working with Hillary Clinton? Neither would I. However, a mailer claiming exactly that showed up in Portland mailboxes about two weeks ago. Even better, Smith used Congressional franking privileges and tax payer money, to send this flier.

Today, Democratic Senate candidate, Speaker Jeff Merkley, is showing the voters the difference between the red Gordon and blue Gordon. Merkley is sending the mailer, intended to go to deep blue Portland, to very red Eastern Oregon. Accompanying Smith’s borderline illegal mailer, was a letter from Merkley, hitting Smith hard for flip flopping:

The enclosed brochure was mailed from Smith’s U.S. Senate office at taxpayer expense. In it he touts work he claims to have done with two prominent Democrats: our other Senator, Ron Wyden, and Senator Hillary Clinton. Smith likes to tell people in Portland that he works closely with Hillary Clinton. Does he talk about his work with prominent Democrats like Hillary Clinton when he’s in your town?

That isn’t the way I will run my campaign. I’ll stand by my principles, no matter what. I won’t pretend to be anyone other than who I am, no matter which part of the state I might be visiting. That’s what a Senator for all Oregonians owes to the people he represents.

Hundreds of conservative voters will find that letter and Gordon Smith’s mailer in their mailboxes in the coming days. I have never lived in Eastern Oregon, but I bet that the people there feel just as strongly that the taxpayers shouldn’t finance Gordon Smith’s spin machine. Fortunately, Jeff Merkley is presenting Oregon voters with a straight shooting alternative.

Why?

We created this joint venture between, jraad and bdunn to examine the 2008 Oregon Senate Race, Oregon politics, and public policy. But Why? With three thesis to write, internships to complete, and an election to win why have we started ForwardOregon?

We have become dissatisfied with our options. The main stream media covers neither the horse race nor policy like junkies require. The blogosphere has its offerings but recently some have been hijacked by people that push distasteful debate and do not let reality and objectivity skew their one sided analysis. We need a new path forward.

This place is that path, somewhere that we can express our opinions, a place where we can dig deep and find the truth behind the lies and the lies behind the truth.