Gordon Smith and the Nuclear Option

Smith going nuclear?
It is likely that Senator Bill Frist will push the button on the "Nuclear Option" this week and Oregon's Senator Gordon Smith more than anyone is between a rock and a hard place.
Knight Ridder on Smith:

Smith is a former Mormon bishop who represents Democratic-leaning Oregon. He's infuriated social conservatives by supporting gay issues and stem cell research, and he recently broke with his party by calling for smaller reductions in the growth of Medicaid spending. He said he's given Frist "a qualified yes" on the anti-filibuster vote, but echoing a sentiment common among those vacillating, he told the Oregonian newspaper: "I never want to cast this vote."

If the "Nuclear Option" turns out to be a dud it will weaken both the Republican President and the Republican Senate Majority leader. If Smith were to cast the vote that killed the attempt to end the filibuster revenge by the Republican Leadership would be swift and damaging.
On the other hand Smith is from the blue tinted state of Oregon. While distrust of the radical Christian right is growing everywhere it is stronger in Oregon. Smith probably has a tough election coming up anyway and a vote to end the filibuster might well be the end of Smith's career in the Senate. He needs moderate Democrats and independents to win a state wide office. Gordon Smith could well turn out to be one of the first casualties of the Republican's pact with the devil.