Not a moderate but he plays one on TV

Of course we are talking about Oregon's very own wingnut in disguise, Senator Gordon Smith. Mr Smith knows that an openly wingnut politician can't when a statewide election so he can't afford to "come out of the closet". Over at Blue Oregon Kari Chisholm tells us that Gordon Smith caves to Big Oil.

On Thursday, Gordon Smith confirmed what we've long known: when push comes to shove, the Bush Administration owns him.

Or, to put it in Kerry-speak: Gordon Smith voted for oil drilling in the wildlife refuge after he voted against it.

Kari has some details on Smiths flip flopping if your not familiar with it.

Last August I discussed a story in Willamette Week, Republican Sen. Gordon Smith is under the Dems' hot lights. The story concerns the efforts of the Democratic Party in Oregon to "out" Senator Smith before he is up for reelection in 2008.

Steele, however, says Smith's differences with Bush are fewer and less significant than people think. He points to Smith's opposition to Bush's proposed cuts to Medicaid, which earned the senator a glowing editorial from The Oregonian. Steele notes that later, unnoticed by local media, Smith said he'd support Bush's budget whether it contained those cuts or not.

And now we see the same thing with ANWR.

We must get the truth about Gordon Smith out there to Oregonians. If they hear the truth they won;t like what they hear. The Oregonian will not publish the truth about Smith's record, only the spin they get from the Senator. Bloggers in Oregon may be able to force their hand if they constantly publish examples of Smiths hypocrisy. In addition, a flood of Letters to the Editor from progressive Oregonians would be useful.