DPO launches StopGordonSmith.com
This morning, the Democratic Party of Oregon announced that they're launching StopGordonSmith.com - an effort to hold Senator Gordon Smith accountable for his right wing record. From the statement:
As U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) attempts to moderate his right wing history, this new campaign will make sure Oregon voters understand his true record in the United States Senate.“We will hold Gordon Smith accountable for his record as one of President Bush’s strongest allies and his history of voting against the values of Oregonians,” DPO Chair Meredith Wood Smith said. “President Bush already has a personal chef, personal attorney and personal driver. He does not need a personal U.S. Senator.”
Senator Smith votes with President Bush 90 percent of the time according to Congressional Quarterly. As a Senator, he has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with conservative Republicans to limit a woman’s right to choose, worked to reduce environmental protections, called on the United States Attorney General to override Oregon’s “Death with Dignity” law and voted for legislation that would gut Oregon’s minimum wage ordinance.
Smith has consistently raised money for President Bush’s campaigns, proudly campaigned with the President and chaired his 2004 campaign in Oregon.
And while Smith’s rhetoric on the war in Iraq may change from week to week, his votes show that he has consistently supported the President’s war.
“Now that Gordon Smith faces an angry electorate and a difficult re-election campaign he is trying to change his image,” Wood Smith said. “But he can’t escape his track record. Smith’s voting record simply does not represent Oregon’s interests. Tell me, what Oregonian would agree with nine out of 10 decisions this president has made? Only one, and sadly he’s our United States Senator.”
For now, the site invites visitors to sign up (to start building a grassroots movement to defeat Gordon Smith) and to donate (directly to the '08 Democratic nominee, via ActBlue.) The DPO tells us that StopGordonSmith.com will soon include lots of information about Smith's Senate record - and a grassroots activism center for Oregon Democrats to take action.
Discuss.
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April 17, 2007
Posted in open discussion. |
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10:55 a.m.
Apr 17, '07
The DPO kidz are to be commended on their effort and on their neutrality re potential candidates.
That said, Steve Novick will kick off his effort tomorrow down at the longshoreman's hall on Front tomorrow.
Some of us are tired of waiting for Godot......
Apr 17, '07
I want a bumper sticker
Apr 17, '07
I thought that I would get things started here. This is my personal story of the only interaction I have had W/Sen. Smith (R) Or:
I called Sen. Smith's Office in Portland approximately one(1) week BEFORE the vote in the Senate on the "2006 Military Commissions Act".
The person answering the phone in Sen. Smith's office, ( A woman who's name I did not get) informed me that Sen. Smith was "STRONGLY" opposed to the Military Commissions Act(MCA), and would be voting against it. I thanked her for her time and hung up.
One day before the vote on the Senate floor for the Passage/Rejection of the MCA. I once again called Sen. Smith's office to verify his posistion. Once again I was told that the Senator OPPOSED the MCA and would be voting against it.
The day after the vote, (when I discovered that that horrible piece of legislation had passed) I checked to see which way Sen. Smith voted.
SURPRISE, SURPRISE... Sen. Smith VOTED FOR THE MCA!!!
I immediately contatced the Senator's office to see what had changed in the previous 24 hours. The person who answered the phone told me in a rather curt tone, " The Senator does not has Public Statements on His Positions", then asked if I had any other questions. At which point I terminated the call.
So there you have it, my one and only(well 3) interation(s) with Senator Gordon Smith (R) Oregon.
Senator Gordon Smith: You Can't believe a word he says'!!
11:36 a.m.
Apr 17, '07
The BlueOregon community isn't falling for Gordon Smith's headfake to the center with carefully chosen votes meant to demonstrate his independence from the Bush administration.
We need an experienced Democratic candidate with a long list of accomplishments to beat Gordon Smith. Voters will have to be convinced that a Democrat is better than the kinder gentler Gordon Smith he's trying to sell.
Saw a cool bumper sticker: "I Miss Nixon."
11:43 a.m.
Apr 17, '07
I want a bumper sticker
Great idea! We'll work on that...
11:45 a.m.
Apr 17, '07
Kari--
I was thinking the same thing. Could Witham & Dickey churn some of these out real quick?
You could also use a place like Cafe Press to get bumper stickers in people's hands right away, and then switch over to the local union produced ones as soon as they were ready.
Apr 17, '07
This morning, the Democratic Party of Oregon announced that they're launching StopGordonSmith.com - an effort to hold Senator Gordon Smith accountable for his right wing record. From the statement
I just got spammed by them. About six differnet emails.
Kinda slimey. But at least they weren't offering to enlarge my body parts.
Thanks JK
12:31 p.m.
Apr 17, '07
I have come into a small supply of "I miss Bill" bumper stickers from the Clinton Presidential Center and will be happy to send one to the first five people who email me to request one. No charge, just send me your snailmail address.
But you have to promise you'll actually put it on your car, bike, Segway, etc.
Apr 17, '07
I find it personally very hypocritical that Kari Chisolm has turned all of his BlueOregon traffic into such a lucrative career for his company, Mandate Media. How much did you get paid to design the StopGordonSmith website, anyway? It's not the first time you've capitalized like this, and I have no doubt it will not be the last. You love to shame Republicans for being money hungry and anything for a buck; but it's becoming more clear that even you can't seem to resist the capitalist pull when the money's going into your pocket.
1:29 p.m.
Apr 17, '07
1) Blue Oregon isn't just Kari; there are several editors: Jesse Cornett, Kari Chisholm, Jeff Alworth and myself. And of course, many talented contributors. 2) We have been writing about Gordon for a long time; if you think that's just been to promote a third party website you're delusional. 3) Kari has disclosed that Mandate Media is his company so many times he's probably got carpal tunnel by now. This is not new information or surprising to any of our non-troll visitors.
FYI, we soon will implement a new system to manage the uninformative and distracting comments from trolls such as "Little Miss Understood." Stay tuned.
Apr 17, '07
Wow, Little Miss Understood really touched a nerve there, didn't she Charlie! Please, don’t post angry…
None of your "responses" change the fact that Kari has done a bang-up job turning all this Blueoregon traffic into quite the lucrative little enterprise.
We all know Blueoregon is more than just Kari...if you designed websites for liberal causes you'd be making money too!
Threaten censorship all you want, but I would suggest that commentary on all the money Kari is making off this site is very relevant to a post on Blueoregon spotlighting a website that he got paid to design...
2:23 p.m.
Apr 17, '07
How much did you get paid to design the StopGordonSmith website, anyway?
Nothing. I did the design on my own time. My expenses will be covered, but that's about it for now.
2:34 p.m.
Apr 17, '07
I'm not really into defending myself against anonymous trolls, but I'll just this one thing.
BlueOregon is a labor of love. I don't make any money on it. It brings in a little ad revenue from time to time - that helps pay for bandwidth and stuff.
Certainly, if I didn't spend 10-15 hours a week on this non-revenue-generating activity, I could probably be making a heckuva lot more money. And not having to deal with anonymous trolls, either.
As a friend of mine once said long ago, "There are easier ways to make money." I do what I do because I love it. Progressive activism is important to me, and building websites is fun for me. I've found a way to do what I love all day long - and still pay the mortgage.
If you think BlueOregon's credibility is irreparably harmed by the fact that we've all got day jobs - well, don't read it. Go start your own blog. Whatever.
2:37 p.m.
Apr 17, '07
p.s. Go read Alworth's post "Toward Ethical Political Blogging". I think it's what you're looking for.
4:43 p.m.
Apr 17, '07
Many of us around here make money on political stuff. Some are consultants. Some are writers. Some, like Kari and I, do web sites.
Of course we're going to want to tell people about big new web sites that are important to politics in Oregon. A web site done by the DPO against Gordon Smith is huge news and should definitely be covered. And why shouldn't Blue Oregon cover it?
Isn't this what everyone has been asking for? The DPO to take an active stance against Gordon Smith?
And for full disclosure... I built novickforsenate.org, but I don't speak for the campaign.
May 10, '07
I for one like reading blue oregon. Its good to know what the other side is up to; or down to depending on one's perspective.
<h2>By all means stoop to censorship against opposing viewpoints.</h2>