Where's Gordon Smith this week? Las Vegas, Houston, & Dallas
Kari Chisholm
Before we get to Gordon Smith's fundraising, let's recap the weekend coverage of the well-dressed Senator.
On Thursday, he did bidding of President Bush and voted in favor of extending the Iraq War, without adding any timelines to the funding package. Nevermind that he said in December that he would be "looking for every opportunity ... to bring our troops home." (Yes, ladies and gents, his pants are on fire.)
On Friday, I checked in with the Senator's Portland office and found out something fascinating: Smith has no public events scheduled in Oregon until... until... until... AUGUST. Truly amazing. Seems that the Senator doesn't want to hear from the people who pay him to serve us in DC.
Thanks to John Calhoun, however, we do know how you can meet Senator Smith - if you're willing to pay for more than just his paycheck:
The answer is on June 16th you can meet the Senator and his special guest, Mitch McConnell for a summer river cruise on the Willamette. (embark at 110 SE Caruthers Street) The boat ride will only cost you $1,000, but if you want to have a picture of Smitty and you to hang in your office it will cost $2,300. Must be an impressive photographer.
But wait! There's more!
An alert reader reminded me of the news item we posted last month. According to The Politico, Senator Smith is hitting the road this week to raise money:
The Senate's endangered Republican quartet is on tour -- a nationwide, months-long fundraising road show likely to stop at a hotel conference room near you.Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said he expects to put together as many as 30 joint fundraising events around the country for the four most vulnerable senators of 2008: Sens. Norm Coleman of Minnesota, Susan Collins of Maine, Gordon Smith of Oregon and John Sununu of New Hampshire.
[The group] heads out on a two-day stint in late May with stops in Houston, Dallas and Las Vegas, according to the NRSC.
I don't have specific event details - but I'll track down some friends in Nevada and Texas - and see if we can't find out what's happening. In any case, it's pretty clear: When it comes time to cast the tough votes, Gordon Smith does the bidding of the President... and then hits the road to raise money, instead of talking to Oregonians about his decision-making.
No wonder his poll numbers are heading back down again. Stay tuned...
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9:30 a.m.
May 29, '07
It's too bad BlueOregon can't afford a research intern. We could run some numbers about the correlation between Smith's return to Oregon and unpopular votes. You could even do an interactive time-lapse map of the country where you could scroll along unpopular votes and watch Smith trot around the country. Alas, we're a blog. Envision.
May 29, '07
I guess we can assume Smith is running in '08. Has he made it official yet?
You would think that SOMEBODY in the mainstream press would find this panhandling road trip to the nether reaches of the country (everywhere but Oregon) worthy of note. Someone at the Oregonian please snap David Sarasohn (and the rest of the editorial board) out of his slumber. Too busy writing about $28 hamburgers, I guess. Jack Ohman seems to be the only one there who's willing to get really critical of our aloof lil' Smithster.
Is Smith's road trip getting any coverage outside the blogosphere? If not, why not?
May 29, '07
PLEASE e-mail OFIR on Smiths boat trip details, many of our members are Democrats and would like to be their with signs for his Majesty and idiot aids to ponder, PLEASE. [email protected]
11:57 a.m.
May 29, '07
Rick, all we know is what John posted.
Of course, you can pretty much count on the Smithies to change their plans now.
May 29, '07
Why is this really even a story? Everyone fund raises, so why should Smith be any different? I know that Senator Wyden has had events in New York City, and in various other states.
4:58 p.m.
May 29, '07
Steve,
The issue is not that he is fundraising. It is that he is not meeting with his constiuents for months at a time except for those who pay him for the privilege. He is not willing to be challenged by those who might disagree with him and this puts him in the same bubble as Bush.
May 29, '07
Ah, doesn't most of Oregon agree with Smith on issues, especially Iraq?
May 29, '07
The Bay Area New Democrats, just south of Houston - is a very well-organized and effective Democractic activist group, lead by the outspoken and fearless John Cobarruvias. They protested DeLay relentlessly. John was on a mission. DeLay could not go anywhere in public without BAND showing up, John in his faux prison uniform with a sign that is not for family viewing. They had a giant float they trucked around town on a trailer - the "Spank Tom DeLay-Mobile".
Although I'm not sure they'd come out for Smith, they'd come out for Bush or Cheney.
9:01 p.m.
May 29, '07
"Ah, doesn't most of Oregon agree with Smith on issues, especially Iraq?"
Welcome! The answer is no. Here are issues where they differ:
Iraq (Smith just voted to keep it going) ANWR Minimum wage flag burning gay rights assisted suicide health care social security privatization
what have I left out?
10:17 p.m.
May 29, '07
Ah, doesn't most of Oregon agree with Smith on issues, especially Iraq?
Of course! 100% of Oregonians agree with Smith... Why? Because he's taken both sides of many, many, many issues!
He's for the war, he's against the war.
He's for drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, he's against drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge.
He's for gay rights, he's against gay rights.
He's for the minimum wage, he's against the minimum wage.
...and the beat goes on.
May 30, '07
My husband and I often call our Representatives to voice our opinion. All of them have a life person answering the phone. Not so Mr. Smith, you will get his voice mail. On one occasion a person picked up (accidentally it seems) as my husband was immediately switched to voicemail. Seems Mr. Smith is afraid of his constituents. As far as we are concerned we will vote to replace him with just about anyone as long as that person has a pulse.