Senate '08: Gordon Smith, Mike Erickson, and the imprimatur of authenticity

Kari Chisholm

I've been doing some thinking about the big ol' dust-up late last week. To recap: Smarting from the ad in which Ron Wyden spoke straight to camera and endorsed Jeff Merkley, Gordon Smith released an ad featuring his own Ron Wyden clips.

The Smith ad included a forged Ron Wyden signature. Wyden asked them to take the ad down, and under pressure, Smith edited the ad to remove the signature.

But let's go back to the initial decision to include the forged signature. Why was the forged Wyden signature in the ad in the first place?

After all, a signature isn't exactly a pretty graphic design element. A signature exists for one, and only one, reason: to convey the imprimatur of authenticity. It's a validator. It says, "this is approved".

In short, forging a signature is a kind of fraud. It's a lie.

What kind of person would do that? Gordon Smith already had the clips of Ron Wyden saying nice things about him (to the frustration of a lot of Democrats), and the clips of the two of them walking in a parade, waving flags... But it's a sign of how desperate Gordon Smith has become in this campaign: Those clips weren't enough, he had to have the imprimatur of authenticity - Wyden's signature. And so, his campaign forged it.

What kind of person would do that? What kind of campaign would go that far?

Oh yeah, I know: Mike Erickson. Remember the Oregonian's editorial in May?

Ugly developments in Oregon's 5th Congressional District race make it clear that one of the leading Republican contenders should drop out. ...

Erickson has put out campaign materials that appear to have misrepresented his employment history and political endorsements. Oregon Right to Life, for example, has endorsed Mannix in this race, yet some of Erickson's campaign literature makes it seem as though he is the group's favored candidate.

Then there's the cloud over Erickson's political past. He was disqualified as Portland State University student body president during the 1987-88 school year when the student constitution committee found that he altered a letter written by then Gov. Neil Goldschmidt to make it appear as an endorsement. In a failed bid for the Oregon House in 1988, Erickson did a similar thing with a letter from then Sen. Mark Hatfield.

"Political sociopath" is an awfully harsh label, but it's going to stick on Erickson...

Here's hoping that the Oregonian sees the parallels between Erickson's behavior and Smith's. Equally disturbing, equally wrong. (But I won't hold my breath.)

And a couple of quick hits on the Senate race:

• Tonight at 7 p.m., Gordon Smith and Jeff Merkley will face off in Medford at the studios of KOBI. In Medford, the debate will be live on-air on KOBI (channel 5). In Klamath Falls, the debate will be live on-air on KOTI (channel 2). In Eugene, the debate will be live on-air on KEVU (channel 4).

  Tape-delayed broadcasts will be available Oregon Public Broadcasting, Southern Oregon Public Television, and Eugene's KLSR (channel 5). It will also be available online at kobi5.com, immediately following the debate (approximately 8 p.m.)

• In the last debate, Gordon Smith talked about how the ads have upset his wife -- entirely forgetting that it's Smith who ran those horrible rapist ads (on the Hallmark channel, at 3 p.m., during re-runs of Little House on the Prarie). Tucked into a longer AP story, Jeff Merkley talks about the effect of those ads on his own family:

  "I had to sit down with my children and prepare them in case other children asked them about these ads. It's something no father should have to do," said Merkley, who has two children.

• Finally, Jeff Merkley has a new ad out today featuring veterans:

By Kari Chisholm Oct. 13, 2008