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The uniqueness of Republican Gordon Smith in the U.S. Senate can perhaps be summed up with a single phrase: Democrats for Smith.
One of the GOP’s few West Coast voices, he has his own organization and website of Beaver State Democrats who want to see him reelected to a third term. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) even complimented him in the Portland Oregonian. And just last week, when Senate Democrats were looking for Republican support on a housing bill, they found only one ally across the aisle — Smith.
“He’s the last Republican senator on the Pacific Coast,” said Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). “Most of those states have elected pretty liberal Democrats in recent years, and Sen. Smith has always been an independent voice in our conference. It’s clear that the people of Oregon appreciate that.”
Indeed, Oregonians have elected Smith twice. But he secured only 56 percent of the vote in 2002, and polls are mixed on his chances this November. Add in fierce opposition by the Democratic Party of Oregon and its “Stop Gordon Smith” campaign, and you have one of the most closely watched Senate contests this year.
Smith is among four vulnerable GOP senators facing close reelection races, the others being Susan Collins of Maine, Norm Coleman of Minnesota and John Sununu of New Hampshire. With the slender 51-49 Democratic majority frustrating major ambitions of both parties, a switch of even a small handful of seats could dramatically change the chamber’s future.
Smith has been somewhat bolder in recent months than his other three vulnerable GOP colleagues when it comes to bucking his party. Examples include several 2007 votes on U.S. policy in Iraq, abortion funding, children’s healthcare funding, alternative-energy incentives, stem cell research and opposition to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
He has also reached out to the Democratic Conference to align himself with prominent liberals on occasion, teaming up with Edward Kennedy (Mass.) on hate-crime legislation and John Kerry (Mass.) on mortgage loan financing. His own Senate website emphasizes his independence, calling him “a statesman with an independent streak” and saying he “has become known for his ability to cross party lines in the interests of his constituents.”
Smith says his ideology matches that of his constituents and that his voting record is no different this year than in the past.
“I am a Republican senator and I believe in Republican values and principles, but my responsibility is as broad as the people of Oregon and Democrats are a part of that,” he said. “I don’t look at partisanship as being very productive.”
Last week, when Smith supported the Democratic housing legislation, he took a position that is strongly opposed by the banking industry and the rest of his party.
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