Will Gordon Smith embrace Bush?

The Daily Astorian: 2/12/08

Will Gordon Smith embrace Bush?
Many Americans are eager to see an end to the Republican fetish of ideology

President Bush is ready to embrace Sen. John McCain as his successor. It is amusing that McCain thinks this is a good idea. Of course McCain faces the task of energizing the so-called Republican base, which tends to reside on the right wing. To the extent that McCain is attractive to the rest of us, it is because he has been an independent, pragmatic voice among congressional Republicans.

The New York Times on Sunday devoted space to a discussion among Republicans of the value President Bush brings to the McCain campaign. While Mr. Bush remains in the cellar with 30 percent approval ratings and four-fifths of Americans believing the nation is on the wrong track, the president still packs a wallop with moneyed Republicans.

The pointed and difficult question for all Republicans running in 2008 will be: "What part of George W. Bush's presidency do you accept?" The Iraq War? The economy? Environmental policy? Federal debt?

While Republicans quoted in the Times article thought the president could help Sen. McCain in various ways, GOP senate, gubernatorial or congressional candidates are not likely to rush to Mr. Bush's side.

In Oregon, the Senate race between incumbent Gordon Smith, one of two prospective Democrats, Steve Novick and Jeff Merkley, and Independent John Frohnmayer will assuredly be about George W. Bush. Sen. Smith grasps that and has for some time. Hence Smith's late-night conversion on the Iraq War.

Smith can take comfort in a January poll by Riley Research. That polling indicated a huge, 73 percent bloc of undecided voters when asked about the Democratic candidates for the Senate. But Smith's bottom-line problem is that Oregonians don't know what he's done or whether he's done anything beyond being seen with Sen. Ron Wyden. Smith seems to lack the legislative gene, a problem Wyden assuredly does not have. Riley Research polling indicates Smith's approval rating is stalled in the range of 38 to 39 percent.

Many Americans would like to see an end to the fetish of ideology - the mistaken notion fostered by Republican leaders going back to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich that the other political party's concerns could be ignored.

George Bush will be on the ballot in November, in the sense that this election will be a referendum on his eight years in office. Do we want more of it? That's the question that John McCain and Gordon Smith will be forced to answer.

Posted February 14, 2008
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