Jeff Merkley: Time to End the Smith Myth

Gordon Smith Votes with George Bush 90 Percent of the Time

As he launched his general election campaign today, House Speaker Jeff Merkley declared that it was time to end the Smith Myth. While he says he's a moderate, Republican Gordon Smith has voted with George Bush 90 percent of the time.

Merkley pointed to Gordon Smith's record in Washington D.C. and said that Smith has been a "rubber stamp" for the Bush Administration on the most important challenges Oregon families face.

Smith supported Bush tax breaks for oil companies at a time of record gas prices [Senate vote #222, 6/21/07].
Smith supported Bush tax loopholes for corporations that ship jobs overseas [Senate vote #63, 3/17/05].
Smith supported Bush as he spent America into more than 9 trillion dollars of debt [TreasuryDirect.gov, accessed 5/20/08].
Smith stood with Bush when he led America into an unjust war in Iraq with no plan to bring American soldiers home [Senate vote #237, 10/11/02].

New polls show Merkley in a statistical dead heat with Smith, who spent over $500,000 in the primary on negative commercials falsely attacking Merkley. Over the next several weeks Gordon Smith will continue his negative smear campaign in an effort to run from his record supporting the most powerful special interests in Washington D.C.

Smith has taken$296,871 from the lobbying industry and opposed bipartisan ethics reform. [Center For Responsive Politics; Senate vote #77, 3/28/06, Senate vote #18, 1/18/07]
Smith has taken more than $275,000 from oil and gas interests and delivered $18 billion in taxpayer subsidies to big oil companies. [Center for Responsive Politics; Senate vote #69, 4/2/98; Senate vote #456, 11/21/03; Senate vote #67, 4/7/04; Senate vote #331, 11/17/05]
Smith has raised over $760,000 from the timber industry and voted to gut environmental regulations. [Center for Responsive Politics; Senate vote #266, 9/9/99]
Smith has taken more than $265,000 from pharmaceutical companies, and voted against allowing the federal government to negotiate for lower drug prices for seniors. [Center for Responsive Politics; Senate vote #60, 3/17/05]

Jeff Merkley spent his early years in rural Oregon in communities where the children of loggers and mill workers learned the value of honest work, good neighbors, and strong families. Jeff earned scholarships and became the first in his family to go to college. He went on to serve as a national security analyst, first for the Pentagon and then for Congress. After returning to Oregon with his wife Mary, Jeff led Habitat for Humanity and worked to help families work their way into the middle class by purchasing a home, starting a business, or saving for college.

As Oregon's next U.S. Senator, Jeff Merkley will take on the special interests and fight for regular hardworking Oregonians. He will take on the big insurance and drug companies to make health care more affordable and accessible for all Americans. He will fight to end unfair trade deals that have cost Oregon 70,000 manufacturing jobs and close tax loopholes for corporations that ship jobs overseas. And Merkley will work to end the war in Iraq, bring our sons and daughters home, and fulfill the commitment we have made to our veterans and men and women in uniform.

Today, Jeff Merkley lives in East Multnomah County with Mary, a registered nurse at Providence Portland Medical Center, and their two children, Jonathan age twelve and Brynne age ten.

Posted May 21, 2008
Press