Oregonian endorses....Smith (sigh)

[doubleplusgood]

So, after endoorsing Obama for president, the Oregonian has once again endorsed Gordon Smith for re-election touting his senatorial seniority and his alleged "independence". If only they had used the same criteria that caused them to endorse Smith in the 1995 special election for Packwood's old seat, that, being another GOP senator in the Republican-controlled senate, Smith "could get things done". Never mind of course what kind of things he could get done, like rubber-stamping Bush' odious judicial nominations & supporting Bush 100% on the Iraq war, at least until the day after Republicans were trounced in the 2006 elections & he saw his own political carreer flash before his eyes. So, why wouldn't Merkeley, like Smith, be able to "get things done" in a senate controlled by his party? Jeez....

Read it and weep:

http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2008/10/a_senator_from_oregon_or_vote.html

[dhpgetsit]

1. I won't even wipe my ass with that paper.

[classof56]

2. Gee...just when I was feeling so good about their Obama endorsement.

I'm hoping Merkley will trounce Smith by enough votes to make the message to Gordon loud and clear.

[Quantess]

3. The Oregonian takes pains to make sure they are seen as centrists.

After they endorsed Obama, they felt the need to endorse a republican, so as not to piss off any RW readers.

The Oregonian loves opinions a little too much. At a time when the nation is so divided into right and left, practically any opinion is going to make some of their readers upset, but the Oregonian insists on espousing opinions over objectivity. It's not surprising they are losing readership.

Edit to add: they love editorials by right wingers such as Charles Krauthammer, Rich Lowry, George Will, David Brooks, and Kathleen Parker. They hardly ever print editorials by liberals.

[funflower]

6. May be "seen" as centrists, but the O is a republican paper

Endorsing Obama costs them nothing when Bush probably has a 10% approval rating in Oregon.

Smith is their really important endorsement, and they're spewing the party line about how he's such an Oregon-type guy, very moderate and independent.

I guess the Oregonian is happy to be "independent" of the large majority of potential local readers.

[Ken Burch]

4. Remember, this is the paper that did everything it could to beat Wayne Morse in '68

And gave your state(my birth state)serial tongue molester Bob Packwood.

They were so pro-war that year they endorsed LBJ in the Democratic primary(even though he'd withdrawn from the race a month earlier and Hubert Humphrey was ON THE BALLOT.

No real surprise here.

[Left Brain]

5. ew.

That description of Packwoody is just... ew.

:hi: