Oregon Public Broadcasting

No political race has been the subject of more TV ads in Oregon this year than the battle for the U.S. Senate seat held by Gordon Smith.  The Republican incumbent and his Democratic challenger, Jeff Merkley, have aired more than two dozen ads combined.  

The latest from Smith focuses on Oregon’s urban/rural divide.  Salem correspondent Chris Lehman examines the ad.

Ad Voiceover:  “Too often, it’s Portland first; the rest of Oregon last.  Jeff Merkley makes it worse.”

In this ad, Gordon Smith tries to paint Merkley as an urban lawmaker who doesn’t care about rural issues.  The ad uses several of Merkley’s votes in the Oregon Legislature to make the point.

Ad Voiceover:  “No to more water for farmers.”

This was a contentious 2007 bill that would have allowed farmers to take more water from the Columbia River during the peak summer irrigation season.  The bill died, but lawmakers came back in February and passed a different water bill that addressed many of the same issues.  Merkley voted for that bill.

Ad Voiceover:  “No to 4000 new timber jobs.”

The Smith campaign cites a 2003 bill to expand logging in two coastal state forests.  It’s speculation to say that 4000 new jobs would have been created.  At the time Merkley argued on the House floor that the bill would turn the Tillamook State Forest into a tree farm, and circumvent the state’s forest management policies.

Ad Voiceover:  “Merkley even closed the state’s only office of rural policy.”

This time Smith’s campaign points to a budget bill last year that left out funding for the office. The bill enjoyed broad support including votes from 22 House Republicans.  Merkley says he did work to fund the Office of Rural Policy, but it didn’t win enough votes.

Ad Voiceover:  “No wonder the Farm Bureau gave Merkley an 'F'.”

The Oregon Farm Bureau did give Merkley an “F” on its Legislative scorecard in 2003 and 2005.  But in 2007, the year he was House Speaker, Merkley voted with the Farm Bureau’s interests two-thirds of the time.

That was enough to get him upgraded to a “D”.