Everybody knows voters this year are looking for change, and every politician is trying to position himself as The Candidate of Change - even Oregon's Gordon Smith, who's been in the U.S. Senate since 1997.
Gordo has been running TV ads bashing Steve Novick and Jeff Merkley, the two leading Democrats vying to take him on in November. One ad hits both of them as tax-and-spenders, concluding: "Jeff Merkley - Steve Novick - more of the same, when it's time for a change." Another attacks Merkley individually, concluding with the same phrase but with Novick's name omitted.
Commenting on the second ad, Jeff Alworth at BlueOregon writes: "Leaving aside for a moment the unsourced lies and misdirection, let's parse the ad for what it is, a blueprint of fear.
"The Republican Party is a badly damaged brand. Voters now associate it with corruption and incompetence, and incumbent Republicans are trying to wash the stain from their Scarlet Rs.
"So Smith hits Merkley for being the corrupt one and he ends with this capper: 'Jeff Merkley, more of the same when it's time for a change.' Let's see, why would a 12-year senator be hyping himself as a candidate for change?"
Good question, Jeff.
