Sen. Gordon Smith... Potential Challenge Looming?

--LOOMING--

It should be no big surprise that the rank and file Republicans are not happy with Sen. Gordon Smith. Recently in a BrainstormNW editorial Smith was taken to task for not taking Social Security reform very serious (sorry I could not find the link) and the Gordon Smith team went utterly ballistic on the authors and even tried to drive one of them out of the party.

At the Dorchester Conference this year Smith was met with a pretty cold reception. A source has told me that the Smith folks are concerned about a challenge in the primary. You know something like George H.W. Bush’s wrestling match with Pat Buchanan in, when was that, 1992?
However there is a major hurdle to any Republican that might want to challenge Sen. Smith. First and foremost is money. Smith has a couple of million dollars on hand and any challenger would need a couple of million dollars just to gain the requisite name ID. However a challenger with high name ID and conservative street cred may (I say may) be able to jump that hurdle somewhat.

Secondly anyone within the Republican establishment would really be frowned upon for taking on a sitting Republican. Just remember what happened to Larry George when he took on then sitting state Sen. Charles Starr. So any challenger would probably have to come from outside the establishment.

Enter an old name on a new mission?
Well an old name seems to have quietly appeared on the Coyote’s radar screen. An old name that is, consequently a Republican with very high name ID and very high favorable numbers with the Republican party rank and file. AND is not really beholden to the "certified smart" people in the establishment.

So I did the deed. I asked Bill Sizemore if running for the US Senate, in the Republican primary is a possibility. He said, “That’s not far fetched.”

In a brief discussion with Sizemore on a few things I learned that he is with the party mainstream on immigration (he is the chief petitioner on an English immersion ballot measure). He is of course with the mainstream on tax and land use policy. And he is with the party mainstream on the Iraq war. (He made sure to point out that he is not with ME on the war... We will just have to talk to him about that...yip yip)

Of course all of this is speculation at this point. Well except for the part about Bill Sizemore saying that a Senatorial run is “not that far fetched.” However if certain planets were to align correctly and if Sen. Smith continues his move to the left this situation could have the makings for an eventful fall of 2007. And beyond? I might also point out that images of Sen. Smith standing side by side with Ted Kulongoski favoring state sponsored health care can't be helpful in a Republican primary.

So if there are any “planetary” Republicans in Oregon reading this and you want to give Bill Sizemore some input perhaps you can drop him an email? Try it at: Bill at OTU dot org.

Oh... and you didn’t hear this from me.



Yip Yip