Gordon Smith is not going to run for Governor of Oregon
Looks like Smith has himself a new gig as the CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters:
Former U.S. Senator Gordon Smith is the NAB's new President/CEOThe Republican from Oregon served two terms (1996-2008) and sat on the Senate committee that oversees the Federal Communications Commission. He grew up in Oregon and Maryland, and after practicing law in New Mexico and Arizona, returned to Oregon to run the family’s Smith Frozen Foods business. He served in the Oregon state Senate and rose to become its president before winning a U.S. Senate seat in 1996. He lost his bid for re-election last year. His family connections include a brother was appointed a federal judge by George W. Bush, and he’s related to the Udall family which has supplied several U.S. Senators. His adopted 21-year-old son committed suicide in 2003, which led to the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act, which provided money for suicide counseling in colleges. At the NAB, Smith succeeds President/CEO David Rehr, who ended a 3-½ year tenure in June of this year. Smith will appear at next week’s NAB Radio Show in Philadelphia, and will officially take over the job November 1.
This would make it rather tough to campaign for a statewide position in Oregon, given that the NAB is in Washington D.C.
This guy left Oregon and never looked back.
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September 18, 2009 |
Carla Axtman | Comments (55 so far)
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Comments
Posted by: Old Ducker | Sep 18, 2009 12:28:34 PM
JJ, Smith was no prize either. I suppose it's boring to run a pea packing plant and I don't blame him for using his wealth to create jobs for Oregonians. I wish Smith well, I guess, in some career outside of government.
Btw, just noticed that We're Number Three! No, obviously not Oregon football, but rather unemployment. Oregon is only led by Nevada and Michigan (and tied with California). Great job, Democrats!
Posted by: Old Ducker | Sep 18, 2009 12:29:56 PM
should read, "blame Smith for NOT creating..." Need to proof before I send (sigh).
Posted by: Bill R. | Sep 18, 2009 12:40:54 PM
This means the GOP has only some second stringers with no realistic shot.
Posted by: git r done | Sep 18, 2009 12:49:11 PM
JJ Thanks for the lesson in acting like adults.
Posted by: paulie | Sep 18, 2009 1:21:51 PM
No wonder folks are leaving the Republican Party in droves. Senator Merkley is future-focused and committed to serving the state of Oregon. He is willing to take on the challenges of this country. Like Wyden, he will visit every county and hold townhalls.
Posted by: Robert Collins | Sep 18, 2009 1:33:20 PM
I know you blue leaning folks love dancing on Smith's grave, but you need to remember.... it was the right that gave Smith the boot, not the left.
Gordon so po'd the hard right base over his "criminal war" speech on the floor that the Constitution party guy picked up enough to send Gordon packing. That was how Merkely got elected. If the right had not turned on Smith, there was no way Merkely would have been elected.
Posted by: Carla Axtman | Sep 18, 2009 2:33:08 PM
Whatever the reason he was booted...who cares. The guy left Oregon, like I knew he would, and never looked back.
It's been my contention for a long time that Smith is a corporate DC guy who liked the perks of being a Senator. It's not about serving Oregon for him..it's about serving Gordon Smith.
Posted by: Carl Fisher | Sep 18, 2009 3:00:36 PM
Gordon who??
Posted by: Lupita Maurer | Sep 18, 2009 3:14:34 PM
I am glad to hear. This was keeping me up at night...
Posted by: Lupita Maurer | Sep 18, 2009 3:14:39 PM
I am glad to hear. This was keeping me up at night...
Posted by: Lupita Maurer | Sep 18, 2009 3:14:57 PM
I am glad to hear. This was keeping me up at night...
Posted by: rw | Sep 18, 2009 3:48:35 PM
Yes, Ducker, the Dems have a great [HUGE] job ahead of them, don't they? COrrecting the disasters visited upon the people by eight years of terrible misrule. Federal realities o so often affect state and local situations so intensely they are more derivations of the federal mismanagement than not.
Posted by: Carla Axtman | Sep 18, 2009 3:58:23 PM
rw rocks.
Posted by: Jack Roberts | Sep 18, 2009 4:10:55 PM
It's been my contention for a long time that Smith is a corporate DC guy who liked the perks of being a Senator. It's not about serving Oregon for him..it's about serving Gordon Smith.
I have to call BS on that. Gordon was a lawyer, I think down in Arizona, when the family business was sold to someone who ran it into the ground. Gordon moved to Pendleton, bought back the business, and made it a success.
And, unlike a lot of successful people, he didn't assume he could start at the top but at least ran for, and served in, the state senate, which is more than Tom Bruggere could say.
I think it's tough to lose a close race like he did and I'm sure that life in Washington, D.C. offers a lot of things that Oregon doesn't (after all, it was Oregon's Democratic U.S. Senator Richard Neuberger who coined the phrase They never come back to Pocatello), but from my personal experience with Gordon both as a state senator and as a United States Senator, I think your characterization of him couldn't be more wrong.
Posted by: JJ | Sep 18, 2009 4:18:29 PM
RW,
From urban dictionary: an ass clown is "one, who, through the fault of his parents conception, is a skid mark in society's collective underwear." or "One whose stupidity and/or ineptitude exceeds the descriptive potential of both the terms ass and clown in isolation, and in so doing demands to be referred to as the conjugate of the two". Both of which fairly accurately describe Merkley...although both probably fail to fully encapsulate just what a truly miserable and incompetent piece of sh#t he really is...hope that was helpful.
Posted by: Jay | Sep 18, 2009 4:30:48 PM
It's no secret that Gordo took the loss to Merkeley very personally. And the NAB as a few Mormon ties that probably looked pretty good to him.
Meanwhile, the NAB got a very good lobbyist, I'm sure.
Posted by: Jay | Sep 18, 2009 4:35:30 PM
And who says the Dems have a starter in the race yet?
Guys coming off their retirement party to run for Gov make a lot of voters nervous.
Posted by: joel dan walls | Sep 18, 2009 4:40:52 PM
That was a great, pithy bit of analysis by JJ, to go along with his description of "the bleeding heart band of retards that make up a voting majority of our state at the moment". Clearly JJ's insight, presumably transmitted to us on behalf of teabaggers, birthers, and deathers everywhere, should give us cuase for reflection.
Posted by: rw | Sep 18, 2009 5:32:39 PM
JJ: thank you for the erudite reading.
Now, I have another question, scratching my head here.
What is "projection"?
C'n you help me out?
Posted by: Greg D. | Sep 18, 2009 5:36:29 PM
Time to place your order for your official Oregon governor's inaugural ball cowboy boots. The fancy alligator ones can take up to a year to hand craft, so don't delay.
Posted by: Pedro | Sep 18, 2009 6:09:45 PM
This means the only hope for Oregon's Elephants is Walden. As the Hibbits poll shows Atkinson and Alley have nothing. My money says Walden goes for it.
Posted by: carla axtman | Sep 18, 2009 6:28:48 PM
I think it's tough to lose a close race like he did and I'm sure that life in Washington, D.C. offers a lot of things that Oregon doesn't (after all, it was Oregon's Democratic U.S. Senator Richard Neuberger who coined the phrase They never come back to Pocatello), but from my personal experience with Gordon both as a state senator and as a United States Senator, I think your characterization of him couldn't be more wrong.
Jack: Smith didn't grow up here and his only real roots are the frozen food business. He grew up in the DC area and has lived there during his terms as Senator.
He didn't hold town hall meetings often at all. He didn't come out and meet us as constituents...believe me, I tried to find opportunities to meet and talk with him and it was exceptionally difficult. Even when I visited DC and tried to make an appointment to see him in his Senate office....I was rebuffed.
Constituent relations (unless you were a Republican) were abysmal.
From my experiences (and others that I've spoken with) when it came to Smith's representation, it was never about Oregonians. It was never about what was best for Oregon. It was about him.
Maybe he started out as a guy who gave a shit..but it didn't end up that way, IMO.
Posted by: carla axtman | Sep 18, 2009 6:39:42 PM
JJ:
You need thumb through your urban dictionary again. Next to 'assclown' is your picture.
Seriously..anybody who sincerely believes that Gordon Smith is a superior Senator...much less superior to Merkley is simply not paying attention. Or so incredibly blinded by the "R" that it defies all logic.
Posted by: rw | Sep 18, 2009 7:13:21 PM
Ah, Carla, eating bonbons and pinching the trolls are you again? I could offer you a better vacation my friend. Cabana boys squeal with positively BLUE delight, instead of furious RED-faced consternation....
eating bonbons and pinching cabana boys,
becca
Posted by: mp97303 | Sep 18, 2009 7:22:33 PM
You need thumb through your urban dictionary again. Next to 'assclown' is your picture.
I haven't heard that witty retort since, well.......the third grade. ROTFLMAO
Posted by: Kari Chisholm | Sep 18, 2009 7:41:08 PM
OK, people, enough name-calling. It still sunny this weekend, so go find some other cheap entertainment.
How about some actual discussion about WHY the NAB might have picked him? Am I the only one who has done some googling of past posts at BlueO? Do I have to write my own post here?
Posted by: John Calhoun | Sep 18, 2009 7:58:39 PM
Kari,
NAB picked him because he was a Senator with lots of connections, like all trade groups and lobby associations look to politicians and high administration officials to hire. This is a national disgrace. What happened to the citizen legislator who goes back home after he/she is out of office and goes back to what they were doing before? How many ex-Congressmen and Senators who constantly professed their love for the state they represented, suddenly discover they really don't give a crap about it the moment they lose their office?
Posted by: Kari Chisholm | Sep 18, 2009 8:40:59 PM
Cincinnatus he ain't.
Posted by: alcatross | Sep 18, 2009 8:45:05 PM
Geesh... folks here bitched about Smith pretty much the whole time he was in Washington - and now you're whining because he's not coming back to Oregon to run for the privilege of 'serving' you again (and hear more years of bitching here at Blue Oregon about he's not serving YOU adequately)...
Hell, I wouldn't come back either... Life is short.
Posted by: Carl Fisher | Sep 18, 2009 8:46:53 PM
I think here in Oregon we've done fairly well in regards to our former members coming home:
Elizabeth Furse, Les AuCoin, Jim Weaver, Darlene Hooley, Denny Smith, Jim Bunn, Bob Packwood, Bob Duncan, Mark Hatfield, they're all still around.
I don't know what happened to Mike Kopetski. I'm sure some day Mr. Smith will settle down again back in the beaver state.
Posted by: SW | Sep 18, 2009 10:33:54 PM
There is no pleasing some people. If Gordon had stayed in state, there would be no end to the finger-pointing and sniggering that the Left would doubtlessly indulge in, wherever he landed. At least this way he is making money without the rabble of socialist retards like Carla to whine about his golf clubs. I wish him luck and see no reason he should want to come back. It's a pretty dismal future that the Left has committed us to.
As Maggie Thatcher said, "Socialism is fun until you run out of other people's money."
Posted by: steve | Sep 18, 2009 11:57:47 PM
Gordon Smith was not an effective senator. His major accomplishment in the senate for 12 years was... (Help! someone fill me in). His constituent services and local communication programs were not noted for effectiveness. However, he was a "moderate", or at least he played one on TV, and he had appeal to the center. He's just the kind of politician that could get the GOP back in the game, so it is heartening to hear the loons take credit for his defeat.
Jeff Merkley is IMHO the best of the class of 2008, but Franken may be a strong contender. We'll be able to judge their impact after a few years. That the genetically defective right sees him as a threat is a very good sign.
Posted by: Unrepentant Liberal | Sep 19, 2009 9:36:03 AM
Gordon Smith's time in Washington is notable only because of his record of service to the interests of the national republican party, not to the people of Oregon.
He never really seemed like he even tried to connect with people in the western part of the state and unlike the rebub CW, I think progressives would of given him a fair listen. We are not anti-Eastern Oregonian, in spite of what they may believe.
We'll Gordon's in a place now where he'll have some friends that can appreciate those million dollar golf clubs he owns.
Posted by: Jack Roberts | Sep 19, 2009 10:18:14 AM
Cincinnatus he ain't.
Unlike your client Dr. Kitzhaber, Kari?
Posted by: Patrick Story | Sep 19, 2009 10:43:31 AM
I agree with Karla that GS never cared for remote, agricultural Oregon. Let's face it, to an aristocrat it can be a hardscrabble place. The O story by Jeff Mapes (9/19) gives a lot of facts that resonate. As one example, GS "joined the Washington-based Covington and Burling law firm" = he evaded the required 2-year wait before an ex-senator can lobby his former colleagues, which luckily also enabled him to move permanently into his Maryland estate. (Maryland, with its horses and yachts, is a millionaire's paradise.) I see GS as a sleek, smiling assassin, at the highest levels, of the aspirations of working people. His record as a lobbyist for the National Assn. of Broadcasters--to the extent that it ever becomes known to the public--will demonstrate it. Thank goodness for Jeff Merkley.
Posted by: rw | Sep 19, 2009 10:52:00 AM
I wonder if Smith really even gives a shit that his record is maintained live, here, and under discussion? Does he care?
Posted by: joel dan walls | Sep 19, 2009 11:11:11 AM
The obnoxious "ass clown" comments by JJ and Carla's retort remind me of something I heard 30-odd years ago as a college freshman:
Q: Got a match?
A: Yeah, my ass and your face.
I offer this as being certainly on the intellectual level of teabaggers like JJ.
Posted by: rw | Sep 19, 2009 11:27:25 AM
Jack Roberts: so, we are discussing Gordon Smith and the new trajectory of his continued-disgraceful (in terms of true public service) path through the politicosphere.
You chime in with an ad nauseum ad homey on Kari? We are not discussing Kitzhaber. We are discussing Smith.
Perhaps you would like to post a Kitzhaber thread, or a Kari/client/Kitzh. thread?
It gets tiresome, the way you create useless pseudolinkages to attack the aligned.
Posted by: Kato | Sep 19, 2009 12:07:20 PM
Anytime I think we have it tough here in WA with our slate of elected 'ass clowns' at all levels of government, I take solace in the fact that at least it is worse in Oregon.
Good job folks!
Posted by: Patrick Story | Sep 19, 2009 1:12:39 PM
There is some ugly background static in this string--would it be better for Blue Oregon to require participants to post their real names?
Posted by: Fr. John-Mark Gilhousen | Sep 19, 2009 1:36:06 PM
I am not one who is prone to conspiracy theories, but I find the coincidence of Greg Walden's long history of leadership in the NAB and their choice of Gordon Smith as their new President-elect at least interesting.
I don't know what to make of it, but I can't help feeling there is more to this story... not necessarily of major importance, but curious.
Posted by: Carla Axtman | Sep 19, 2009 3:19:41 PM
I haven't heard that witty retort since, well.......the third grade. ROTFLMAO
:)
That's kind of the point.
Posted by: LT | Sep 19, 2009 5:20:07 PM
Jack:
Didn't Kari say Kitzhaber was not his client?
Don't all Mandate Media websites say they are Mandate Media websites?
I have not found that on the Kitzhaber website.
Posted by: Jack Roberts | Sep 19, 2009 5:42:26 PM
It gets tiresome, the way you create useless pseudolinkages to attack the aligned.
Huh? I think you have me confused with someone else.
Actually, I think Kari has said he's signed on with Kitzhaber's campaign, which I think reflects well on both of them, personally and professionally. Remember, Kari wanted Kitzhber to run against Ted in 2006, so I assume his motivations in working for Kitzhaber (assuming my memory is correct) are both sincere and consistent.
But I think the comment about Gordon Smith not being Cincinnatus was a cheap shot, particularly since I don't see anyone else around who does fit that description, either. And I especially don't think it applies to Kitzhaber, but that's my personal opinion. So that was the reason for my comment.
Posted by: LT | Sep 19, 2009 5:44:07 PM
OK, Kari---is Jack right that you are part of the Kitzhaber campaign?
Or didn't you say that not every candidate in Oregon hires you?
Posted by: rw | Sep 19, 2009 5:47:54 PM
OK. It felt like it came totally out of some postured ultra-Left field. The thread is about Smith, the dreadful and egregious Smith. Time enough and space enough to foster one on the other POLITICIAN - Kitzhaber.
I really did mean you... you sniped at Kari and Kitz at the same time, but really had nothing substantive to say about the skeweree of the hour.
:).... perhaps I was simply being my irritable little old self. Eh?
Posted by: mp97303 | Sep 19, 2009 7:50:27 PM
@LT
From an earlier thread:
Posted by: Kari Chisholm | Sep 16, 2009 4:36:29 PM
[Full disclosure: My firm will be assisting Governor Kitzhaber's campaign. I speak only for myself.]
Posted by: Jack Roberts | Sep 20, 2009 7:17:08 AM
One final thought on this: Didn't Les AuCoin initially stay in D.C. after he lost to Packwood in 1992, working as a lobbyist before returning to Oregon to teach at Southern Oregon University in 1998?
I don't think we should be too quick to say someone "left Oregon and never looked back."
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Posted by: JJ | Sep 18, 2009 12:09:57 PM
DC-1, Oregon-0. It's no surprise that Smith won't run for governor, after voters sent that bumbling jackass of a bafoon, Jeff Merkley, to the senate to embarrass the hell out of our state for the next 6 years...Smith probably lost all interest in representing the bleeding heart band of retards that make up a voting majority of our state at the moment...who could blame him. Everyone who voted for Merkley owes both Smith and the rest of our state a sincere apology for saddling us with this unmitigated disaster of an ass clown in our delegation...perhaps once that occurs and Oregonians start acting like grown ups again, we will earn back the privilege of having adults like Smith back on our ballots. I may be personally pro-life, but Merkley is clearly one bastard slob of a mistake that we need to collectively abort...immediately...