Smith: less extreme, but no moderate

One of the local topics of conversation concerns Senator Gordon Smith--is he getting less extreme, or is the Senate simply moving even farther right than he is? Elected in 1996 with impeccably hard-right credentials, he's recently cast some unexpected votes against Medicaid cuts and a constitutional same-sex marriage ban.

David Sarasohn has a piece about that in today's Oregonian. (Way, way too many clever "Star Wars" metaphors, by the way; consider yourself warned.)

Here's one of the key passages:

Sitting in the Russell Senate Office Building, Smith explains that he is indeed a moderate -- and also the same person he always was.

"What's hard for some in Oregon to fully appreciate," he says, "is my profile has become moderate because the Senate has become more conservative."

While that leads Smith into issue conflicts with the White House and the Senate GOP leadership, it doesn't create the kind of bitter battles with his own leadership that marked the careers of Hatfield and Morse, part of what makes Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., call a parallel between the earlier senators and Smith "a pale comparison."

For one thing, DeFazio says, that's because of the issues before Congress these days, budget disputes and government rules: "That isn't Mark Hatfield standing up on war and peace.

"I knew Mark Hatfield well, worked with Mark and got along with Mark, and it's not a comparison I'm going to make."

Of course this point about self-described "more moderate" Smith is coupled with the note:

Last week, after trying to keep a low profile, Smith came out firmly for the Republican-supported "nuclear option" of effectively banning the filibuster on judicial nominees, which many moderates think would blow up the Senate like the planet Alderan.

(I warned you about the "Star Wars" references.)

When push comes to shove, Smith may cherry-pick some issues where he's not in total lock-step with the GOP leadership--and I suppose for that we should be a little grateful--but he's no moderate, and he's certainly no rebel. (Remember that his opposition to deeper Medicaid cuts, for example, was followed by a vote for tax cuts that went even deeper than what the White House asked for, and against pay-as-you-go funding for such tax cuts.)