Gordon Smith continues to attach himself to Dems at every opportunity

Last week it was Elizabeth Furse and Avel Gordley--not the hottest tickets in town, but everyone understood that he has to take what he can get.

Even so, that didn't work too well.

Today he's angling to get his name on the same page as Obama.

(Note: For some reason this ad has refused to run beyond the first two seconds, regardless of what site I go to. I've double-checked all my Flash settings and have arrived at the conclusion that no vessel of discourse, including my notebook computer, can contain the crap in this ad. Anyway, be warned.)

Who says Gordon Smith helped lead the fight for better gas mileage and a cleaner environment? Barack Obama! He joined with Gordon and broke through a 20-year deadlock to pass new laws which increase gas mileage for automobiles.

Obama's campaign issued this statement in short order:

"Barack Obama has a long record of bipartisan accomplishment and we appreciate that it is respected by his Democratic and Republican colleagues in the Senate. But in this race, Oregonians should know that Barack Obama supports Jeff Merkley for Senate. Merkley will help Obama bring about the fundamental change we need in Washington," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.

Merkley's office issued a statement of its own that led with this pithy remark:

Obama never said "Smith helped lead the fight" on anything.

Which pretty well sums it up.

Poor Smith: desperately trying to step into the frame in the yearbook picture with any Democrats he can find, all the while hoping he can thread the needle of distancing himself as far as possible from Bush, the Republicans and his own voting record without motivating his base to stay home in November.

(Cross-posted at Loaded Orygun.)