Oregon, gone

Republican Sen. Gordon Smith, desperate for re-election, touts his co-operation with Barack Obama:

Oregon is a West Coast version of Vermont now. They've got a right-to-die law in Oregon, and the Republican Party there is committing suicide.

By the way, whatever Gordon Smith (or Barack Obama) says, laws don't improve gas mileage. They passed a law mandating higher mileage, which basically means Congress telling automakers what kind of cars to build. This is an immoral and unconstitutional abuse of government power -- and he's bragging about it.

UPDATE: Jimmie at Sundries Shack:

Yeah, we should color Oregon blue since it’s been that color for at least the past eight years. Oregon voted for Al Gore in 2000, John Kerry in 2004 and has only two Republicans out of eight members of Congress. We’re not exactly talking about a Republican enclave here, or even a coin-toss battleground state.

In fact, Oregon has been blue since 1992, having twice gone for Clinton. In 1992, the vote in Oregon was Clinton 42%, Bush 32%, Perot 24%. In 1996, it was Clinton 47%, Bush 39%, Perot 9%. In 2000, it was 47% each for Gore and Bush -- Gore won by less than 6,000 votes -- with 5% for Nader. In 2004, it was Kerry 51%, Bush 47%. (Election data from David Leip.)

Oregon, it appears, is one of those states where Republicans have been bamboozled into a state of fearful defensiveness, which then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Ronald Reagan got 56% in Oregon in 1984. But when Clinton twice won the state with pluralities (42% in '92, 47% in '96), the GOP hit the panic button and started endorsing liberalism. So they've been steamrollered into becoming a "me, too" party -- a cell-block punk for the Democrats.