Freedom’s Watch new ad accuses Merkley of having a tax hike record

Freedom’s Watch released a new television ad Wednesday trying to sway voters from U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Merkley (D-Portland) by highlighting his tax record.

The ad shows someone driving and flipping radio stations between bad economic news when they come across a radio call-in show that has a caller from Beaverton complaining about Merkley’s tax record.

“In this economy, I can’t afford higher taxes,” Bob from Beaverton says in the ad. “Everybody ought to call Merkley right now and tell him we’ve had enough of his tax hikes in Salem.”

The ad specifically accuses Merkley of voting for tax hikes on gas and senior citizens. It also highlights a Merkley quote from a primary debate in April where Merkley said, “I advocate for tax hikes every night in living rooms across Oregon.” Freedom’s watch also highlighted that quote in a previous ad, which the Merkley campaign has said is used out of context when you look at Merkley’s full answer.

Calls to Merkley’s campaign were not immediately returned, but after the release of a previous ad, Merkley spokesman Matt Canter was quick to say that the conservative advocacy group Freedom’s Watch did not support moderate Republican candidates. Therefore, Smith, who has been running on a moderate platform, must not really be a moderate.

"While Gordon Smith tries to spread the "Smith Myth" across Oregon, his conservative backers know the truth," Canter said.  "He hides from his record in an election year, but Smith is a reliable rubber stamp for the conservative agenda, voting with George Bush 90 percent of the time."