Congressional Quarterly

U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Portland)Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Portland) attempted to debunk the idea that U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith stood up to the Bush Administration on Wednesday, saying that Smith doesn’t stand up to Republicans until he has to.

Smith recently released an ad last week, saying he stood up to the Bush administration on healthcare. Blumenauer said that defiance of the Republican president was an exception to Smith’s actions, not the norm.

“He’s not been at the forefront of change,” Blumenauer told PolitickerOR.com. “He only came along when it was safe. All of a sudden he has these last minute conversions. His environmental score doubled the year before an election year. Coincidence?”