Regarding Oregon Senator Republican Gordon Smith and his “Democrats for Smith” advertisement touting that he was “one of the first to speak out against the Iraq War”.  I am not sure who would count as “first to speak out”, but I guess that group includes me.  (Shrug).  But maybe I don’t count, I’m not elected to anything and am unelectable besides.

More important for the somewhat soft back pedal to “one of the first Republicans”, and here I will go ahead and gauge Republican elected officials for that honor.  There were seven (give or take one, I think that’s the number and am working off memory) Republican House members who voted against the War Authorization, the biggest name amongst that group Ron Paul.  Now, that may be someone exceptional enough not to count.  Over in the Senate, the one Republican to vote against War Authorization was Lincoln Chafee.  Against, that may be exceptional enough not to count — he has since floated away from the party.  So who does that lead to as a mainline Republican, amongst voters for that authorization?  Chuck Hagel, for one.  Is he exceptional?  Perhaps… he’s a Republican who spoke out and criticized the Iraq War more plausibly before it became a seeming electoral necessity, which is the case with Gordon Smith who wants us to believe that he is… an exceptional Republican because… he made a speech and he’s been endorsed by those two state Democrats.

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