This look familiar?

Both of the Democratic candidates for the Senate, House Speaker Jeff Merkley and Portland lawyer Steve Novick, have repeatedly hammered at Smith for being a political ally of the president. At his campaign kickoff rally this week, Merkley sounded like he was giving Smith a new first name given how many times he referred to “Bush Smith.”

That’s from an entry yesterday evening by Jeff Mapes on the Oregonian’s politics blog.

Here’s what I wrote about the event in this week’s paper:

Flanked by state and local leaders, Merkley gave a speech that hinted at his upcoming campaign—repeatedly pointing out that Republican Senator Gordon Smith has voted with President Bush 90 percent of the time. (In fact, he said the words “Bush-Smith” so often that it sounded like Merkley had changed Smith’s name.)

I’ll get you, Mapes!!!