Sen. Smith is a center-right Republican. He's not a great conservative by any stretch, but he's more reliable than Senators Snowe or Specter. He's pro-life but supports embryonic stem-cell research. He has supported the President's judicial nominees and, though a late committment, supported the constitutional option. The biggest problem with Smith is that he's a porker. For that reason, the Club for Growth has talked up the possibility of a primary challenge.

As far as his election is concerned, the DSCC has missed its top three potential recruits, but has finally settled on State House Speaker Jeff Merkley, a tool of the far left. Smith is the favorite, but with 2008 likely to be a Democrat year, cannot overlook even the third-tier opposition. The DSCC will come after him hard, and Smith will have some trouble organizing help from the right. I supported Steve Laffey's opposition to Lincoln Chafee given the unique circumstances there, but in my view it would be suicide to support a conservative opponent to Smith this year. Replacing Smith in the primary would effectively eliminate our biggest advantage in the state, i.e. Smith's incumbency, and all but hand the election to the Merkley.

In short, I don't like Smith, but I do think he's worth the trouble to keep him there. Unlike some other Republicans, he's usually there for us on the big votes. Having said that, I'd keep him on a shorter leash with regard to fiscal responsibility during his next term and consider supporting a primary challenger in 2014.

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