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Summarized by Kent Larsen
Oregon's Smith-Wyden Political Friendship Celebrates 100th Weekly Luncheon
WASHINGTON, DC -- Those amazed at the cross-party friendship between
Utah's conservative Senator and LDS Church member Orrin Hatch and
Democratic Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, have yet to
notice an even stranger friendship between another LDS Church member,
Senator Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) and fellow Oregon Senator Ron Wyden
(D-Ore.). What makes the friendship strange is that the two were
nearly bitter enemies as they battled each other for the seat of
then-Senator Bob Packwood in a 1995 special election. That campaign
was dominated by attack ads and outside pressures to make the
election a referendum on national politics.
Wyden and Smith couldn't be more different. Wyden, 51, is Jewish and
a liberal Portland democrat who led the Gray Panthers, a senior
citizen's advocacy group, in Oregon before winning a seat in the US
House of Representatives in 1980. In contrast, Smith, an LDS Church
member, is a wealthy frozen-food entrepreneur and a conservative from
rural eastern Oregon.
After Smith lost the 1995 battled with Wyden, Oregon's other Senator
at the time, Mark Hatfield, decided to retire, and Smith ran
successfully for his seat, making him Oregon's junior senator to
Wyden. Instead of launching a series of endless quarrels and
rivalries, the two met for breakfast two weeks after Smith's
election. They managed to bury the hatchet, and actually hit it off
to a degree. Soon they scheduled weekly luncheons to coordinate their
efforts for the state in those areas where they could agree. They've
now had more than 100 weekly luncheons.
Their cooperative efforts have showed up in what they've been able to
accomplish. While Senators from the same state often cooperate on
issues important to their constituents, Wyden and Smith have gone far
beyond that. They hold "Town Hall Meetings," around Oregon together,
explaining issues and getting feedback from constituents. They have
issued joint press releases, helped each other with their annual
agendas for oregonian issues, and , most importantly, they have
stayed out of each other's politics.
They have even cooperated on non-oregonian issues when they can find
common ground. Smith recently voted for a Medicare prescription drug
spending bill proposed by Wyden. On oregonian issues they have made a
strong team, getting highway and transit money for the state, salmon
protection, school aid and confirmation of Federal judges in the
state. They also teamed-up to oppose President Clinton's plan to
designate Oregon's Steen Mountain as a monument, proposing an
alternative designation instead.
While some observers claim that Oregon's voters forced the two to
work together, both men also credit each other. "We were both always
interested in working this way, but [because of the campaign] nobody
believed it," Wyden said.
In Session: Congress
Washington Post pgA21 11Sep00 T2
By Helen Dewar: Washington Post Staff Writer
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