Several weeks ago, Oregon GOP Senator Gordon Smith produced an ad implying that he had Barack Obama's support for his re-election bid--only to have the Obama campaign politely point out that, no, they were actually (and unsurprisingly) supporting his Democratic challenger, State House Speaker Jeff Merkley.
Now, fellow Oregon Republican Joel Haugen has done Smith one better. Haugen, the GOP challenger to Democratic Rep. David Wu, has endorsed Obama and, worse, is also backing Merkley against Smith. Oh, the humanity.
Oregon Republicans are split on Haugen, with local officials in his district disinviting him from events but the state party continuing to offer its somewhat muted support (which Haugen colorfully describes as akin to "holding our jewelry while we get water boarded"). Still, so far he's made out better than 2006 Delaware GOP Senate nominee Jan Ting, who was essentially booted from his party earlier this year for the same offense.
--Christopher Orr