WASHINGTON – More than a year before the 2008 election, Redmond Mayor Alan Unger, a Democrat, has endorsed Republican Sen. Gordon Smith.

Unger was the only Central Oregon member of ”Democrats for Gordon Smith,” a group that announced its existence in a news release Tuesday afternoon.

”Things are starting so soon this year,” Unger said. ”I just needed to get on board.”

The pressure to get on board in the 2008 U.S. Senate election is already becoming intense. Smith, the incumbent and only Republican to hold statewide office in Oregon, is a top target for Democrats this election cycle.

Also Tuesday, the online campaign against Smith has continued to gather steam, with the launch of a new Web site – www.stopgordonsmith.com – by the Democratic Party of Oregon.

”We will hold Gordon Smith accountable for his record as one of President Bush’s strongest allies and his history of voting against the values of Oregonians,” said party Chairwoman Meredith Wood Smith, in a news release.

Democratic-leaning blogs, such as Loaded Orygun, have already begun soliciting donations for Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Springfield, who has not yet decided whether he’ll run.

But Unger said he’s supporting Smith, in part because the senator has helped steer federal money to the Redmond area, including funding to expand Redmond Airport and reroute U.S. Highway 97. And Unger knows he can work with Smith.

”I can walk up and shake his hand, and he knows who I am.”

In Unger’s mind, that outweighs Smith’s more conservative stands on issues like drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, or support for President Bush’s tax cuts.

”In order to be functional in Washington, D.C., you need to be in line with other people in order to gain support for issues that are important to you and your state,” Unger said.

But Phil Philiben, a former chairman of the Deschutes County Democratic Party, said Smith hasn’t taken a lead on restoring federal subsidies to counties that lost revenue from the declining timber industry.

”He wasn’t much of a help with Sen. (Ron) Wyden (D-Ore.) on the county payments,” Philiben said.

And Smith’s local efforts shouldn’t outweigh his stand on other issues, Philiben said.

In December, Smith spoke out against sending more troops to Iraq, as proposed by Bush. Smith originally voted in favor of authorizing Bush to use force in Iraq. But Philiben said he’s not sold on Smith’s new position.

”When it really counted he was for the war,” Philiben said.