PORTLAND -- While he was addressing Democratic volunteers at Barack Obama’s Oregon headquarters on Sunday, Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean was very critical of U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith’s closing message of stopping a runaway Democratic regime in Washington.

Smith (R-Pendleton) spent a large chunk of the campaign cycle running ads that featured his working relationship with Obama and several other Democratic senators including John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Ted Kennedy (D-Mass). But in his final push, Smith has emphasized the need for a enough Republicans in the Senate chamber so that they can moderate the Democratic agenda.

“First, Smith was campaigning saying he would help Barack Obama,” Dean said. “Now he’s saying he needs to be elected so Obama can’t get anything done.”

Dean urged the crowd to canvass Oregonians and make sure that they voted for Jeff Merkley (D-Portland) because Merkley would not try to stop Obama from changing the direction of the country.

“There is a fundamental difference between what Barack Obama and Jeff Merkley want to do, and what George W. Bush, John McCain, and Gordon Smith are trying to do,” Dean said.