Gordon Smith Asks Townhall Readers for Money, originally uploaded by Rob Bluey.

One week after casting the lone Republican vote against funding for U.S. troops in Iraq, Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith today pleaded with conservative readers of Townhall.com to support his re-election campaign. It was surprising enough to see Townhall let one of the Senate’s leading RINOs rent its e-mail list, but quite another for Smith to make his fundraising appeal so soon after his vote against troop funding.

I understand the precarious position Smith faces in a blue state and the uphill battle for raising money. But that doesn’t excuse his vote on a measure that was sponsored by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and supported by 22 Democrats, including vocal anti-war Sen. Jim Webb. McConnell’s amendment won approval, 70-25, adding $70 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan to the mammoth omnibus spending bill. Smith was the lone Republican to vote against it.

I disagreed with Smith’s vote at the time, but I said not a peep about it — until now. His fundraising appeal today to the conservatives who populate Townhall’s list is just plain idiotic. Know your audience, Senator. It’s really not that hard to figure out.