The nasty commercials are multiplying on TV, which is a signal that the Oregon campaign for U.S. Senate is getting going in a big, expensive way.

It's not only what the TV ads say that makes them so disagreeable. It is also what they show.

Both Sen. Gordon Smith and state Rep. Jeff Merkley, his challenger, look like ordinary human beings. But their ads purposely feature the worst possible facial images of the other. They make each other look variously sneaky, sinister, venal or just plain demented.

The verbal parts of the messages, too, are baloney. Senator Smith is not in the pocket of "Big Oil" for having supported an energy bill backed by a majority of the Senate. And Merkley is not a "hypocrite" for having been speaker of the Oregon House when the assembly agreed to a much-needed project to upgrade the building and the furnishings in the Capitol wings.

A certain amount of truth-bending may be routine in political campaigns. When it gets too much, our defense against obnoxious political ads is to click the remote and change the channel every time one comes on. (hh)