Whenever Mr Burns brought Smithers to the Republican Party Headquarters, Smithers mainly served beverages and snacks, and didn't really interact with anyone besides Burns.
Most of the other Republican Party members treated Smithers as though he were invisible at worst or a part of the background at best. During his campaign for mayor, Bob did notice Smithers, and how Smithers meekly took all of Burns' verbal and sometimes physical abuse. If Burns splashed tea in Smithers' face, Smithers would imply force a smile and agree that the tea was too hot.
Bob experienced flashbacks of enduring Krusty's slapstick abuse, and he felt thoroughly disgusted-not with Burns, but with Smithers. At one point, when almost everyone else was distracted by the ramblings of Birch Barlow, Bob took the opportunity to quietly confront Smithers, who was trying to hover unobtrusively in a dark corner of the room.
"Have you no self-respect at all?" Bob asked, making his contempt quite obvious in his voice and face.
Narrowing his eyes, Smithers replied, "I don't follow you." The cold, hard tone in Smithers' voice indicated that he understood exactly what Bob had said.
"How I perform my job is none of your business," Smithers said calmly, though his voice still had a subtle, hostile edge to it.
"Once I become mayor-and you know I will-I can make it my business," Bob warned. "You look reasonably intelligent, Mr Smithers, so I'm certain you can understand what I am saying."
Smithers continued to look Bob directly in the eye, and he folded his arms, trying to show that he was not intimidated. Truthfully, Smithers did feel threatened, though he had learned from a young age that he needed to conceal his true emotions, especially when Mr Burns was around.
Bob growled a little in his throat, then turned around and stalked off. He didn't realize that he had just made a great enemy out of Waylon Smithers Junior, and he never would know the important part Smithers had to play in Bob getting removed from his position as mayor. Smithers was not nearly as weak as other people thought him to be, or else he would not have been able to work for Mr Burns for so long.