From the "Credit where it's due" file.

Dumb as he may be, Sherrif Dave apparently isn't as dumb as he might be...

U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Auburn, will not run against Democratic U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell this year, a high-level Republican source said Thursday.

From the "Math is hard" file.

While Dave Reichert gathers bouquets for his bold break with his caucus over the twisted light bulb issue, when you do the math the valor of the deed seems somewhat diminished.

With the measure falling over 50 votes short of passage, it didn't much matter what he did, and his sponsors understand that once in awhile Dave's gotta take one of those votes to keep the tree huggers at bay.

Dave Reichert - The man to count on when it doesn't count.

Good question…

…from Goldy's feature story in The Stranger...

...when longtime Reichert observers started speculating that his recent head injury may have resulted in permanent brain damage, the first question I had to ask myself was: “How would you know?”

I dunno, how would you?

I'll tell you something I do know - if I lived in WA-8 I'd vote for Suzan DelBene.

From the "Me neither" file.

Goldy...

I don’t know what’s more insulting, the suggestion that Reichert is brain-damaged, or the insistence that he’s not.

Me neither.

The truth.

Via Goldy...

The truth is, Rossi wrote the 2003-2005 state budget much in the same way that Dave Reichert caught the Green River Killer, in that he didn’t.

Yep, it's true.

So, what do we know?

With about 80% of the votes on hand counted and an unknown number of votes just arriving or yet to arrive, we don't know everything about the primary outcomes, but we know some things.

We know, for instance, that the anti-incumbent fever we've been hearing about all year hasn't spread to our state. Rick Larsen in the 2nd is the only Democratic member of Congress polling under 50% and even Larsen is leading his Palin-endorsed opponent. He also faced a couple of challengers from the left, and when they're rolled in the Democratic vote clears the 50% threshold handily.

On the Republican side, Dave Reichert's in a similar spot, under 50% with a couple of Republican challengers siphoning off another 10% or so. He'll face Democrat Suzan DelBene, whose 26% isn't an especially encouraging number against an incumbent so mediocre that he lost his traditional endorsement from the Seattle Times. Still, this isn't the General Election electorate, and the campaign's just been engaged. If her primary performance doesn't depress DelBene's fundraising too much, there's still a shot at a Democratic pickup in the 8th.

In the 3rd, Democrat Denny Heck will face off against Republican Jaime Herrera for the seat opened by Brian Bairds retirement. Heck leads in the vote totals, with about 30% in a crowded field. We have a fine candidate and a good chance to hold this one. There's work to do, but there's always work to do.

Locally, my own personal Congressman leads five other candidates (you can't really call them 'challengers,' can you?) with 78.87% percent of the vote. Apparently I'm not the only one who hearts my own personal Congressman.

More later on the US Senate and legislative races.

A mystery wrapped in enigma within a conundrum?

Patty Murray's Homeless Women Veterans and Homeless Veterans With Children Act sounds like a slam dunk. Helping homeless vets and their kids? If we can, we must, right? Apparently not...

It was approved in committee with bipartisan support, and Murray brought it to the floor this morning, seeking unanimous consent. She didn't get it -- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) objected on behalf of Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who apparently was concerned about funding.

Apparently. Of course, when it comes to funding Dino Rossi, Tom Coburn's a yes vote...

Key Senate Republicans will be hosting a fundraiser for Rossi in northeast Washington (DC) with a reception where attendees could mingle with a dozen Senate incumbents. The $500-a-person event is being held at an address listed for Polaris Consulting, a lobbying firm that promises clients "unparalled access, expertise and experience."

Among the hosts will be Sen. Orrin Hatch, vice chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and Sen. Lamar Alexander, Senate GOP Conference chairman. Sen. Jim DeMint, of South Carolina, Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, and Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee are some of the others expected to attend.

Makes me wonder whether the budget is Coburn's only motive in blocking Patty Murray's bill.

What'cha think? Would Tom Coburn block assistance to the kids of homeless vets just to deny Patty Murray a popular - and necessary - legislative accomplishment?

And does Dino feel as good about taking Coburn's cash as Dave Reichert feels about his Barton bucks?

Mysteries abound and compound...

Dave Reichert finds the cost of freedom.

Texas Freedom, that is, as in Republican energy boss Joe Barton's Texas Freedom fund, which he uses…

...to funnel vast sums of cash from Big Oil executives and lobbyists into competitive campaigns around the country, particularly into campaigns where filthy oil money might prove embarrassing to the recipients.

Most of it goes out in $1000 chunks, but Reichert's worth $2500 to the GOP apologist in chief and his big oil benefactors. That's the seventh largest of the 31 contributions the Fund has doled out to Republican House candidates this cycle, according to Open Secrets.

A not so open secret is what situational environmentalist Dave Reichert's done to become one of Big Oil's best buddies.

Hat tip to desmoinesdem.

And the lights dim a bit…

Darcy:

It is likely at this point that Congressman Reichert has won re-election, and while we will certainly ensure that every valid vote is counted, we accept the decision of the voters.

The classy gesture you'd expect from Burner, but she was robbed, plain and simple, by the conjunction of a front page smear in the Seattle Times and the likely criminal line of credit extended by Reichert's media buyers, allowing him to broadcast the smear in the closing days of the campaign.

Darcy will be fine, I'm sure. Smart, personable, attractive Harvard graduates tend to do fine in our society.

Our country, though, has lost a treasure.

Now that's impressive.

Via David Postman…

Rep. Dave Reichert, the two-term Republican incumbent, raised $115,474 during July, compiling $929,113 in cash on hand.

Democratic challenger Darcy Burner raised more — $350,837– during July, and reported having almost $1.5 million in the bank...

Money isn't everything, of course, but there's no denying it's an important something in a political fight. Darcy has apparently dumped a chunk of that 1.5 on a media buy, but the point is that she can do that and still retain a financial advantage over Brand W Dave.

...Reichert relied on PAC money to make up over 55% of his anemic July total, whereas Burner only raised 5% from PACs. That kind of disparity tells you a lot about both candidate’s work ethic, and their allegiances.

Over 300k from individual donors? In the middle of summer?

Amazing, and encouraging.

A disappointing endorsement.

The NEA/WEA endorsement of Dave Reichert seems, on the surface, to be a payback for the Sheriff's pre-election shift on their legislative agenda. After compiling a 50% record by the NEA's measure in 2005-2006, he was awarded an A grade in 2007, voting in favor of 9 of the NEA's 13 targeted votes. And yes, an A for 69% does sound like either serious grade inflation since my undergraduate days or a distressfully weak curve.

Of course, judging a member of Congress like Reichert by his final passage votes is problematic in the first place. As Daniel Kirdorffer's exhaustive analysis of Reichert's legislative history on six key votes (including three the NEA credits him for getting right) demonstrates, Reichert is given license to follow the political wind on final passage time and again in return for his reliable efforts to weaken progressive legislation in committee and participate in Republican procedural obstructionism.

It's worth noting the issues where Reichert and the NEA diverge, too. They're not inconsequential. They include Medicare and Head Start funding, organizing and collective bargaining rights and merit pay. Part of the NEA has always been a little uncomfortable with the "labor union" tag, but they represent teachers across the nation as a collective bargaining unit and they have a history of pitched organizing battles with rivals like the AFT (AFL-CIO). How they grant their highest grade to a Congressman with a record of opposition to basic rights to organize and bargain collectively is something of a mystery.

Likewise the Head Start issue. Though Reichert bravely lined up with 380 other members of the House to vote for final passage of H.R. 1429, his efforts to weaken the legislation went beyond the committee room and onto the House floor itself - as the NEA's own legislative ratings show. As on so many issues, he's a friend of education when it doesn't count.

Of course, there's a larger context in which Reichert's record can be viewed, one that's relevant to the NEA's role as the collective bargaining agent for so many teachers in so many places. There's the 54% rating from the AFL-CIO in 2007, up from 23% in 2006, another impending election comeback. Here in my local school district, teachers work side by side with support staff represented by the Service Employees International Union. Reichert's made some gains there, going from a 0% record in 2005 to 52% in 2007. Again, nothing seems to focus Reichert's attention like an impending hanging election.

To their credit, neither the AFL-CIO nor the SEIU have been fooled by these latter-day kind-of conversions. They're both firmly in the Darcy Burner camp (along with the American Federation of Teachers.) The NEA/WEA may be hedging their bets, rewarding Reichert's marginal improvement with an endorsement in hopes of future favors if he should squeak through in November, knowing that a Burner victory will insure a progressive pro-education voice and vote regardless of their actions. It's a somewhat shameful explanation (can you spell 'betrayal,' brothers and sisters?) but about the only honest one save unforgivable ignorance.

Hat tip to Project Vote Smart for the issue ratings.

Money makes the map.

WASHINGTON — Barack Obama raised $52 million in June, a sum that far outpaced the fundraising of Republican rival John McCain and promised a wideranging Democratic campaign that will reach into states that previous Democratic candidates had considered unwinnable.

The Obama/DNC COH is $92 million, v. the McCain/RNC's total of $95 million, but with Obama freed from the constraints of public financing and raising money at about double the McCain clip, this may be the last quarter that Republicans can claim an advantage. The DNC itself took in over $22 million in June, as the end of the primary campaign has people looking at needs beyond Presidential candidates.

With some $328 million already raised, Obama has broken all records and established a new campaign finance paradigm. Bush set the old record last cycle with a finance strategy that involved getting dozens of people to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars. Obama has taken the lead with a strategy that involves getting millions of people to give something. The job ahead is to translate that success into a new organizing paradigm that brings a Democratic campaign to new ground, crossing not only geographic borders, but borders of class, race, faith and ideology.

In other financial news, Goldy has the goods on WA-8…

Darcy Burner has outraised incumbent Dave Reichert for a fifth quarter in a row, hauling in $585,000 over the April to June period compared to Reichert’s $347,000. Burner now has $1.25 million cash on hand compared to Reichert’s $916,000.

It should go without saying (but it obviously won't) that both Obama and Burner can be found on the Upper Left ActBlue page.

Good news…

…from PolitickerWA.

U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Auburn) earned a dubious distinction in the pages of Roll Call, the newspaper that focuses on congressional politics. Yesterday, the former King County sheriff was featured in an early edition of the newspaper's "10 Most Vulnerable" House incumbents list.

Or, as I like to put it, Darcy Burner is one of the ten challengers most likely to succeed.

She cleaned up in Q1 cash…

…and now she's cleaning up, literally. Via PolitickerWA...

Darcy Burner, Democratic candidate for Congress in the 8th District, will be taking her campaign back to the earth this weekend. As part of an event to encourage community service, Burner will join the 47th LD Democrats and the national grassroots service organization Democrats Work to clean up garbage along the Green River at Flaming Geyser State Park this Saturday morning.

Which gives rise to the question - can Dave Reichert catch the Green River Cleaner?

Following Carl's fine example…

…in response to the Seattle Times publishing a Dave Reichert press release on the news pages (That's what it was, right? It had to be.), here's a link to a spot where you can donate to Darcy Burner (and other fine Democratic candidates and committees).

Hat tip to Mr. Ballard for the fine precedent.

Darcy!

Via Horse's Ass we learn that Darcy Burner has raised $516,740 this quarter, pushing her total over $1 million and almost certainly swamping Brand W Dave Reichert once again. More impressively...

The vast bulk of Burner’s fundraising has come from individuals rather than PACs or political party committees – about $456,500 this quarter, or more than 88 percent of the total raised. Burner received 4,859 contributions from 4,416 individuals in the first quarter. Burner has received 11,615 contributions from 8,817 donors who have given over the course of the current campaign.

I have no idea what the record is, but I can't imagine there have been many Congressional campaigns, let alone challenger campaings, with nearly 9000 contributors 7 months out from an election. Yay for Darcy, and for all y'all, too.

Clout.

PolitickerWA has the latest Congress.org power rainkings. Overall the Washington delegation ranks 20th among the 50 states. A better than middling ranking for a state our size, I suppose. Senators Murray and Cantwell rank 21 and 48 in the Senate, both in top half, though I’d think Patty's position in the Democratic leadership would have given her more of a boost. Both rankings suffer, I suspect, from a lack of tenure.

In the House, our ranking is boosted by two top-ten percenters, Democrats Norm Dicks (22 out of 435) and my own personal Congressman, Jim McDermott (39). Jay Inslee's an up and comer at 72, while the remaining Democrats, Brian Baird (212), Rick Larsen (236) and Adam Smith (252) fall nearer the center.

The Republicans, naturally, are a drag on the delegation. The senior Republican from our fair state, Doc Hastings, checks in at 301 while Cathy McMorris Rodgers trails at 356.

Sherrif Dave? Almost off the chart at 401.

You can start making things better from the bottom up by doing your bit for Darcy.

Here we go again.

His colleagues wouldn't give him that desperately desired Appropriations Committee assignment, but the Preznit's sending his wife to help out. Seems Brand W™ Dave Reichert's still a favorite in the White House. Well, Dave's got his friends, and Darcy's got hers. He turns to his, and she's turning to hers...

Let's show the Bushes once again that we're not sitting by idly while they have their big money private fundraisers. The Burn Bush for Burner netroots drive is on once again. Our goal is the same as last time: to send a message to Reichert, Bush and other Republicans that would seek to go up against netroots candidates that there are more of us than there are of them!

You can chip in right here.

Hat tip to Daniel at On The Road To 2008.

Mr. Lonely?

During his US Senate run against Slade Gorton, I asked the late Brock Adams why he seemed so confident about his chances against all the advantages of incumbency. "Shaun," he told me "I'm going to beat him because even his friends don't like him." I imagine Dave Reichert knows just how that feels. Via Goldy...

A hotly contested Republican seat on the House Appropriations Committee will go to Rep. Jo Bonner of Alabama, rebuffing a desperate plea from a cash-starved Rep. Dave Reichert that “I need a seat now.”

What he needs is a career counselor.

Darcy, Dave and dollars.

Goldy has the good tidings...

Rep. Dave Reichert’s year-end fundraising report just showed up on the FEC website, and man is it pathetic: only $236,612 net contributions for the quarter and $462,828 cash-on-hand at the end of the year. Compare that to Darcy Burner’s $339,495 for the quarter and $607,144 cash-on-hand...

I wouldn't be surprised if this news puts that House Appropriations Committee seat Reichert covets so shamelessly out of his reach. It's hard to believe the R's would consider him worth the investment. After all, Darcy's not beating him because her party is stacking the deck in her favor. The President of the United States hasn't been in town to give her a boost. She's without any of the inherent advantages of incumbency.

He's got all that, and it all adds up to behind.

The scary part is that he's probably a better candidate than he is a Congresscritter.