The big story today will be President Bush’s $10,000/person Bellevue fundraiser for Rep. Dave Reichert, but the real story behind the big story probably won’t make it onto the evening news or into the next morning’s headlines. Oh, you’ll see the usual pictures of rich folk lining up for a few seconds with the president, while protesters wave banners outside in a carefully quarantined “free speech zone.” And of course, there will be the traffic. Lots of traffic. But the real news will be taking place a few blocks down the street in a small conference room at the Westin, where Darcy Burner will be breaking new ground in the realm of electronic campaigning.
You’d think maybe, in one of the most tech-savvy regions of the nation, our media might recognize history in the making when they see it. But no, our newspapers, TV and radio have all but ignored the extraordinary new standards Burner is setting with her virtual town hall and the netroots fundraising drive that has organized around it.
Displaying the vision, leadership, boldness and technical expertise that have made her a netroots favorite, Darcy and her staff have used Bush’s visit as an opportunity to send a message on Iraq by creating an innovative “virtual town hall,” and attracting participants of national stature like Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton and Ambassador Joe Wilson.
Meanwhile, the netroots have seized on Darcy’s efforts, organizing around them an unprecedented $100,000 online fundraising drive intended to send a message of our own, that Republican incumbents won’t prosper by toeing the Bush line on Iraq. You will not find a single member of the political establishment who thought we had a snowball’s chance of coming anywhere near our goal, but in the first three days of the drive we have raised over $75,000 from over 2000 donors. Over a weekend. In August. Fourteen months out from the election.
If that’s not breaking new ground, I don’t know what is. And still, our local media refuses to take notice, even as history is being made in their own backyard. Go figure.
Well, somebody will notice… some national journalist will read the headlines at Daily Kos or Atrios today and scoop the Times and the P-I by recognizing that something special is unfolding in Seattle… that the dynamics of political campaigning are changing right before our eyes. Darcy isn’t just another Democrat, she’s a Democrat v2.0. Welcome to the future of politics.
So let the old guard media willfully ignore Darcy’s virtual town hall — you are invited to help us make history with or without them. Go to www.darcyburner.com, submit your question, and sign up to view the live stream. And if you haven’t already contributed via our Burn Bush Act Blue page, please join the 102 HA readers who already have. Let’s blow through our $100,000 target and give the political and media establishment the fright of their lives.
UPDATE:
Howie Klein has a great post on Darcy over at DownWithTyranny!
This is your most fanfic Darcy post yet. v2.0 Democrats? Sitting around talking on a computer sends a message all right. It sends a message that Burner will use anything to get folks to send her money, and that folks on the internet will send her money ’cause she’s “new” and “netroot” approved.
If your house is on fire, the v2.0 Democrat will convene a meeting of fire experts and ask you to send money to send a message that having your house burned down isn’t a good thing. While the world outside is burning Burner’s inside in her chat room and everything is virtually all right.
Ummm… Yeah.
Because Darcy has not gotten any coverage on the airwaves or any ink and pixels slung about her at the Seattle Times, PI, Stranger, Seattle Weekly, etc. a full 18 months before the general election in 2008 and more than a year before the primary.
Strain. Credulity. Much.
Kirk @1,
And I suppose if my house is on fire, the people I want to call are the $10,000/person fat cats having their photo snapped with the president this afternoon? Handful of rich people vs over 2200 citizens.
Don @2,
Learn how to count. It’s 14 months before the election not 18 months, and that makes Darcy’s efforts all the more remarkable. $75K in small donations. Over a weekend. In August. 14-months out. Nobody’s ever done that before.
People powered politics must be awfully scary to you folks have long relied on the very wealthy to prop up your party.
Goldy,
Learn to count and how to do the history thing. How long has it been since Darcy made her official announcement? Around 4 months or so? 4 + 14 = X
Oh, and learn how to read too. Your post was bitching about media coverage. My post was critical about Darcy’s “lack” of media coverage which you falsely assert.
The train of thought with the little slot car in your head can do more tricks than simply cruising around in an oval you know.
re 4: Mixed metaphor, Don, very sloppy — and covered in lead paint, no doubt.
I hope you aren’t including me in the Repub camp. I know that the SOP around here is that if you think Darcy is anything other than the Second Coming (or First) then you get called a Republican, but that’s simply not true in my case. I’m willing to believe she might be better than Reichart, but I don’t think she’s answered the questions about her lack of political experience. I also don’t think that a cyber meeting is:
anything new
anything that will lead to real live political change
It seems to me like a cynical attempt to get Darcy some more money to spend on her SUV, staff, tv/web ads etc., wrapped up in a fake cloak of anti-war, anti-bush rhetoric.
So far as I know the only people that can vote for Darcy or not live in the actual district, not in cyberspace netroot virtual buzzworld reality.
I’m with Kirk and Don – this blog-overhyped nutroots virtual town hall doesn’t do a thing to advance blondie’s qualifications for the job. There are real issues facing WA-08 and our country but she hasn’t given voters any indication of her worthiness to be a US Representative (unless 60+ WPM keyboard skills qualifies someone for Congress.) Does the Ames Lake Community Association need a a top-notch typist?
Isn’t this illegal? Aren’t the Pubbies making a big deal of prosecuting some Democrat lawyer for making more than $2,000 in campaign donations to a candidate? Doesn’t the $10,000-plate admission make everyone who attends a criminal?
Why can they do it, but it’s a crime if this guy does it? Fucking hypocrites.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/s.....TE=DEFAULT
Roger Rabbit @ 8
I think Reichert can get $2,000 or so for each election, maybe even $2,100. So it is at least $4,000 at this point (with half of the maximum required to be banked until after the primary).
I read somewhere this is a “joint fundraiser”. There is some committee which takes the money, and will distribute it to Reichert until the particular donor is “maxed” out. The remainder goes to the Washington State Republican Party, or perhaps to buy wine for local incumbent Republican officials …
Is Bush using a government plane to come to this fundraiser? Is the Reichert campaign reimbursing the taxpayers for Bush’s flight and the security expenses? Why are we being forced to pay for a purely political event? Isn’t that waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer funds?
Hmm … I wonder how much booze they will be serving at this event. Maybe certain members of the King County Council will be attending the Bush/Reichert fundraiser, instead of showing up at the King County Council general meeting scheduled for 1:30 p.m. today …
All I-25 will do is create another office for Richard Pope to run for.
Hey Richard — if you’re elected King County elections director, can I get a patronage job from you?
@12 They should station State Patrol officers with breathalyzers downt the block so the Pubbies don’t run over any kids or dogs.
Not that a Republican can tell the difference between a child and a dog — even when she’s sober.
Republicans not only let their dogs run wild in parks, they also let their children run wild in restaurants.
Roger, you should know better.
The excess over $2300 (or whatever the current limit may be) goes to the WSRP. To my knowledge, there’s no limit on contributions to political parties.
WSRP needs this fundraiser, probably even more than Sheriff Hairspray does.
Man, the righties are shitting their pants. You can tell we’re hitting a nerve whenever the Horses Ass Troll Exchange Rate (HATER) peaks in the comment thread.
They’re frightened of Darcy, and their frightened of the growing power and influence of the netroots. They’re frightened of Democracy.
@19:
Frightened? Hardly. Whether you believe it or not Goldy, you and Roger Rodent and this blog don’t weild nearly the real power you think you do. ‘There are more of us than there are of them’ If by that you mean unqualified ditzy blondes that couldn’t raise funds for a cup of coffee compared to the mighty GOP machine, then you are correct in that statement. Don’t pat yourself too hard on your back there big-guy. I’ll be eagerly awaiting Darcy’s once again justified defeat. One more thing; Ask Darcy if she takes food-stamp contributions, otherwise Roger Rabbit won’t be able to help.
Goldy (and fellow readers),
A personal request – a friend who last cycle supported Darcy just sent me an email touting Rodney Tom (!).
I don’t know a lot about Tom, but my sense is that he’s a Rethug turncoat/fair-weather Dem with the sense for the prevailing wind, an opportunist. I need some more details to confirm this, if my appraisal is ineed correct, and any further persuasive data on Rodney Tom to bring my buddy back to the Burner fold.
Any help/links/references?
thanks a bunch
Why must you continue to insist that everyone who thinks there are major issues with Darcy as a candidate, and that has a problem with the same old raising money for politician being peddled as a new blog-o-rific netroots get us out of Iraq cyber town meeting, why do you assume that person to be a right winger or a troll? Very simplistic, binary thinking on your part Goldy.
Markymark:
Rabiits are not rodents, they are lagomorphs.
You, however, are a dodo.
Mark1 @ 20,
“‘There are more of us than there are of them’ If by that you mean unqualified ditzy blondes that couldn’t raise funds for a cup of coffee compared to the mighty GOP machine, then you are correct in that statement.”
Hmmm…let’s see. In the 2006 election cycle we have the following numbers from the FEC:
Contrib. Type .. Burner ………. Reichert
Individual……… $2,423,984 …. $1,556,472
Party……………. $567,771 ……. $1,168,872
Total……………. $3,080,927 ……$3,045,766
So Darcy out-fund-raised Reichert overall. But what is most interesting is the individual contributions. Burner kicked Reicherts uptight-little ass in individual contributions by almost a million dollars.
Indeed, Reichert needed to rely on the “mighty GOP machine” for a huge fraction of his total funds because he was so lousy at generating individual contributions.
Doing so, of course, sucked resources out of other districts–and the GOP got its collective ass kicked in ’06.
12/15 Somebody better offer Jane Hague a ride home…
And if you haven’t already contributed via our Burn Bush Act Blue page, please join the 102 HA readers who already have.
Well lets see 102 HA readers, out of 2000+ contributors….
Betcha not all the 102 even live in WA, let alone the 8th CD. All this does is solidify the notion that Darcy Burner has no position or traction inside the 8thCD. She obviosly is not connected to the 8th voters, or she would realize greater in district support….
I wonder how many of the attendees of todays GWB event are from the 8th…..? probably most.
All this shows is that DB continues to campaign against GWB, which lost her a chance in 2006.
@2 considering that DB isn’t even the nominee, why would she receive any press after a sounding defeat 9 months ago..
All today really shows is that there are BIGTIME local contributors for the Reichert campaign, willing to put out BIGTIME$$$, and a handful of little “netroot” contributors, mostly from outside WA, for a recently defeated, potential nominee..
While I’ve already sent a Jackson off to Ms. Burner, one thing bugs me just a bit.
How much am I paying (even though I don’t live in Bellevue) for all the additional security, traffic control, lost productivity (apparently President Bush will be landing at SeaTac, which will close down a big chunk of I-405 between there and Bellevue) and generally cause a terrible mess throughout the region?
Bellevue residents will get to pay even more. Will the Republican Party be reimbursing anyone for this? It’s sounding as if Mr. Reichert and Mr. Esser will be getting more of my money than Ms. Burner.
Inside the HA, KOS, Dem Underground, extreme left echo chamber, Darcy Burner is already selected as the nominee…
So interesting…the 8th if anything is a moderate district.
Let’s see….
Congressman Reichert, able to call on the POTUS for support.
Potential Nominee Burner, able to call on liberal internet echo chamber…..
Where do you get that conclusion? Let’s follow the reasoning.
1) 102 of the contributors are connected to HA.
2) This is approximately 5% of the total number of contributors to Ms. Burner.
3) Not all of that 102 live in Washington (which says nothing whatsoever about the other 95%)
4) Because some HA readers do not live in the 8th CD, Ms. Burner is not connected to 8th CD voters.
Huh? Even for Mr. Stuff, this “reasoning” is absurd.
I’ve sent $20 off to Ms. Burner because people I know in the 8th CD say she’ll make a good member of Congress, and Norm Dicks really doesn’t have much competition, so even though he’d probably like the money, he really doesn’t need it.
Mr. Reichert, on the other hand, was outraised by almost a million dollars, and the only reason he could keep up with Ms. Burner in the last election was that the Party, which draws funds from all over the country (not just or even primarily the 8th CD) made up the difference.
So, to recap. Ms. Burner gets most of her contribution from individuals, who tend to be primarily interested in local races. Even where the contribution comes from outside the 8th, they tend to be connected in some manner, such as mine.
Mr. Reichert gets most of his contributions from the party, which is primarily composed of people outside the 8th CD.
And you consider this proof that Ms. Burner has no position or traction inside the 8th CD?
Yeah. Right.
@14
I’m younger and poorer, I get first shot at the patronage jobs.
Hi John,
Let me expand with some assumptions based on HA.
The #1 netroot support center for DB in Washington state is HA. I do assume that most of the support for DB is coming from outside the state via outside liberal sites like KOS, DEM Underground, etc.
So you correctly assert that a whopping 5% of the contributors are linked to HA, the #1 WA netroot support center for Burner. You correctly point out that the other 95% is from elsewhere…I’m not going to say all 95% is out of district or out of state, but I bet it’s close. My assertion is that this FUNDRAISER shows that she has more national liberal “netroot” support than actual local support. Reichert is calling on the POTUS for support and is going to receive BIG$$$ from in state, in district, local supporters…
“And you consider this proof that Ms. Burner has no position or traction inside the 8th CD?
And John,
For the record I don’t have to rely on this “fundraiser” to show that she has no position or traction inside the 8th, I only have to look 9 months ago..
Re: #29: I must confess that I’ve had a hand in messing up the statistics. I live in the 8th CD and read HA regularly, but I donated through darcyburner.com on the first night. I didn’t know what ActBlue was, so I thought I’d better go to the source. Sorry, Goldy et al. I may not be alone in having done this.
BTW, as a general comment, it’s amazing to me how much money Bush can raise for Democratic candidates. I thought $100k in less than a week seemed unrealistic when I first saw the idea here. Now it looks like Darcy Burner could reach or exceed $100k before the day is over. There’s huge untapped potential here, which Ms. Burner has just discovered. What they say about Bush’s political fund-raising acumen is correct–and he hasn’t even stepped up to the mic yet (who knows what could happen when the first Bush-Reichert photos are released)! It’s great to have Bush working for us this way.
Imagine the possibilities. When Bush leaves office in 2009 (by then the SCOTUS will probably be the only non-Democratic branch of government left), he could turn to political fund-raising for us full time!
Right Stuff @ 32
Nine months ago she had 48.5% support in the district. Considering that she started the election season with no name recognition at all, her showing is nothing short of outstanding.
This time around she has substantial name recognition, an opponent who is significantly weakened by being in the minority party (albeit strengthened by being a second term Rep.), and a political environment that is shaping up to be as bad or worse for Republicans than 2006.
I mean, have you seen the congressional approval ratings? Guess which party does worse when congressional approval is subdivided by party?
#19 Goldy says:
Without us trolls, this place would be boring, here’s an example.
#1 Bush sucks
#2 Bush sucks, yeah.
#3 Bush suck, yeah, bush sucks
#4 Bush sucks, yeah, bush sucks, yeah
#5 Black people can be stressful to be around 24/7
#6 publicans are dicks
#7 publicans are c**ksuckers
#8 publicans are weiners
#9 publicans are gay
#10 blacks can be stressful to be around 24/7
#11 publicans suck
#12 publicans suck, yeah
#13 publicans suck, yeah, publicans suck
#14 bush sucks
(repeat ad nauseam)
I agree that she did come from nowhere.
And in an environment where D’s took over control of the congress, she fell short.
I agree with what you said this time about greater name recognition etc. She now has a seat at the democrat table.
Reichert is now a 2 term incumbent and has been building a record that aligns itself with 8thCD voter.
This district is moderate.
In my opinion, in a moderate district, experience, security, and track record count alot more than netroot support.
BTW I’m ASEL with complex high performance endorsements.
Something that bothers me about fundraisers/campaigning for office is it’s usually on taxpayer dollar. Is bush using airforce 1 to fly to seattle on my dime? Is hillary campaigning for president on my dime when she’s supposed to be working?
They are all a bunch of thieves sucking at the teat of the taxpayer.
Darcy Burner will use her vote in Congress to returning control of Iraq to the Iraqis and bringing our troops home. Dave Reichert will use his vote in Congress to keep us there.
Darcy Burner wil use her vote in Congress to hold the administration accountable and investigate corruption and abuses of power. Dave Reichert will use his vote to obstruct any investigation of government corruption.
36 RS
And in my opinion as a resident of the 8th CD, Dave Riechert does not represent this district. He votes to support the War in Iraq, when the 8th wants to bring the topps home. He votes against the Children’s Health and Medicare Protection Act. He voted in favor of developing ANWR.
He voted against establishing an independent commission to investigate the treatment of detainees at prisons such as Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. Is Dave Reichert pro-torture? Yes.
He voted against the Stem Cell Research Bill of 2005. Is Dave Reichert in favor of saving lives? Clearly no.
John Kerry won the 8th in 2004 51% to 48%. Dave Reichert belongs at home, not in Washington DC.
@39
I too am an 8th CD voter and I find his experience and resume are far better than Darcy Burner.
Everyone wants the troops home. It’s the matter in which that happens that’s the difference. The CHMP act also elimates coverage for the elderly…and provides an entitlement for “kids” up to 25 years old, to households earning $80K per year. Energy independence is vital to all of us. Utilizing our own resources, while developing new energy resources is good policy. The vote was against Fed $$ sponsoring the research. There is nothing stopping private research from continuing, which it does today.
John Kerry won the 8th in 2004 and so did Reichert, and again in 2006.
I too am an 8th CD voter and I find his experience and resume are far better than Darcy Burner.
You mean this?
http://www.davereichertforcong.....e/news.asp
@41 try this.
http://www.house.gov/reichert/index.shtml
or this
http://www.davereichertforcong.....ribute.asp
#42,
So, his contributions page is the experience of his that you find so compelling? Telling, I’d say.
Right Stuff @ 36
“And in an environment where D’s took over control of the congress, she fell short.”
But just barely. The GOP had to direct its money somewhere, and Reichert was the recipient of massive party support, including the largest voter contact outreach for any Rep in the country.
“In my opinion, in a moderate district, experience, security, and track record count alot more than netroot support.”
I don’t seriously disagree with your analysis. But Reichert has tapped-out his market. Everyone knows who he is and what he stands for–and did in 2006. Reichert isn’t likely to gain supporters who went for Burner last time. On the other hand, Darcy almost certainly will gain some support from some past Reichert voters.
I believe an even more important factor will be voter motivation in 2008. I have a strong feeling that none of the likely GOP presidential primary winners are going to fire up the Republicans all that much (i.e. it will be a Bob Dole-type lethargy among the GOP). By contrast, the Democrats will be highly energized as a result of 8 years of cumulative angst under Bush/Cheney.
“BTW I’m ASEL with complex high performance endorsements.”
Cool. Funny you should mention that. I’ve been inactive since moving here in 1999, but I spent the last two weeks in training and completed a BFR (ASEL w/o complex) on Saturday. Two weeks ago I purchased an AA1 (from a resident of the 8th, as it happens) and “soloed” it for 1st time yesterday out of PAE.
So Reichert votes against the Children’s Health and Medicare Protection act and six million children lose the health care coverage they have right now, and 5 million more will not receive coverage they could have gotten. Aw, but kids don’t vote, right, Dave?
And RS, your “eliminates coverage for the elderly” is a bullshit smoke screen. Some costs are raised for Medicare recipients, which your people spun into “losing their benefits.” But only 1.3 mllion elderly are affected at all by this provision, and how many of them will lose coverage? Certainly far fewer than all of them.
Yet you’d trade all health insurance coverage of 11 million children for that. And you weren’t exactly pitching for our elderly when you and Dave were cheering Bush’s plan to cut SS benefits in order to privatize the system? You’re a little fucking late to the “we care about the elderly” party. The Democrats have been there since 1936.
Dave doesn’t care. Darcy does. That’s the bottom line.
Dave Reichert doesn’t care if our troops come home enough to DO a damn thing to bring them home.
Do this:
1. Go to http://www.google.com
2. In the search box, type “troops home site:www.house.gov/reichert” (omit quotes).
3. Result? 3 returned pages. Two refer to his support for a Veterans bill the Democrats passed, which allocates $20 million for improvements in disabled veterens’ homes. The third one is to a largely symbolic statement in which he says “We all support our troops and pray they return home soon.” Pray? Why don’t you VOTE, Dave?
Nothing else. No mention of bringing our troops home. If he will, he’d say so, and he doesn’t. Darcy Burner, on the other hand, said (at http://www.darcyburnercom/page....._positions):
Yes, folks, she’ll VOTE to bring the troops home. Top that, Dave.
darryl @24 so whats your point. Darcy was 2nd loser.
Daddy Love et al in the 8CD: Why does Darcy Moonbat! parrot the DNC line? Where are “her” opinions? Why doesn’t she state what she thinks instead of the DNC party page?
Darcy Moonbat! is an empty skirt. Otherwise she would aptly articulate why she thinks this or that. So far she hasn’t.
Seems it’s second verse same as the first.
Yet you’d trade all health insurance coverage of 11 million children for that. And you weren’t exactly pitching for our elderly when you and Dave were cheering Bush’s plan to cut SS benefits in order to privatize the system? You’re a little fucking late to the “we care about the elderly” party. The Democrats have been there since 1936.
Bad legislation is bad legislation.
Any bill that creates an entitlement to “children” up to age 25 is bad legislation. Ditto for households who earn 80k/year. If Democrats wanted to help children then they have the power to do so. This is a backdoor attempt and socialized medical coverage.
And uhmmm, prescription drug benefit? forget that one? Democrats ought to be thanking the Republicans for creating another gov entitlement program. That is right up the Dem alley. And in terms of SS. You spew the DNC line that somehow allowing young citizens an opportunity to control their own destiny, without endangering current SS recipients is bad? Under the current system, SS is insolvent. I don’t know your age or SS status, but I am certainly not going to realize any SS benefits under the current system. The baby boomers will crush the system and the funny/sad thing is that we all know it. What’s the Democrat plan?……Raise taxes or raise the SS benefit age.
Darryl @44
I don’t seriously disagree with your analysis. But Reichert has tapped-out his market. Everyone knows who he is and what he stands for–and did in 2006. Reichert isn’t likely to gain supporters who went for Burner last time. On the other hand, Darcy almost certainly will gain some support from some past Reichert voters.
I agree somewhat. Security and the war are still strong issues for Rep Reichert. The recent FBI request for assistance regarding the ferry system reminds all of us that we are still at war. Another wild card here is Iraq. If word from Iraq continues to be postitive, if there are continuing moderate reviews such as those from Rep Baird, then I think that helps Rep Reichert.
I soloed on 9/10/2001.
I have been inactive since 2004. I need a BFR. This is an awesome area for GA and used to love trips to KFHR, KORS, KONP. C182RG was my preffered ride.
Right Stuff @ 50,
Oh, man…solo on 9/10/01. The next couple of weeks must have been absolute hell. I’ve got KFHR on my list, and I’ll add ORS and ONP–thanks for the suggestion. Where did you fly out of?
Darryl @51
I got my ticket at KBFI, then went on to pursue instrument rating at KRNT.
Yeah, pretty strange happenings after 9/11. At one point, as a solo student, I was clear to fly for training purposes but licensed pilots were grounded…
Like I said there are cool places to go all over this region. Ocean shores is fun and only 40-45 min away.
Congrats on the AA1, hope you find CAVU wherever you go.
Right Stuff @ 52.
“Yeah, pretty strange happenings after 9/11. At one point, as a solo student, I was clear to fly for training purposes but licensed pilots were grounded…”
No kidding? You must have mentioned that you wanted to take-off AND land the plane.
“Like I said there are cool places to go all over this region. Ocean shores is fun and only 40-45 min away.
Congrats on the AA1, hope you find CAVU wherever you go.”
Many thanks! Perhaps we can meet for a $100 hamburger sometime.
@53
“Yeah, pretty strange happenings after 9/11. At one point, as a solo student, I was clear to fly for training purposes but licensed pilots were grounded…”
No kidding? You must have mentioned that you wanted to take-off AND land the plane.
The FAA and Fed were all messed up and twisted. Never before had they closed the national airspace. I remember the pages and pages of NOTAMs regarding special rules. There were also rediculous TFR’s all over the region. NO Fly Zones that if violated meant potential intercept. I had taken my dad out flying one day, his first time in a small single, so I took it easy, departed BFI headed east along the cascades north to Anacortes, then south over the peninsula. We had just turned towards BFI over Elliot bay and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a pair of F/A18’s it seemed right above me. I immediately thought I’d busted some NOTAM’d TFR and that I was being intercepted. Turned out that they were just heading to BFI for fuel stop, landing on the parrallel long runway. My dad had no idea my heart was in my throat for about 45 seconds. It’s one thing to see those impressive planes from the ground, another to share airspace with them….WOW.
Hopefully we can have that burger sometime.