Goldy

No doubt more than a few establishment Democrats are chafing at blogger Chris Bowers’ in-you-face “Use It or Lose It” campaign to cajole Dems in safe seats to contribute 30 percent of their campaign surpluses to fellow Dems in competitive races, but according to Lynn at Evergreen Politics, Washington’s own Norm Dicks has answered the call:

Congressman Norm Dicks of the 6th CD responded positively to the calls that folks made to ask him to contribute money from his campaign chest to Democrats running in more competitive districts. He donated $100,000 + according to Chris Bowers, reporting back on his “Use It or Lose It” program. This was on top of the nearly $600,000 that he raised yesterday for the DCCC from the lunch he hosted downtown for Al Gore. Also today, John Kerry and Ted Kennedy each donated $500,000 to the DSCC. This program is working. We may not get the entire $15 million we are looking for but it will be close.

Thanks Norm.

As Lynn reports, Dicks had already contributed a considerable amount of money to fellow Dems, and helped raise quite a bit more. But when the Netroots called and asked for one last effort, Dicks was one of the first to respond. We’ll remember this.

I’m exhausted. I need a vacation. (A real one, with no blogging.) Anyway, go talk amongst yourselves.

As reported yesterday on Daily Kos, the GOP is pulling out all the stops in WA-05, sliming Democratic challenger Peter Goldmark with outrageous lies and dirty tricks. You know, like harassing voters with obscene, automated phone calls, waking people up at all hours of the night, claiming to be coming from the Goldmark campaign. (Would you vote for a candidate who robo-calls you at 2 am? The McMorris campaign didn’t think so.) Local police and the FBI are now investigating.

Why are McMorris and the Republicans resorting to such desperate tactics? Because, well… they’re desperate.

As reported this morning by The Hill, the NRCC just sent to donors its “Final Push List” of the 33 GOP members and candidates “most in need of support right now.” And lookie who’s on it.

In an e-mail to congressional officials, NRCC PAC Director Jenny Sheffield states, “…it’s crucial at this point to send in some late money to some [of] our campaigns. The funds our candidates receive now will allow them to increase their TV buys and will make the difference on Nov. 7.

“I have attached our Final Push list for those Members and candidates most in need of support right now. If your boss has not maxed out to those on the attached list, please ask him or her to consider sending a check from a leadership PAC and/or reelection account … IMMEDIATELY!”

Republicans have also sent the list to lobbyists, seeking donations. The NRCC list (see chart) has many endangered Republicans, including four each from Ohio and New York, and three from Pennsylvania. It also contains some surprises, such as Rep. Cathy McMorris (R-Wash.), whose seat was considered safe earlier this month.

I’m not one to say “I told you so,” but… no wait… I am. I told you so. I’ve been warning the Spokane media for months that one of the biggest stories of the ’06 midterms was developing in their own backyard. Well, welcome to the party guys.

Other at-risk Northwest Republicans on the Final Push List? Well, Dave Reichert in WA-08 and Bill Sali in ID-01 of course. As The Hill points out, it’s gonna be an awfully long election night for House Republicans if they’re so worried about protecting seats in conservative districts in places like Idaho and Eastern WA.

Still don’t believe me that Goldmark can win? Then perhaps you’ll believe McMorris:

In Washington’s 5th Congressional District, where former speaker Thomas S. Foley (D) famously lost in 1994 when Republicans seized control of the House, confirmation of an unexpectedly strong Democratic challenge emerged in recent days from a well-placed source: the Republican incumbent, Rep. Cathy McMorris.

“It’s a closer race than I first imagined,” she told Sen. Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho), according to the Spokesman-Review, a newspaper in Spokane. Changing voter attitudes in her conservative, mostly rural district, she said, have been “pretty dramatic.”

McMorris and Craig apparently thought they were speaking privately before the start of a campaign teleconference with veterans. But an operator had connected Spokesman-Review reporter Jim Camden, who was on mute and could not announce his presence.

Craig, who is not up for reelection, told McMorris that she was not alone in feeling Democratic heat. “The new numbers are just devastating,” he reportedly said.

McMorris’s Democratic opponent is Peter Goldmark, a rancher whose surprising strength has attracted the support of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which last week began spending $323,000 on television ads opposing McMorris.

That said, Republicans are sinking millions of dollars into Washington state in a last ditch effort to save McMorris and Reichert’s asses, and we can’t let Peter and Darcy become victims of their own success. This is the final push, and if we want to win we need to stay competitive dollar for dollar.

299 of my readers have now contributed $22,969.38 via HA’s Act Blue page, but we need to do more. If you care about the future direction of our nation, please give whatever you can to Darcy and Peter so that they can afford to get their message out to voters and respond to their opponents’ lies. And if you’ve already given all you can, then please personally plead with your friends and family to give whatever they can afford.

We’ve got the issues. We’ve got the candidates. We’ve got the wave. The rest is up to you.

The Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally meets tonight (and every Tuesday), 8PM at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E.

I’ve got no idea if any special guests are scheduled to stop by tonight, but I’m guessing that with the election only two weeks away, it should be a pretty good crowd.

Not in Seattle? Washington liberals will also be drinking tonight in the Tri-Cities and Vancouver. Here’s a full run down of WA’s ten Drinking Liberally chapters:

	Where:	When:	Next Meeting:
Burien:	Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub, 435 SW 152nd St	Fourth Wednesday of each month, 7:00 pm onward	October 25
Kirkland:	Valhalla Bar & Grill, 8544 122nd Ave NE	Every Thursday, 7:00 pm onward	October 25
Monroe:	Eddie’s Trackside Bar and Grill, 214 N Lewis St	Second Wednesday of each month, 7:00 PM onward	November 8
Olympia:	The Tumwater Valley Bar and Grill, 4611 Tumwater Valley Drive South	First and third Monday of each month, 7:00-9:00 pm	November 6
Seattle:	Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Ave E	Every Tuesday, 8:00 pm onward	October 24
Spokane:	Red Lion BBQ & Pub, 126 N Division St	Every Wednesday, 7:00 pm	October 25
Tacoma:	Meconi’s Pub, 709 Pacific Ave	Every Wednesday, 8:00 pm onward	November 1
Tri-Cities:	Atomic Ale, 1015 Lee Blvd, Richland	Every Tuesday, 7:00 pm onward	October 24
Vancouver:	Hazel Dell Brew Pub, 8513 NE Highway 99	Second and fourth Tuesday of each month, 7:00 pm onward	October 24
Walla Walla:	The Green Lantern, 1606 E Isaacs Ave	First Friday of each month, 8:00 pm onward	November 3

(And apparently there’s also an unaffiliated liberal drinking group in Olympia that meets every Monday at 7PM at the Brotherhood Lounge, 119 N. Capital Way.)

For those who missed this week’s “The David Goldstein Show” (Newsradio 710-KIRO, Sunday nights from 7PM to 10PM,) the commercial-free podcasts are now available for your offline listening pleasure.

Hour 1: Are we on the brink of an historic military defeat in Iraq? Philip Gold is a former Senior Fellow in National Security Affairs at the conservative Seattle-based think tank the Discovery Institute. He predicted a Jihadist terrorist attack on US soil months before 9/11, and was one of the first prominent conservatives to warn that an Iraq invasion would lead to disaster. Now he fears that our current foreign policy could lead to our biggest ground defeat since the loss of the Philippines in 1942. Tune in and find out why this “former lifelong Republican” will be voting a straight Democratic ticket.

Hour 2: Q&A with Darcy and Peter. Two of the hottest House races in the nation are right here in Washington state, and both Democratic challengers, Darcy Burner and Peter Goldmark, joined me to talk about the election and their legislative agenda.

Hour 3: Do you believe what you read in the papers? Well, maybe the comics. Former Seattle Weekly columnist Geov Parrish came into the studio to give his kiss-and-tell account of the alt-weekly’s recent political purge, and to join me in ragging on the local media in general. Believe it or not, we had some harsh things to say about the Seattle Times editorial board. Go figure.

We will soon make full archives available online at PodcastingLiberally.com, where you can always find my weekly podcast for the Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally.

And don’t for a moment think that Times publisher Frank Blethen wouldn’t do it.

(Apologies to National Lampoon for bastardizing their classic cover.)

President Bush uses “the Google.” Nice to know he’s keeping up with technology.

Seattle Schools Superintendent Raj Manhas will resign, effective the end of the school year.

“After careful consideration, I have decided that this year will be my final year as superintendent of Seattle Public Schools,” he said. “This is a personal decision I have made in the interests of my family.”

Manhas’s resignation is in the interests of all of our families, I’d say. As my regular readers know I was quite involved this summer in a campaign to save my daughter’s school from closure, and while we were ultimately successful the entire experience left a very bitter taste in my mouth. The more I learned about the closure process the more I grew disenchanted with both the school board and the district administration. While I do not doubt Manhas’s intentions, I completely lost confidence in his ability to lead the district.

Perhaps the best decision of his three-year administration was the one he made today — to announce his resignation far enough in advance so as to give the board time to conduct a proper search for his replacement. After the failed leadership of both Manhas and his immediate predecessor Joseph Olshefske, I think it is time for the board to stop hiring bean counters, and search for a true education professional.

I generally find Seattle Times editorials to be stultifying, muddled and, well, boring — but in endorsing Mike McGavick, the editorial board has managed to make one thing absolutely perfectly clear: it is time to remove the word “Seattle” from the paper’s masthead.

Seattle is a liberal city, a big “D” Democratic city that has not sent a single Republican to the state legislature in years. It’s congressman, Rep. Jim McDermott, is amongst the most liberal members of the House, and he hails from one of the safest seats in the nation. Likewise, in statewide elections Seattle voters can be relied upon to vote for Democrats and against right-wing initiatives in overwhelming numbers.

But Seattle is not just a dark blue island in the midst of a sea of red, for over the past decade the nearby suburbs have grown solidly Democratic too. Republican elected officials are becoming a dying breed in former GOP strongholds like Mercer Island, Bellevue and other communities across the Eastside and to both the North and the South of the city. Map election trends out over the past 20 years and what you see is a blue tide inexorably spreading out from the city center as population densities increase throughout the metropolitan region, and the Republican Party abandons the values and concerns of both urban and suburban voters.

This is the region the Times serves. These are the readers who fork over their fifty cents a day, and who patronize the Times’ advertisers. This is the community whose interests the Times is supposed to represent.

Yet even in a year when the Times editorial board has acknowledged that the Bush White House and its rubber stamp Republican majority in Congress are leading our nation towards disaster, Republican candidates have somehow managed to make a clean sweep of the Times endorsements in every contested congressional race. Reichert, McMorris and McGavick — all Republicans who would vote for a leadership that would guarantee the Bush administration a free hand to stay the course in Iraq — all of them endorsed by the editorial board of a newspaper that claims to serve one of the most solidly Democratic markets in the nation.

In obsessively leading the fight to repeal the estate tax, in articulately opposing media consolidation, and in relentlessly pursuing his efforts to drive the competing Seattle P-I into oblivion by severing the two papers’ Joint Operating Agreement, Times publisher and owner Frank Blethen has passionately argued that the community is better served by a local, family-owned newspaper than one operated by a faceless, corporate, absentee owner.

To which I now ask Frank: exactly which community are you serving?

It certainly isn’t Seattle.

Oh, Frank can speak loftily about the unique role five generations of Blethens have played in safeguarding our democracy and fostering civic discourse, but with the McGavick endorsement it has become abundantly clear that the only community Frank Blethen is truly dedicated to serving is the one that consists of him and his heirs. If not for the mean-spirited tone and over-the-top one-sidedness of the Reichert endorsement one could have reasonably written off that and the McMorris endorsement to the usual, establishmentarian, unimaginative, pro-incumbent mindset that tends to take hold of most editorial boards. But with the ridiculously postured and embarrassingly argued logic of the McGavick editorial it is now impossible for the Times to deny that their criteria for endorsement consists of anything more than support for estate tax repeal.

It is tempting to deconstruct the absurdity of the McGavick endorsement line by line, but others have already done so, perhaps none as thoroughly as the Stranger’s Josh Feit. On issue after issue, on gay marriage, assault weapons, net neutrality, drilling in ANWR and teaching Intelligent Design in public schools, the Times has previously editorialized in support of the position opposite to that which McGavick holds. And on the biggest issue of the day, the steadily deteriorating war in Iraq, the Times has repeatedly argued against a course a Republican controlled Senate would surely vote to stay. But according to the Times:

Some see this election as a referendum on George W. Bush. If we did, we would be for a solid Democratic ticket. But like most Washington voters, we take our candidates one at a time.

I’d read on further but I scratched my corneas scraping the bullshit off my eyes.

This election is a referendum on President Bush and the Republican leadership, and unless you’re itching for a catastrophic ground war with Iran it is deeply irresponsible to approach it any other context. If Sen. Maria Cantwell had voted for estate tax repeal she’d have had the Times endorsement, and the fact that Frank would use his paper to prop up a failed Republican majority over this single, selfish issue is morally and ethically reprehensible.

The Times editorial board has become a joke. I have not spoken to a single professional journalist who has not rolled his eyes or derisively laughed at the Times‘ contorted logic and unmitigated gall. Even some of Frank’s own employees have expressed their disgust to me.

Not that any of this really has any impact on the actual election. David Postman writes:

Critics on both sides like to say that MSM newspaper endorsements don’t matter much in this age of New Media. But they must mean something given how much of the blogosphere was filled up with discussion about them the past week.

But David misses the point. Us bloggers and journalists and political activists do care about the role the op/ed pages should play in promoting public discourse — and passionately — and that is why it pains us so much to see Frank trivializing the opinion pages of the state’s largest newspaper. But why the fuck would the average Seattle voter give a Times endorsement an ounce of credence when the paper consistently supports candidates and issues contrary to the interests of their community? Us bloggers aren’t the average reader, and the truth is, the average reader no longer gives a shit about what that estate-tax-repealing, labor-busting, dog-shooting Frank Blethen thinks is best for them.

Local newspaper industry observers tell me that it was the bitter newspaper strike that radicalized Frank and flipped him over to staunchly supporting the GOP and its anti-Labor agenda. At the time, Frank threatened to move the newspaper’s editorial operations out to Bothell to join its new production facility, but stayed in Seattle fearing a public backlash.

Well as far as I’m concerned, good riddance. Go ahead and move your operations out to Bothell, Frank, and while you’re at it, you might as well change the name of your paper to “The Bothell Times.” At least that way your readers can rest assured that there will always be at least one honest piece of information printed in your newspaper daily: the masthead.

Both the Seahawks and the Eagles lost (a 61-yard field goal, dammit… what’s the chance of that?) so sit back and drown your sorrows in the intoxicating conversation on tonight’s “The David Goldstein Show” on Newsradio 710-KIRO, from 7PM to 10PM.

7PM: Are we on the brink of an historic military defeat in Iraq? I’ll be joined by Philip Gold, a former Senior Fellow in National Security Affairs at the conservative Seattle-based think tank the Discovery Institute. In the spring of 2002, Gold became one of the nation’s first prominent conservatives to oppose the upcoming Iraq war and the Bush/neocon agenda, and has since seen his dire predictions come true. In July of 2001 Gold predicted that Jihadist terrorist attacks were imminent. After 9/11 he warned that an Iraq invasion would lead to disaster. Tune in and find out why this lifelong Republican is voting a straight Democratic ticket in November’s election.

8PM: Q&A with Darcy and Peter. Two of the hottest congressional races in the nation are being waged right here in Washington state, and control of the House could lie in the balance. At 8PM, 8th Congressional District Democratic challenger Darcy Burner joins me for a campaign update, and to take your questions. At 8:30 we’ll be calling out East to the 5th Congressional District, where Democratic challenger Peter Goldmark is giving Republican incumbent Cathy McMorris fits. This is your chance to ask your future representatives about their legislative priorities in the new, Democratic controlled House.

9PM: Do you believe what you read in the papers? Former Seattle Weekly columnist Geov Parrish joins me for a tell-all about his old employer, and a blunt discussion about the state of the region’s print media. How much will we miss the Seattle P-I should Seattle Times publisher Frank Blethen succeed in pushing it into its grave, and how damaged is the Times credibility from its relentless, self-serving shilling for estate tax repeal? Do you even bother to read the Times endorsements anymore, now that the only issue candidates are judged on is the estate tax?

Tune in tonight (or listen to the live stream) and give me a call: 1-877-710-KIRO (5476).

UPDATE:
Darcy and Peter need your help! Click here to learn how and why, or simply give a few bucks directly through my Act Blue page.

I was in the middle of writing a response to the Seattle Bothell Times ridiculous editorial endorsement of Mike?™ McGavick, when I got sidetracked reading Jim Vesely’s latest column, “Mirror, mirror: Eastside’s urban politics.”

If Democrat Darcy Burner wins in November against incumbent Reichert, the heavy weight of running as a Republican and as a first-termer will be the burden that brings him down. That will turn the 8th into another battleground district in two years, as Burner will see a fierce attempt by the Republicans to reclaim the seat.

First, if Reichert loses it won’t just be because of shifting demographics or first-term vulnerability, and neither will it simply be due to this year’s unique political climate. If Reichert loses, it will at least in part be due to the fact that he is a mediocre congressman and a weak candidate who is facing an extraordinarily well-run, energetic and smart campaign from Darcy Burner. If Reichert loses, it’s because he got beat, and the fact that Vesely is already making excuses 16 days out gives a little insight into how weak a candidate Reichert’s strongest backers know he really is.

But…

If Reichert wins a second term, the Democrats will go away. Parties are like perfectly evolved sharks

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Back in January when I first started pushing the candidacy of Democratic unknown Darcy Burner in Washington’s 8th Congressional District, my righty critics ridiculed me — but reading between the lines you could always sense the fear. Over the past decade shifting demographics have transformed WA-08 into a light blue swing district that reliably elects Democrats to nearly every other office. And given the sheer mediocrity of the incumbent, it would have been foolish for even the most stalwart Republican to fail to entertain a little self-doubt.

But the trolls and (u)SP types really had a field day once I started touting Peter Goldmark as a viable candidate in Eastern Washington’s 5th CD, a district that Republican incumbent Cathy McMorris won two years ago by a 20-point margin, and which has twice given President Bush overwhelming margins. The taunts launched my way in posts, comments and email were just dripping with arrogance and over-confidence. As HA readers responded to my fundraising appeals with astonishing generosity, one emailer laughed at me for encouraging my fellow “deluded Seattle liberals” to waste their money on the “nutroots fantasy” of a Goldmark victory.

Uh-huh.

Yesterday two of the nation’s leading electoral prognosticators, Charlie Cook and Larry Sabato, both upgraded the race in WA-05 from “Solid Republican” to “Likely Republican,” while the New York Times followed suit today, upgrading their rating from “Safe Republican” to “Leaning Republican.”

Even McMorris has finally recognized the threat. Spokesman-Review reporter Jim Camden inadvertently overheard a candid conversation between McMorris and Idaho Sen. Larry Craig before a Thursday conference call.

“It’s a closer race than I first imagined,” McMorris told Craig before the teleconference was opened to callers.

Instead of being placed on hold and blocked, Camden was placed on mute, so he was able to hear their conversation but unable to tell them he was listening.

Goldmark is “hitting very hard” at her veterans budget votes, and on recent cuts in veterans services, McMorris told Craig. She asked the senator to emphasize the increase in overall veterans funding.

Craig told McMorris that Republicans are hurting across the country.

“The new numbers are just devastating,” he said.

Hmm. Guess I wasn’t so nutty after all.

Ten months ago few “experts” gave Democrats much of a chance in either of these districts, but strong candidates, current events, and innovative, technology-enabled grassroots activism have conspired to put both these races seriously in play. But now both Darcy and Peter desperately need your help to put them over the top. If you haven’t already given, please give now. If you’ve already given, please give more.

And if you’re absolutely tapped out, or have already reached your contribution limit, please email and call your like-minded friends and family nationwide, and personally plead with them to contribute Darcy and Peter. Be sure to include the following link — http://actblue.com/page/horsesass?refcode=OctDrive — or follow my complete instructions on political panhandling in last week’s post.

It takes more than just great candidates to turn this nation around. It takes you.

Back in the district where I grew up, the slimy Curt Weldon is trying to swift-boat Democratic challenger (and netroots endorsed superstar) Joe Sestak. Well, this is how you respond to a swift-boating:

Man that ad kicks ass. And so does Sestak.

From Sunday’s Seattle P-I:

P-I Endorsement: Burner is better

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD

This newspaper didn’t endorse Republican Dave Reichert for the 8th Congressional District House race two years ago because he then faced a bright, terribly well-informed Democrat whose votes we believed would better represent the district and serve the nation.

This time, Reichert faces an even more substantial Democratic challenger in Darcy Burner.

Nonetheless, we believe it’s only responsible to be able to first make a case for removing and incumbent, no matter how impressive the challenger.

Reichert is a man seemingly pulled into elective office, first when the King County sheriff’s position to which he had been appointed was changed to an elected office, and then when asked to run for Congress, largely on the strength of his fame in the Green River case.

Once in Washington, D.C., to his credit, Reichert bucked House leadership and President Bush on some controversial votes, including stem cell research and the disgraceful business of Terri Schiavo.

But Reichert has been on the wrong side of votes regarding minimum wage, tax cuts, Tom DeLay’s ethics and, most recently, detention and trial of foreign detainees.

Burner, a former Microsoft manager, is as informed in her views as she is forceful in delivering them. Frankly, at a P-I Editorial Board session, it was difficult to tell who was the incumbent because her answers carried weight.

From how to balance the federal budget (and how urgent it is to do so) to how crucial it is to reduce human contributions to global climate change to Congress’ role in Iraq war policy, Burner has the better grasp of the issues and the greater passion to deal with them.

It’s a fairly strong endorsement, but notice how it’s neither mean-spirited nor totally one sided. And notice how it focuses on issues instead of some bullshit, I’m-rubber-your-glue, NRCC talking point about Darcy running a negative campaign. Notice how it’s written by grownups.