Back in January Dave Reichert’s campaign manager publicly gloated over having reached the $1.1 million mark, bragging to reporters that “a war chest of this size will put this race out of reach.”
Well, um, it didn’t exactly turn out that way. The final numbers have now been posted to Political Money Line, and Democratic challenger Darcy Burner — who entered the race as an unknown political novice — ended up outraising Reichert $3,080,275 to $2,989,379. Yes, she lost at the polls, but she made it closer than anybody but the most optimistic blogger had any reason to expect at the time. The race was never out of reach, and it forced the GOP to devote resources to Reichert that would have otherwise been spent defending vulnerable Republicans elsewhere. There is no doubt that Burner’s insurgent campaign contributed to the Democrats seizing control of the House.
With her impressive campaign and fundraising prowess, Burner has virtually assured herself an unopposed shot at the Democratic nomination in 2008, should she choose to seek it. And Reichert has assured himself a busy two years scrambling to raise enough cash to defend a seat in a district that is steadily trending blue. In 2006, Reichert benefited from a 2-to-1 advantage in PAC money (over $1.1 million,) but as a junior member of the minority that easy money might not be so easy.
It’s hard to beat an incumbent whatever the circumstances, and conventional wisdom says that Reichert’s reelection should make it tougher yet. But this will be a tough two years for Reichert. Rumor has it he’s losing several key staffers, and he won’t be able to rely on all the advantages that come from caucusing with the majority. The 8th CD will eventually go Democratic. My guess is that this switch will occur on Reichert’s watch.
first
Just think how things would have turned out if we’d known that Big Hair’s campaign worker was a child rapist?
Its encouraging to see that Darcy has a $85k warchest leftover to get things going next time.
just think if the dog did not stop to take a shit he would of caught the rabbit.get a grip she lost thats it as you say get over it.does not matter if she got 10 million.what part of she lost dont you get.
I’m not sure that these numbers really say good things about our chances of turning this district Democratic.
What they do tell us is that we had the opportunity to get out our message, with sufficient financial backing to at least match what the Republicans did.
Not everyone is going to agree with us, and it looks as if this one just went the other way. That’s disappointing, but it does happen. The voters of the eighth district simply decided that they preferred Rep Reichert.
Will that happen again in two years? I have no idea, but we can all bet that the Republicans will not be taking that district for granted in the future. They’ll be doing everything they can to keep that district in the “R” column, including keeping Rep Reichert from going off into the far-right fringes, and allowing (encouraging?) him to look at what is best for the district, rather than simply expecting him to continue to rubber-stamp the Republican agenda.
And while that isn’t the win I would have preferred, it’s still an improvement.
Goldy,
We have another imposter on the thread posing as someone else.
The GBS @ 4 is NOT the real GBS.
Could you please tell them to knock it off or ban JCH from the blog.
Thanks,
The original GBS
Darcy was a terrible candidate. I hope she doesn’t think she can run again next year. No one in their right mind would waste that money on her. Those dollars could have gone to Madrid in NM or any number of other serious candidates. Dacry Burner is Patty Murray before she became a state senator- except with no ideas and no tennis shoes. Good riddence.
4 GBS says: just think if the dog did not stop to take a shit he would of caught the rabbit.get a grip she lost thats it as you say get over it.does not matter if she got 10 million.what part of she lost dont you get. 12/13/2006 at 12:35 pm
What you don’t get is that Burner’s campaign was only one piece of a national effort to wrest control of the House from the inept, unethical, corrupt Repukians. All I can say is — Mission Accomplished! Your side got whupped, what part of that don’t you understand? We like Darcy (she hugs rabbits), but it turned out this seat wasn’t a must-win.
Oh, and don’t forget, there’s still one race undecided … and a Democratic House will decide it. A Republican who “won” Katherine Harris’s former seat by only 369 votes in a district where 18,000 votes went missing in a county the Democrat carried by 53%. As you know, the Constitution provides that the House has final say in disputed House elections. Unlike Washington, Florida does have a revote law, so a judge or the House could legally order a revote in that county (or the entire district). Personally I’m opposed to the revote approach; I think the House should award the seat to the Democratic candidate outright.
6 Yeah I saw a couple “GBS” posts that sounded more like “GS” and I assumed it was him. I figured it was a typo. I knew that wasn’t you posting.
Wingnut Dirty Tricks
Not content to disenfranchise voters, smear Democratic candidates, lie, and generally behave like gangsters … the wingnuts have stooped to stealing the screen names of liberal posters on HorsesAss. There were over a dozen fake “Roger Rabbit” posts on this board, and of course that was no typo or accident. Now someone (probably the same wingnut scumbug) is stealing GBS’s identity and putting up fake GBS comments. You wonder how could possibly be so petty and mean-spirited to stoop to it. Only wingnuts, that’s who. Clearly, they’re beyond desperate, they’re now having seizures.
@7 “Darcy was a terrible candidate.” How do you figure? She nearly unseated an incumbent on her first try. She outraised the incumbent her first time out. And accomplished this in a district that has never voted Democratic! Looks like a winner to me. Better get used to Darcy, wingnut, because she’ll not only be back, she’s going to kick Rubberstamp’s neoCON ass all the way back to Sunday! And you with him. Go fuck your armadillo.
6 Imposters should be banned from HA.
Breaking News:
Democratic Majority in Senate Suddenly In Question.
Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., was taken from his office to the hospital by ambulance, and is being evaluated for a potential stroke.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16191212/
The Democrats currently have a one-vote majority in the Senate (51-49). If Johnson is unable to fulfill his duties, the governor will appoint his replacement until the next general election (in 2008). The south Dakota governor is a Republican. If he appoints a Republican to fill the empty seat, then the Senate will be in a 50-50 tie, and Vice President Cheney will hold the tie-breaking vote. This effectively would give control of the Senate to the Republicans.
My thoughts:
(1) Check for radiation.
(2) Pray for Johnson’s swift recovery and good health.
(3) Somebody get a camera over to the White House to catch Cheney and Rove, and possibly Bush, grinning from ear to ear and breaking out the champaign, while they offer prayers for Johnson’s “long but eventual recovery”.
Clarification: Updates to the news reports indicate the governor can only appoint his replacement if there is a vacancy. Incapacity does not automatically create a vacancy, unless the Senator chooses to resign or is impeached. If he can resist calls to step down, the Senate could remain in Democratic hands. There is precedent for this situation.
While I wouldn’t classify the possibility of a more moderate Reichert as any kind of collateral “win” for progressives, I agree with John @ 5 that Reichert is probably more likely to better represent the true moderate interests of his district in his next term, regardless of his actual beliefs.
I also agree that it’s hard to say what might happen two years from now. It seems that WA-08 has some resistance to a straight ticket so, for this and many other reasons, the Presidential race will certainly have a big impact on the next Congressional race there.
As for another Burner candidacy for Congress, I don’t have a dog in that fight but I have to think that the specter of perennial candidate Heidi Behrens-Benedict certainly doesn’t help in that district.
A random thought to consider, though: $85,000 and a lot of residual name ID in the Seattle media market goes a long way in a race for a down-ballot statewide office like Secretary of State of Commissioner of Public Lands.
P-I REPORTER EXPOSES CORRUPTION AT PORT OF SEATTLE
“Lax oversight at Port of Seattle
“Port shoulders risks and forgoes profit
“By RUTH TEICHROEB
“P-I INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER
“Port of Seattle officials have cut generous no-bid deals with a company hired to run publicly owned facilities on the central waterfront, have failed to closely monitor those contracts and have shouldered all of the financial risk for a decade.
“Critics say the deals show a troubling lack of business acumen given that taxpayers’ money has been used to build and operate the $11 million Bell Harbor International Conference Center and the $18 million office complex that houses the corporate club World Trade Center Seattle.
“And they question why port officials haven’t demanded a greater share of the profits when contracting with Seattle entrepreneur John Oppenheimer to run Bell Harbor and the trade center club. …
“Outgoing port boss Mic Dinsmore said the project is one of his proudest achievements during his 14-year tenure and benefited the public in ways that go beyond financial returns. … And Dinsmore said Oppenheimer’s company has been pivotal to its success.
“A close look at the port’s financial records regarding Columbia and Bell Harbor showed that the port has paid the company almost 40 percent of Bell Harbor’s $12 million in operating profits since 1998, when the center began to make money. The port … hasn’t come close to recouping what the facility cost to build.
“The port has paid Columbia 56 percent of the total $2.7 million in operating profit since 1998 to run the smaller trade center operation. After depreciation, the port lost $119,000.
Those deals, combined with the millions in public money invested to build the facilities, have prompted questions.
“‘Taxpayers would have been better off if the port would have bought T-bills,’ said Jack Jolley, a former Microsoft Corp. executive who ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the port commission a year ago. ‘Why should (the port) take all the risk and get so few returns?’
“A four-month Seattle P-I investigation also found that the port’s oversight of its contracts with Columbia has been sloppy, including infrequent audits and failing for years to require Columbia to remit profits at Bell Harbor or the trade center club — although the company paid up promptly when asked.
” … Jolley and others wonder whether ‘cozy’ relationships have played a role in what they say are sweetheart deals. Oppenheimer has close business ties to Paul Schell, a former port commissioner and former Seattle mayor, he socializes with Dinsmore, and he contributes to the political campaigns of port commissioners.
“The central waterfront isn’t the only place the port’s management of public assets has sparked concern, said Port Commissioner Alec Fisken. ‘The port is not sufficiently aggressive in watching over public funds,’ said Fisken, one of two dissenting voices on the five-member commission.
“The port collects an annual property tax levy, which totaled $62.7 million this year and will rise to $68.8 million next year. That translates to roughly $92 for a taxpayer whose home is assessed at $400,000. Most ports are profitable without resorting to a tax levy.
“This year’s total port levy is the equivalent of one-quarter of the Seattle School District’s budget for certificated teachers or about one-third of the Seattle Police Department’s budget.
“The investigation of the port’s handling of contracts with Oppenheimer’s companies, based on a review of thousands of pages of documents and e-mails obtained through public disclosure, has found that:
“Oppenheimer sat on a port committee that reviewed bids for a Bell Harbor operator and then negotiated his own no-bid contract to run the facility after the first deal fell apart.
“The port agreed to fund operating deficits and pay most expenses and gave Columbia $600,000 in working capital a decade ago.
“The port negotiated a no-bid contract with Oppenheimer in 1998 to run World Trade Center Seattle (WTC Seattle).
“The port’s first audit of Columbia’s management of Bell Harbor in 2000 found that accounting records couldn’t ‘be audited and verified for accuracy in any material respect’ for at least the two previous years.
“Columbia violated its Bell Harbor contract by failing to remit any profits from inception until after a state auditor raised questions in 1999.
“Columbia did not remit any profits from WTC Seattle until 2002 because the port failed to ask for the money, as the contract required.
“A port manager refused to recommend the second trade center agreement to commissioners in 2002 because she considered it a bad deal.
“The port has not audited Columbia’s operation of Bell Harbor or at the trade center since 2002 and has never audited the cruise terminal contracts.
“Port officials say their priority has been revitalizing the waterfront and generating jobs, not making money.
“Ties to Paul Schell
” … Somewhere in the Pier 66 complex is Oppenheimer’s office, headquarters for Columbia Hospitality. He refused to be interviewed in person, instead answering questions during a 40-minute phone call from the waterfront with a public relations adviser at his side. Follow-up questions were answered by e-mail. …
“Oppenheimer said he met Schell in 1989, when the real estate developer was running for port commissioner. During their first conversation, Schell asked Oppenheimer about what kind of conference center might work on the waterfront. As port commissioner, Schell would become one of the project’s strongest advocates, disagreeing with critics who said the port should stick to traditional maritime activities. By 1991, Oppenheimer had a $28,120 contract with the port to do a market assessment for an international conference center.
“Two years later, the port asked Oppenheimer to sit on a committee to help select a conference center operator. The committee interviewed three finalists and recommended a Texas company. But the deal fell apart a month after it was approved in 1994, and the port was scrambling to fill the gap. Fearing that reopening bids would be too costly, port officials hired Oppenheimer’s company …. Oppenheimer said there was no conflict because his firm had completed its advisory work when it submitted the proposal. …
“Exceeding all expectations
” … In a deal aimed at fostering ‘”business growth,’ the port built in generous compensation for Columbia, agreed to fund operating deficits and gave the company $600,000 in working capital for expenses. The conference center opened amid fanfare in June 1996 …. By the time negotiations were under way for a second contract in 2001, the company had earned $2.4 million in management and incentive fees …. ‘Because they have done such a good job, the structure of the agreement has compensated them very handsomely,’ Marla Kempf, general manager for central waterfront piers and properties, wrote in a March 13, 2001, e-mail.
“Port officials said publicly that giving Columbia almost half the profits had been worth it because the company had ‘exceeded all financial expectations.’ After all, the port had expected losses in the startup years.
“Behind the scenes, even Dinsmore, a strong supporter of Oppenheimer, had been grumbling: ‘Is this reasonable, in the context that we cover all of their variable expenses (de facto eliminating their risk) and then pay in excess of 40 percent of the profits, when we in fact made the substantial financial investments and took all of the risks????’ he wrote in a Sept.14, 2000, e-mail to Kempf.
“To prepare for contract negotiations, the port hired the Connecticut-based Conference Center Consulting Group in 2000 to analyze Bell Harbor operations. The study praised Columbia’s management of the center but said its base management fees were almost twice industry norms. …
“The state auditor had identified a related problem a year earlier: Columbia had not remitted any Bell Harbor profits to the port since its inception, a violation of its contract, which required quarterly transfers of excess funds. The port had allowed Columbia to set up its own bank accounts for revenue and expenses rather than having the public funds flow through port accounts. The port did not have its name on Columbia’s accounts, a concern eventually raised by port staff.
But Miller, the port official, said the delay in getting the profits was just a technicality because the money belonged to the port. ‘If we needed it for cash flow, we could ask,’ Miller said. ‘We weren’t very concerned about it.’ …
“The state auditor had raised another issue: The port had not yet audited Bell Harbor’s operations. Before negotiating a new contract, the port hired an accounting firm in 2000. … The auditing firm … concluded that Columbia’s accounting records ‘cannot be audited and verified for accuracy in any material respect for the period 1997 through June 1999’ ….
“Columbia acknowledged ‘serious deficiencies’ but blamed the problem on repeated crashes of a computerized accounting system that was not backed up ….
“Port officials decided that the most expedient solution was to have the company clean things up, audit its 2000 records and be sure the new contract had more financial controls.
“Commissioners were ‘fully briefed’ in executive session, said Dan Thomas, the port’s chief financial officer, when asked last month about it. … Commission President Pat Davis said she ‘vaguely recalls’ an accounting problem but does not believe it was serious. …
“Sweetening the deal
“Across Alaskan Way from Bell Harbor, the port had put up a new office building called World Trade Center West as part of the uplands development. … The fourth floor housed the WTC Seattle club, offering corporate members an executive dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the waterfront, and meeting rooms. The rationale? Business is about relationships, and what better way to bond than over lunch in the Holland America Cruise Lines dining room on Shanghai Maine Lobster at $33 a plate?
“Once again, the port hired Oppenheimer’s company, to do a marketing survey for WTC Seattle, and then negotiated a no-bid contract for him to run the facility. …
“An April 1997 port memo outlined key points for persuading commissioners to hire Columbia without a bid process and warned: ‘Caution — Be sure NOT to come across as having too cozy of a relationship w/(Columbia).’ …
“By the time its contract came up for renewal in 2002, Columbia had ‘performed beyond everyone’s wildest expectations,’ according to a company memo. The memo described how each club visitor was ‘greeted warmly by the valet’ and had their cars delivered back with a WTC Seattle mint on the dashboard. …
“A 2002 port audit of the club … noted two issues needing attention: The port was not named on the club’s bank accounts; and the port had failed to ask Columbia to remit any profits since the club opened. The auditor attributed this to ‘unawareness or lack of communication.’ Staff members belatedly asked for a $500,000 check from the company and put the port’s name on the bank accounts.
“Negotiations for a new contract began in 2002, with … Oppenheimer … asking for more. ‘The decision at hand is, should we give Mr. Oppenheimer what he is requesting,’ Kempf, port manager, wrote in an April 26, 2002, e-mail. Another staff member weighed in: ‘It’s hard for me to imagine resistance to a contract that offers 57.5 percent of revenues with no investment and no expense and therefore in my mind, no risk. If the risks John identified are more than he is willing to bear under this proposal, maybe we should take him off the hook’ …. By then a port financial analyst had estimated that the port would make more money if it leased the space at market rates. In the end, the port sweetened Oppenheimer’s five-year contract, raising his share of the profits to about 65 percent.
“Kempf, the port’s lead negotiator, refused to take the deal to commissioners. ‘I am not comfortable having my name on the memo or doing this, since it is not my recommendation and I don’t believe it’s a good deal for the port,’ Kempf wrote in a June 26, 2002, e-mail to Mark Knudsen, deputy managing director of the port’s seaport. ‘I’m being asked to compromise my credibility and integrity as a business manager.’ Knudsen took it to commissioners, believing that it was ‘the best deal they could strike.’ They approved it in July 2002. Soon after the controversy, Kempf was laid off from her job. …
“Close relationships
” … Paul Schell said that while serving as port commission president, he grew to admire Oppenheimer’s business savvy. That’s why, after becoming Seattle’s mayor in 1998, he hired Oppenheimer to run two of his small hotels. That same year, he made Oppenheimer president of Paul Schell Associates, a now-defunct hotel development company.
“When Schell lost his primary re-election race in 2001, Oppenheimer invited Schell to sit on Columbia’s advisory board, a seat he still holds. The pair are also partners in Seattle Hotel Group, which is developing the Four Seasons hotel and luxury condos in downtown Seattle.
“Meanwhile, Dinsmore’s business relationship with Oppenheimer spilled over into their personal lives. E-mails between Dinsmore and Oppenheimer contain glowing references to social evenings. … Dinsmore and his wife, Jan Hendrickson, spent a week at Oppenheimer’s home in London over Thanksgiving in 2005. … Both Dinsmore and Oppenheimer own vacation property on Lake Chelan. …
“Dinsmore said he hasn’t given Oppenheimer special treatment. ‘The only thing that being a friend of Mic’s gives you is you have to jump to a higher set of standards,’ Dinsmore said.
“As for Port Commission President Pat Davis, Oppenheimer contributed to her campaign last year when candidate Jolley launched a serious challenge to her 20-year tenure on the commission. Oppenheimer donated $250 to Davis, his company contributed $1,000 to her, and his company donated $5,000 to a political action committee called Citizens for a Healthy Economy. The PAC raised and spent more than $100,000 to support Davis, Commissioner John Creighton and unsuccessful candidate Rick Berkowitz. Oppenheimer said he ‘was not involved’ in the PAC’s decision to support Davis. Davis said she doesn’t let political contributions influence her decisions. Oppenheimer also rejected any notion that these ties have factored into his contracts with the port: ‘We earned the port’s business by delivering exceptional results and service,’ Oppenheimer wrote.
“Others say the web of business, social and political ties benefits the status quo and undermines the port’s efficiency. …
“The port helps ensure the success of Bell Harbor and the trade center in other ways. The port has paid Columbia at least $300,000 in the past five years for events at port-owned facilities and other services, including Dinsmore’s two $1,000 lunches with his seven-member ‘kitchen cabinet,’ according to a port document.
“Columbia has also boosted its Bell Harbor revenues for years by catering events at the nearby Odyssey, Maritime Discovery Center. Last year, Columbia took over operation of the port-owned museum, which has lost millions since it opened in 1998. The facility, formerly a non-profit educational center, now is used primarily for catered events.
“Despite vowing to keep a closer eye on its facilities, the port hasn’t audited either Bell Harbor or WTC Seattle since 2002. Outside observers say the port’s deals with Columbia have been surprisingly generous. ‘They are on the high side of what one normally sees,’ said Fletch Waller, a retired hotel consultant who once ran for port commissioner. ‘It strikes me as highly unusual and questionable — the whole relationship.’ Port officials disagree, and gave Oppenheimer a five-year extension on both contracts starting next year. …”
Quoted under Fair Use; for complete story and/or copyright info, see http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/.....ort13.html
P-I investigative reporter exposes Port of Seattle corruption
While my post is making its way out of Goldy’s spam filter, here’s a link to the story: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/.....ort13.html
The essence of the P-I story is that cozy relationships between Port Commission president Pat Davis, port director Marc Dinsmore, and a private contractor have resulted in millions of dollars of profits for the contractor — while taxpayers pay for the contractor’s facilities and take all the financial risks of his business operations. In addition, the contractor has failed to pay the port its contractual share of his operating profits — and the port has failed to ask him to pay up, or even to require him to keep financial records. Meanwhile, Dinsmore goes on lavish trips with the contractor. And they’re doing all of this with on our dime.
Yes, it’s a long comment, and the entire P-I story is even longer — but this is OUR TAX MONEY at stake. The Port of Seattle is one of very few ports in the nation that isn’t self-supporting. The owner of a median King County home pays about $100 a year to subsidize the port. And the port has repeatedly been caught spending our money like … well, like it’s their personal slush account. Which is exactly what it is.
It’s crooks and liars time again, folks. Battle stations.
Jeffrey Skilling went to jail today – 24 well-deserved years. Too bad Ken Lay died before he got sent to the slammer.
To: Libertarian at 20: Skilling is getting his punishment on earth, starting today (at least some of it). Lay is learning the meaning of the passage: “some will call me ‘Lord, Lord’, but I will say ‘I never knew you’.
(scripture quoted as best as my memory allows right now, down’t have time to look it up to be precise).
#16
‘Why should (the port) take all the risk and get so few returns?’
Oh come on, THAT is what government organizations are for, to assume risk while “private enterprise” assumes all benefits
It is called Capitalism dummys; the most benefit for the fewest at the biggest cost to the largest number.
Sheesh
Darcy might have won if whe stood for anything other than ” Dave R is GWB rubberstamp.” In fact, Sheriff is more independent of the Rep. caucus than Darcy is of the Dems….
If ever there were a pot calling the kettle black, it was Darcy ( i need to be told what to think) Burner.
She will be smoked if she runs again. Especially after two years of bungling Dem control of congress.
Besides, Dems always eat there own. She won’t get the chance to go again.
Those dollars could have gone to Madrid in NM
You mean Attorney General Patricia Madrid? Who, with a better resume (statewide election) couldn’t unseat a Republican incumdent in a district that leans Democratic?
Dumb example.
Look, Burner lost a close race, and came from out of nowhere to do it against an incumbent with tons of name recognition. I think she did OK.
That being said, I don’t believe in handing nominations to anyone- and if other people want to jump in for WA-8, I’m all in favor of that (as long as it is a well-run primary without boatloads of negative ads, as opposed to the circular firing squads that sometimes happen in contested primaries, like the CA Governor’s D primary this last cycle).
Of course the duties as President of the Ames Lake Community Club might keep her from running….But do give her “real” community leadership experience…..
The team that ran DB’s campaign are the real deal and should pick a better candidate. Great campaign, poor candidate.
Darcy lost because people the 8th are having a relatively good time. If unemployment was up, the steel mills were shut down, the auto accessories and tire factories here had packed up and shipped to China, it would have been a different story as it was in places where that did happen.
Reichert ran as the “Sheriff” as he’s got nothing else to go on. His supporters dismissed Darcy’s experience as nothing more than a Mom who was on her homeowner’s board. Somehow the connection as to what a merit-scholarship Harvard educated Computer Scientist with real industry experience brings to a district which gets a considerable chuck of its bread-and-butter from the high-tech computer software, hardware and network industry got lost in the minds of people who themselves can’t understand it. Just imagine if something causes Microsoft and the hundreds of other smaller firms in the area to suffer a downturn because of anything from loss of Intellectual Property protection, to lack of net-neutrality, to a climate where R&D is not encouraged. Or if firms just decide to move their Development to India or China or Russia because salaries there are cheap and heath care benefits here are expensive. But thank God we wouldn’t have to worry about the Green River Killer.
Reichert couldn’t even respond to the question about consolidation of media ownership. What are the odds that he would know any more about the computer industry than maybe how use a computer to punch up someone’s license plate? I’d like to see how all the rednecks in the South end of the district will keep their truck repair businesses alive when all their customers lose all of their customers.
Right Stuff @ 26,
You’re right – her staff was and is top notch. I wouldn’t say that she was a poor candidate but she probably was not a top tier one either.
Roger Rabbit says: P-I REPORTER EXPOSES CORRUPTION AT PORT OF SEATTLE “Lax oversight at Port of Seattle “Port shoulders risks and forgoes profit
Aren’t Moonbat!s in control here? Figures!
Show me in the Good Book where it says when you die you immediatley meet your maker? I’ll WAIT!
bob says: Reichert ran as the “Sheriff” as he’s got nothing else to go on. Or was it blah blah blah?
What was Darcy’s experience again?
25 What “community leadership experience” does Reichert have? Running a corrupt sheriff’s department?
29 Somehow Paul Schell, Pat Davis, Marc Dinsmore, and this Oppenheimer guy don’t quit fit my image of “liberals” or “Democrats.” These are all business folks. And sticky-fingered to a T.
quite not quit
still beating the dead darcy are you? LMAO… maybe she’ll buy you a beer…
Darcy? Darcy who? Darcy Burner? Oh, I alsmost forgot; that ridiculous candidate that ran against and got beat by Dave. Sore loser there Goldy? At least Reichert didn’t steal the election like Queen Crissy-buddy Dean “Incompetence” Logan wasn’t around to find the votes….you know- felons, dead felons, illegal aliens, fairytail people, etc. He’s in California doing that now I hear.
Right Stuff says:
Darcy might have won if whe stood for anything other than ” Dave R is GWB rubberstamp.” In fact, Sheriff is more independent of the Rep. caucus than Darcy is of the Dems….
If ever there were a pot calling the kettle black, it was Darcy ( i need to be told what to think) Burner.
She will be smoked if she runs again. Especially after two years of bungling Dem control of congress.
Besides, Dems always eat there own. She won’t get the chance to go again.
———————–
Bungling Dem control? God that stuff you are smokin’ must be good. Let’s talk about bungling.
Terry Schaivo
No oversight hearings whatsoever
8 billion missing in Iraq, no investigation
no auditing of taxpayers money spent in iraq
Prescription Drug Benefit Pharma handout scam
tort reform big business handout scam
energy bill energy company profit scam
bankruptcy reform scam
The list of the crimes of the Republicans, and the Republicans convicted, indicted, or pleading guilty is impressive. I think the GOP should just call themselves the mafia, and get it over with.
If you think Republicans did a good job running our government, then you probably think global warming is a good thing, evolution never happened, and the world is only 6,000 years old….
Calling yourself a Republican these days is like calling yourself a NAZI after the concentration camps were discovered.
Darcy’s turds would make a better congressperson than “I vote against the leadership when they let me” Reichert.
Everyone knows the Republican dogs vote count. It takes someone stupid beyond belief to admit it ie. Reichert.
Stupid, stupid, and stupid.
Of course Republicans cherish stupid people. Look at their president, the one that has not got one thing right yet….
Republicans like retarded politicians. They vote for retards like themselves. That way they can relate…..
I wonder how many less victims Ridgeway would have killed if Darcy was the sheriff…..
Darcy, a 3rd tier candidate with no political experience, zero name recognition, and with the areas major newspapers working against her, (lying about, and attacking her) almost beat a well known, not too offensive incumbent with more name recognition than any candidate could ever hope for.
Way to go girl. Darcy ran a great campaign for a nobody rookie. It is not her fault that all those retards in the 8th can’t recognize the damage Republican control of our country has done.
If you don’t believe me, go to europe, and walk around with a big old american flag t-shirt, and see how long it takes before someone stabs you for being American.
Remember, we couldn’t even paint the american flag on our soccer team’s bus in Europe because they feared regular people would attack them.
If making the world hate America is what good leadership is, then the no investigation, do nothing congress, and the lying chimp have done a great job.
By the way, who is going to pay the 5 TRILLION DOLLAR DEBT BUSH RACKED UP???? The super rich folks who he, and his party represents? I think not. The working poor, and middle class…..
And to think the world was with us after 9-11 and ready to unite to end the threat of al queda. Even the muslim countries were ready to help us take the fight to al queda. Bush took all that goodwill, told the world to go fu*k themselves, got us stuck in a quagmire in iraq without un approval, (which makes the invasion illegal) and destroyed America’s place in the world, perhaps for all time.
Remember. Bush does not care how many soldiers die while he tries to save his “legacy”…..
Anyone voting for any Republican at this point in history should be hung for treason…. And I used to be a Republican…..
Yawn;
first, post was about Darcy, so here ya go
As big time right winger, but anti war, i was able to hold my nose and vote for Maria as anti war vote. yeah she’s mean and i hate most of her politics, but she ain’t dumb
Darcy was a twit; i mean come on, you may hate Reichart for his hair, his ugly brown sherrif uniforms, etc, but he wasn’t DUMB.
She started by insulting us w/ that Exec crap
Then we learned she dropped out of law school
then she never had anything meaningful to say
then she only pandered to the Seattle crowd
then she wore her manchurian candidate tunics
then goldy and other radicals jumped on her bandwagon
then naral, emily, others jumped in
Man, why couldn’t you serve up Dave Ross; he’d have won by 10 points..
Scary thing its not libs we oppose, and its also not women (Dunn could run again and add more to her 12 years from before). But its the mao jacket + career inflation + nothing to her that we object to.
“Final numbers: Burner outraised Reichert”
In other related news: Burner lost in both King and Pierce Counties and hasn’t been heard from since her devestating loss.
Who really cares at this point.