Local Republicans are once again dismissing Darcy Burner, but they do so at their own peril.
As a no-name newcomer with zero electoral experience, Burner came within a shiny white hair of defeating name-brand incumbent Dave Reichert. Ask any experienced politico worth their salt (of either party,) and they’ll tell you the race could have broken either way in the final weeks of the 2006 campaign. It broke towards Reichert. And there are lessons to be learned from that.
Burner is nothing if not smart, and you can be damn well sure that she’s learned those lessons. And as her 2Q fundraising numbers prove, she’s also a damn hard worker.
Over at u(SP), Eric Earling says that’s it’s too early for me to be crowing about Burner’s record fundraising, but let’s put those numbers into perspective. Burner didn’t start raising money until March, giving Reichert a four-month head start (coming out of the campaign with a six-figure debt, Reichert never stopped raising money)… and yet she still beats Reichert $185K to $160K in cash-on-hand, the all important figure by which DC insiders judge the health of campaigns.
Last year the Reichert campaign never pre-released its quarterly numbers, even while Burner was making headlines for her surprising totals, but this time around the other guys blinked, rushing to match Burner’s announcement of a $200K quarter (yes, a WA state record for a challenger) with a $244K quarter of its own. But the cash-on-hand disadvantage is such an embarrassment that one Democratic politico laughed that “the idiot” who made the decision to release it won’t be with the campaign much longer. (I hear John McCain has some job openings.)
What do strong Republican fundraising numbers really look like? IL-10, in the suburbs just north of Chicago, is a competitive district somewhat comparable to WA-08, in which 3-term incumbent Rep. Mark Kirk got quite a scare from netroots challenger Dan Seals. After slipping by with only 53-percent of the vote, Kirk has transformed himself into a fundraising machine, chalking up $617K in 2Q for a comfy $1.1 million total cash-on-hand. Those are the type of fundraising numbers one might expect from Reichert, given his 51.5 to 48.5 percent squeaker. And you wonder why I’m crowing?
Earling knowingly points to a quote from the Seattle P-I, in which “other Democrats” criticize Burner for failing to defeat Reichert in a Blue Tide year, and for repeating the same campaign themes as 2006, but those “other Democrats” are those backing undeclared Republican Democratic challenger Rodney Tom. That’s okay. They’re entitled to their rhetoric. But they’re wrong.
Burner, like the other second-tier Democratic challengers, was a sacrificial lamb in a grand strategy in which all of the first-tier and most of the third-tier Democrats won. She played an instrumental role in the Democrats taking control of Congress, drawing heavy Republican fire in a district the R’s hadn’t planned on seriously defending. And yet she came within a few thousand votes, and a couple tactical decisions, of winning. Had she responded to Reichert’s derisively sexist “job interview” ad in kind — had she nailed Reichert on his fundamentalist opposition to reproductive rights (both abortion and some forms of birth control) — it would be Burner who was posting Kirk-like numbers in defense of her incumbency.
As for Tom, the presumed “Democratic” challenger, he’s in for a shock. In 2006 my fellow bloggers and I took great joy in launching withering attacks on Tom’s opponent, the much-hated state Sen. Luke Esser. Tom didn’t ask for our support back then, and he shouldn’t this time around either, because he ain’t gonna get squat. No doubt, he’s a nice enough guy, and a helluva lot better than Esser, but he has a voting record as a Republican legislator that’s not going to endear himself to many 8th CD Democratic primary voters. Talk about great blog fodder.
And for all Tom’s misreading of the 8th District (you know, that the best way for the Dems to defeat the Republican Reichert is with another Republican,) general election strategies don’t mean a damn if you can’t find a path to the general election. Burner is gonna kick Tom’s ass. That’s a fact. She’s smarter, she’s harder working, and with likes of Dan Kully and Sandeep Kaushik on board, she’s assembling a killer team with a killer instinct.
That said, run Rodney, run! It’s good for Burner. Keeps her looking over her shoulder. And it helps build cred to crush a state senator early in the campaign. All I ask is that you bow out gracefully next April when you’re trailing by 20 points in the polls, and $700K in the bank.
Sorry to post off-topic, but to my surprise I just happened to discover that some genius decided to make reverse directory lookups publicly available on dexonline.com. That means you can enter a phone number, and unless it’s unpublished you get back the subscriber’s name and address. You can also enter an address and get the subscriber’s name and phone number.
I’ll bet the burglers haven’t made a more delightful discovery since Mike Moore revealed that Canadians didn’t lock their doors. Chester the Molester’s probably got a smile on his face, too.
I gave Darcy more money last time than I’ve ever given to any political cause outside the ACLU. I’ll top that this time around, as will most of her supporters who witnessed her almost pull off an amazing upset. And I don’t even live in her district. Reichert is very vulnerable and Darcy is going to kick his ass! Yea, verily, forsooth, uh-huh, yeah, boy-howdy.
Another point to be made is that unless and until he files with the FEC, Rodney Tom can’t raise one thin dime for a Congressional race. If he was $185K behind Darcy in COH on June 30, he’s probably $190K back today. Unless it’s $200K.
Same for Chris Hurst (who is, to be fair, an actual longtime Democrat).
Art @ 1
Reverse directories have been online for a long time. You just had to look hard for the feature. The only way to get around it is to have phone number unlisted at a monthly cost from your Tele Co.. You best bet is to change your number, and start over (because all phone companies sell your info).
Some of the popular sites are http://www.switchboard.com and http://www.whitepages.com
4 I guess you’re right…although you certainly don’t have to look hard for this one.
What the heck, if the gubmint gets to know all about you, why shouldn’t everybody else?
Or reversephonedirectory.com, for that matter. I’ve had it bookmarked for many years.
Darcy vs. An elected official, a person who actually votes, a leader, and a person who doesn’t lie about their work history…Thats the description of the guy who beat her in the general election last year, and that is the description of the guy who will beat her in the primary.
Darcy is a dim witted loooooooooooooooooooooser. She should try voting, working, building a community reputation, and then run for office, but hey….she aint that smart. Rodney Tom will kick her fat ass.
Please run Darcy Burner.
For all you have posted about her “record” the bottom line is, fundraising is her only job…….
well, other than HOA club president….which is her other major political job.
I am all for the fight on global warming, as long as it is on a “volunteer” basis and donks do all the fighting. The soldiers who are in Irag are all volunteer. We republicans can sit back and laugh while patting each other on the back on how patriotic we are by dissenting. Ok when do we start? Woof woof
I know dogs brighter than Darcy…. hell I know dogs brighter than Patty. Patty Murray is one dumb ass b**ch.
Here is something you Left-wing nuts can dwell about tonight
You gotta love Robin Williams……Even if he’s nuts! Leave it to Robin Williams to come up with the perfect plan. What we need now is for our UN Ambassador to stand up and repeat this message.
Robin Williams’ plan…(Hard to argue with this logic!)
“I see a lot of people yelling for peace but I have not heard of a plan for peace. So, here’s one plan.”
1) “The US will apologize to the world for our “interference” in their affairs, past & present. You know, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Tojo, Noriega, Milosevic, Hussein, and the rest of those “good ‘ole’ boys”, we will never “interfere” again.
2) We will withdraw our troops from all over the world, starting with Germany, South Korea , the Middle East , and the Philippines . They don’t want us there. We would station troops at our borders. No one allowed sneaking through holes in the fence.
3) All illegal aliens have 90 days to get their affairs together and leave We’ll give them a free trip home. After 90 days the remainder will be gathered up and deported immediately, regardless of whom or where they are. They’re illegal!!! France will welcome them.
4) All future visitors will be thoroughly checked and limited to 90 days unless given a special permit!!!! No one from a terrorist nation will be allowed in. If you don’t like it there, change it yourself and don’t hide here. Asylum would never be available to anyone. We don’t need any more cab drivers or 7-11 cashiers.
5) No foreign “students” over age 21. The older ones are the bombers. If they don’t attend classes, they get a “D” and it’s back home baby.
6) The U S will make a strong effort to become self-sufficient energy wise. This will include developing nonpolluting sources of energy but will require a temporary drilling of oil in the Alaskan wilderness. The caribou will have to cope for a while
7) Offer Saudi Arabia and other oil producing countries $10 a barrel for their oil. If they don’t like it, we go someplace else. They can go somewhere else to sell their production. (About a week of the wells filling up the storage sites would be enough.)
8) If there is a famine or other natural catastrophe in the world, we will not “interfere.” They can pray to Allah or whomever, for seeds, rain, cement or whatever they need. Besides most of what we give them is stolen or given to the army. The people who need it most get very little, if anything.
9) Ship the UN Headquarters to an isolated island someplace. We don’t need the spies and fair weather friends here. Besides, the building would make a good homeless shelter or lockup for illegal aliens.
10) All Americans must go to charm and beauty school. That way, no one can call us “Ugly Americans” any longer. The Language we speak is ENGLISH. . Learn it…or LEAVE…Now, isn’t that a winner of a plan?
“The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses.” She’s got a baseball bat and she’s yelling, ‘you want a piece of me?’ “
By the way Roger is the Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda for the Socialist Democrats Party today just like Paul Joseph Goebbels was in Hitler Germany. His Nazi friends taught him the trade when he visited them in jail.
I have to agree with Goldy regarding blogger support for Rodney Tom. I think Rodney is a nice guy, and it was great that he rid us of Luke Esser, but as a constituent of his in both the 48th and 8th, I prefer my congressional candidates to have stronger progressive credentials, and Tom’s bi-conceptual approach to issues, as opposed to Burner’s progressive values, just don’t do it for me.
I want a Wellstone Democrat running against Reichert, and that’s who I’m going to vote for and support.
I’ll be working for Darcy Burner! I’m an industrious, peaceful, wood-eating beaver — and I vote!
klake is a beaver-hating nazi!!
That last name is pronounced “Blew” as in the past tense.
Stop insulting nazis by labeling Klake as one. He’s not that smart.
Nice analysis, Goldy. Sheriff Good Hair needs to find another line of work.
Is there an issue?
What does Darcy use to buy corn flakes? She was not very high at MSoft, did she make enough to suppport herself and a kid?
I like her and am impressed, but worry about candidates w/o obvious sources of support.
ALL YOU WINGNUTS (LIKE MTR AND DOOFUS) WHO LOVE DINO ROSSI:
WHAT A BUNCH OF FUCKING LOSERS YOU ARE!!!
In Forbes.com’s second annual Top States for Business, Virginia may be the top-ranked state for the second straight year, but Washington is the big story. The biggest mover (tied with Tennessee), rising from 12th to fifth place, Washington is also the only state to finish in the top five in three main categories (labor, regulatory environment and growth). And Washington’s numbers are up across the board when you look both backward and at projections into the future.
MORE!
HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!
While we are talking about ambitious women ….
How many here have seen the wierd portrait of Queen Elizabeth by Annie Liebovitz?
Liebovitz is funneee … but she pissed the Queen off by making Betsy take of the Crown! The result looks a little like Darth Vader w/o the helmet! I posted the pix at SeattleJew.
Dipshit @11. Better check your sources, that crud attributed to Robin Williams is total bullshit:
http://www.snopes.com/politics.....lliams.asp
Written by some wingnut years ago, it just keeps echo echo echoing out of your collective asses.
HEY GOLDY IF THE DOG DID NOT STOP TO TAKE A SHIT HE WOULD OF CAUGHT THE RABBIT.SHE WILL LOSE EVEN BIGGER THIS TIME AS SHE HAS PROVEN TO BE A LOSER.
re 22: No way> She has the votes of countless Beavers like myself!
EAT A BEAVER AND SAVE A TREE
This exchange between me and Proud Leftist is so good, I am going to post it in every thread on HA from now on. It destroys the Publicans’ stupid talking points – period.
“I’m working really hard to understand how President Bill Clinton’s actions act as justifcation for the righties. Read this fuckwads.
If your lame ass argument is that Bill Clinton was a bad President – which is what you say – and if your argument now is that the AWOL coward GW Bush is in someway comparable to Bill Clinton, what you are actually saying is that GW Bush is NO BETTER THAN CLINTON.
Does it hurt to be that stupid? I really want to know.
proud leftist says:
RES @ 18
You’ve hit it on the nose. The rightwing fringefucks consider Clinton to be the personification of evil–indeed, he is the devil incarnate in their twisted little minds. Nonetheless, their justification for all of the Bushites’ sins is, always, “well, Clinton did it, too.” Methinks they never studied logic.”
And what’s better, is that the rightie traitor keeps pointing out that this is true. Thanks MTR. Please keep proving my point for me.