Darcy Burner's 8th CD campaign is finally coming to a failed end.
This is a significant loss for the Nutroots movement which heavily backed Burner and other candidates like Peter Goldmark in the WA 5th CD and Ned Lamont for Democratic Senator for Connecticut.
It's doubtful that Nutroots activists like David Goldstein of HorsesAss.org will have the courage to admit this embarrassing defeat, but that is exactly what it most certainly was.
Darcy Burner should not have been picked as the Nutroots candidate for the 8th CD. Not only was Burner underqualified, inexperienced and lacking charisma, but she had zero political history. In an election where Democrats roundly trounced Republicans and picked up enough seats in the US House and Senate for majority control and a sweeping win of much of the WA State Legislature, there should be some real soul searching as to why Darcy Burner was picked as a candidate in the first place. Not only was Darcy Burner the wrong candidate, but she ran a terrible campaign spending very little time connecting with voters in the 8th district, particularly in sections of the 8th CD that lie in Pierce County where she lost by much larger margins than in King County.
Furthermore, Nutroots activists like David Goldstein relentlessly pounded incumbent Dave Reichert, and worked tirelessly to raise money and support for Darcy Burner. And yet even with all of the support in a banner Democrat year, Darcy Burner lost. There is no other way to view the Burner campaign but as a massive failure for the Nutroots movement.
Maybe the Nutroots movement will do some soul-searching and realize that even if American voters do want change in both Washingtons, they don't want that change to be rabid Progressivism.
Now, Burner got closer than any Democrat in history to winning the 8th (and there are still a lot of King County votes left to count) -- despite the Republicans spending about $6 million to defeat her, and pulling out everything they had, including the President, Vice President, Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, and Karl Rove -- that should be an embarrasment to her and her supporters.
Oh wait. Maybe that's not who this should be embarrassing to...
Posted by: Spot223 on November 13, 2006 11:26 PMSherrod Brown: Unapologetic liberal beats incumbent DeWine by 12 points.
Jon Tester: Populist wins Senate seat after destroying DCCC favorite, center-right John Morrison, in the primary.
Amy Klobuchar: Democratic-Farm-Labor senatorial candidate wins by 20-point margin.
Sheldon Whitehouse: Liberal Democrat beats centrist Republican Lincoln Chafee.
Jim Webb: Beats George "Macaca" Allen with a strong anti-war, pro-economic justice message.
Jerry McNerney: Beats Richard Pombo after a primary win over DCCC-backed Steve Filson.
Keith Ellison: Anti-war Muslim wins multi-candidate primary, goes on to take MN 5th district seat.
John Hall: Musician and environmental activist wins Sue Kelly's house seat in NY State after taking 48% of the vote in a 4-way primary.
Carol Shea-Porter: Wins NH house seat after beating centrist and party favorite Jim Craig in the primary 54%-34%.
David Loebsack: Strong anti-war, pro-universal healthcare Dem beats centrist Jim Leach in Iowa's 2nd.
John Yarmuth: Progressive, independent newspaper publisher beats three moderates in the KY 3rd district primary, then beats Anne Northup with zero financial support from the DCCC.
Larry Kissell: Former Social Studies teacher wins a 4-way primary despite DCCC opposition. General against Robin Hayes still too close to call.
Zack Space: Wins Bob Ney's seat after beating three primary opponents including (wait for it...) DCCC-backed centrist Joe Sulzer.
Deval Patrick: Far-left Lefty McLefterman wins MA gubernatorial race after taking 50% in the primary against two center-right opponents.
Missouri Stem Cell Bill: Passed.
South Dakota Abortion Ban: Crushed.
Minimum Wage Increases: Passed by six states.
Parental Notification Laws: Defeated in two states.
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So whistle past the graveyard all you want. It's hardly a "failure to the nutroots movement" that we had the highest Democratic performance in the history of a District that has never elected a Democrat.
Dave Ross found the door, Darcy Burner knocked on it, and the 2008 candidate is going to kick it in! Don't get splinters on your pretty little faces.
Posted by: ivan on November 14, 2006 03:58 AMThis now seems to be a district where you now have to run a star to win, regardless of what side you're on.
Posted by: Misty on November 14, 2006 10:54 AMDoes that help the anti choice, homophobic, eurocentric nutcases? No, but who the hell cares. Let them join the foley/west I hate all gays until I is one party.
Posted by: the duke on November 14, 2006 01:05 PMOnly the "D" after her name and a media that portrayed her as a serious candidate made it close. With the same campaign and media coverage, virtually anyone off the street would have done no better or worse.
Burner was almost literally just picked out of the blue by the Democrats to run.
Her amazing success in such a close race should strike fear in every Republican, because if the media can come that close to getting a nobody elected in the 8th CD, then we're in real trouble (as opposed to the grossly distorted perception invented by the MSM of our problems.)
Posted by: MJC on November 14, 2006 03:49 PMShe came across to working people as smug and self-centered. Now to the nanny state loving Ron Sims crowd that isn't a problem, they are used to giving up their personal liberties and rights to someone who claims to "know more " than they do. She should have taken on all comers in a primary fight to establish herself, instead she chose to manipulate the other potential rivals with the help of Dwight Pelz to clear the way for herself to be unopposed.
I have friends in Ciy Governments all up and down the Snoqualmie Valley and none of them had seen or heard of Darcy as being an active participant. Well 3 million Illinois, California and New York Democratic dollars later she has the name recognition, will she do the work? Will she volunteer to help the locals when there is absolutely nothing in it for her other than the satisfaction and reward of serving others, we will see. Flood relief? School bonds? CAO repeal? I am guessing the answer is no, it's more likely she will get a political handout from the County or the State maybe even the Fed's will stick her on a commisson to keep her "Out there".
Posted by: Huh? on November 14, 2006 06:55 PM
B......Bye
As far as Goldy, he is a character. He can be mean, but usually it is satirical. I don't condone him using bad language, but agree with many of his views.
My Cousin Tod uses the F word on his blog, but writes some funny stuff.
Not the only politician guilty of this by any means, but every public statement she made was "Washington wants change" or "Dave Reichert votes with Bush 90 percent of the time." If this wasn't such of a Democratic year, I can only imagine that crap would have got her slaughtered.
Posted by: Alcon Nighthawk on November 15, 2006 02:02 AMShe talks just as slowly in person as she does on tv. Its not an act - she really does behave that way.
And as for her 'husband served in Iraq'...? Not a chance. Mike works as a middling techie at Microsoft - and yes, any one of us could have done Darcy's job at Microsoft. She was on a team, not a star. Never was an 'executive' ...
My husband worked with her for years and she never signed a paycheck and never held any position of authority.
As someone posted on another thread here, her son now maybe gets his mother back, which is far more important than Darcy deepening her socialistic tendencies in Baghdad Jim's office.
Posted by: Ann on November 15, 2006 09:12 AMNo, I've seen NO evidence that Burner has ever done that. We know what that's like because we've done it and continue to do so. She has no idea what that is like. She has no idea what it's like to be on the hook for every expense of the business coming out of her pocket. Vendors, taxes state and local, business loans, employee paychecks, etc. She does not begin to have the amount of true business experience that many of us have gone through in our families. I'm sensing that you don't, either.
Posted by: Michele on November 15, 2006 11:39 AMMike I don't think Michele was saying that a worker can't be a hero, but the reality is that working a job is much less of a risk, and not a direct part of wealth creation. There are some key employees in any business that might be responsible for a patent or a key product idea that really generates the wealth of that business. Those employees should be well compensated. But the real engines of our capitalist society are the risk takers who put up capital and start and run businesses.
And that included Wal-Mart in a BIG way. Wal-Mart is one of the largest engines powering our economy. You should be down on your knees thanking Wal-Mart every day. Not only is Wal-Mart a huge part of our economy, creating many jobs, etc. but it is Wal-Mart that is reducing the economies of scale for small businesses and lower income consumers. Wal-Mart makes it possible for everyone to do more with what they have because they have a business model that allows them to sell for less.
You are probably anti-Wal-Mart because you have been indoctrinated with pro-union rhetoric, or just general left leaning anti-capitalist rhetoric. The fact is that Wal-Mart does more for the little guy than almost any other entity in the US, including the government. Wal-Mart provides jobs at a pay scale that fits even the most entry level position. Go look at the job board at a typical new Wal-Mart as it opens. You'll find that there are thousands of applicants for relatively few jobs. People want to work a Wal-Mart. Maybe it's a second income, or maybe they are entry level workers or high school worker or just unskilled workers, but Wal-Mart provides a great job at that level, and they can do so because they are non-union, and because of their business model.
There are many other heroic American business success stories, and all of them make the engines that fuel our GNP and GDP. Our economy is easily the largest in the world, and is easily one of the most productive economies per capita. It takes an entire year or more for some countries to reach the output of one day in the US.
If you feel guilty about our productivity, or you feel that we owe the rest of the world for our success, you should really ask yourself why. It's quite possible that you've always believed what you've been sold by the left and never stopped to question the supreme morality and goodness of our system based on individual incentive.
Lastly, I would say that it's an utter myth that small business is opposed to worker safety. A small business depends on every single one of its employees to survive. When an employee in a small business gets sick, everyone feels the extra load. I don't know any small businesses who treat their employees poorly. They simply can't afford to do so.
BTW, I run a small business.
Posted by: Jeff B. on November 15, 2006 11:47 PMSaying that you've poisoned the waters of a love fest is a fallacy. That's an appeal to emotion. There is no obiligation for complete agreement here at SP, but there is mostly and should be an obligation to rational argumentation. By any measure, there's a lot less of that on Goldstein's blog. His blog is mostly interjection and profanity, and points for both sides are rarely based on rational argumentation.
The point being that response to your civil and rational disagreement is a compliment. I would not bother, nor do I ever bother to post at HA, if there's not a willingness to debate in a rational, civil manner. And I read your mention of being from a family of small business owners, and again, that's an important point, and why I am even bothering to respond. Good for you and your family.
Productive work is the central purpose of a rational person's life. That's not to say that we all don't have emotions, and loved ones, and free time, and hobbies, etc. but if you show me a person who has not found a creative outlet in their capacity for production as a means of sustenance and intellectual self fulfillment, I will show you an unhappy person. Productive work, and better yet, wealth creation is the central aspect of personal achievement, which leads to pride, and then to happiness. I'm certainly happy that my wonderful wife shares my values of productivity and achievement, but it would not be possible for her to achieve that in me, it is something I have to do myself, and so it is for all people. Those who sit on the sidelines waiting for a handout, seek hedonistic distractions and view there jobs only as a means to an end will never achieve true happiness.
But the key takeaway here is that the fundamental difference between those on the left, and those on the right is their view of man. Forget about the arguments of religion, abortion, etc. for a minute and focus in on freedom in an economic sense. With those on the left, and particlularly Progressives, there is an innate distrust of man, and the belief that the only way to provide for the negatives of the human condition is to forcibly take from the productive. On the right, there's the understanding that the best way to handle the problems of the incapacitated or incapable is through both the expectation that they pull as much of their weight as possible, and through voluntary contribution. In other words, the left sees humans and fundamentally incapable and in need of a government mandated support structure and the right sees humans as fundamentally successful and capable of fending for themselves if expected to do so. And I'm not really speaking of parties, because for the most part, Republicans have abandoned these concepts, also in favor of a welfare state, just not to the degree of Democrats.
No one would argue that when there are those who have missed the boat, there should not be a means for their help, but the worst possible way to effect that is to take money away from individuals and give it to a bureaucracy to distribute without the same care that an individual would use in the spending of their own monies.
And that cuts to the core of why Wal-Mart is a good thing, and why businesses, and particularly those who do not support unions, which means most small businesses, are the key to the US economic viability. Ultimately, we can no be competitive at the artificially forced and high salary rates imposed by unions and minimum wage laws. Wal-Mart is at least one large employer that bucks the trend and makes it possible for many entry level positions to exist. And moreover, makes it possible for free people to make decisions about their own employment, absent union coercion.
There is perhaps no greater eloquence or understanding of the true economic motivators than that of Milton Friedman who died today at age 94. If you truly want to understand why the economic ideas of the left are wrong and un-American, go view this Google Video. You seem to have somewhat of an open mind, it will be interesting to see if your opinion changes as you know more.
Posted by: Jeff B. on November 16, 2006 12:15 PM
She might be able to run for McDimwitt's seat in the 7th District once he decides to retire and get hauled off to the insane asylum, where he belongs right now.
Posted by: KS on November 18, 2006 09:48 AM