There's always a silver lining.
Even in a very blue year, with everyone with a (D) and your neighbor's dog riding Obama's coattails to victory, Nutroots throb Darcy Burner lost her race.
This makes a lot of sense to most normal people, because Darcy Burner likes to embellish the image in her mirror a bit. And with good cause, as she's got little to show in the way of accomplishments.
The Bush Deranged Left Darcy's base loves to crow on about what Dave Reichert didn't accomplish in catching Green River Killer, Gary Ridgeway. But, at least he had a successful career in public service as a sheriff before heading to DC.
One would think that after her first loss, Darcy Burner would have regrouped, worked on her image and speaking tone, finished her law degree, changed to another district that better suits her views, etc. But she just went back for a second indoctrination stint at Camp Wellstone, and then ran another campaign with more of the same.
Here's a big hint. The 8th District also encompasses Pierce County. And I don't recall Darcy Burner making any noteworthy visits to those constituents in either 2006 or 2008. Telling. Fortunately the Pierce County section of the 8th was smart enough to figure out that under Darcy Burner they likewise would have had near zero representation.
And what does this say about the Nutroots attack dogs like David Goldstein. He was a huge Burner cheerleader, missing no opportunity to slime Reichert, and yet she still lost. And for a second time. I hope for their sake the Dems aren't paying Goldstein anything.
WA Dems, congrats on the success in the various National, State and Local races. But Darcy Burner has run two pretty lame campaigns and is now shopworn. You should probably find a better candidate for the 8th.
Update: One commenter notes that as of 6 PM Saturday, Burner has not called Reichert to offer any sportsman like acknowledgment of his win. Even the devil ridden conservative monsters George W. Bush and John McCain called Barack Obama to offer congratulations. Isn't Darcy a candidate from the most compassionate, most tolerant and most diverse party? One would think some decency would be in order. Darcy Burner's attitude makes me believe she would be the tennis player who leaves in a huff after you beat her, rather than face the traditional handshake at the net.
Posted by JeffB. at November 07, 2008 08:23 PM | Email ThisThere is no trust for our elected officials. Trust matters to voters, as much as any other issue.
Dave needs to push for nuclear energy, drilling and migration of the auto industry to hybrid vehicles. He needs to fight the waste-a-lot energy initiatives of farm-grown energy nonsense; of cost prohibited hypothetical energy nonsense from academia, such as wind and other unbelievably expensive science projects; he needs to stand up on centric social issues; engage and make a difference in his roles in homeland security and justice; more importantly he needs to be vocal in fighting the unencumbered left over the next year, where it makes sense.
If he does those things, he could become a contender for the State Senate. If he doesn't, he may not have a fourth term in the house. Dave needs to energize the middle class in Washington and help the Republican Party move away from self-serving corrupt congressional and Senate members, such as Stevens (Alaska), Cunningham (California) and others, from whom we should all demand better.
We as Republicans are to blame, not the elected(s). We have allowed a blind eye to be turned to glaring failures in our party, such as known drug use by George Walker Bush, but we reamed Bill Clinton (as we should) over the "I didn't inhale". This is hypocritical.
Some said that it was about lying that we reamed Clinton, but to me it was about the drugs, which are criminal. If they were legal, I would have much less concern, but this is about the character of politician being willing to commit a crime for his own personal benefit, in whom we must place our trust.
The allegations of Bush using Cocaine and the willingness to turn a blind eye is one example. Within the state, we've had 'conservative' state Senators caught in possession of cocaine in their youth- again we turn a blind eye.
When we see these RED flags, we should think better of losing the seat(s) by not supporting them, but creating the Party which Middle America should be proud. This is about building a party and leadership we can trust!
Dave, for all of his faults is a good and decent man, who won this election, because in this world of corrupt politicians on both sides, we trust the likes of former Sheriff Dave Riechert more than Darcy or the Democrats.
There were other good and decent candidates, such as Snohomish County Sheriff Rick Bart, who received NO support from the Republican Party and got 36% of the vote on a zero budget, against a very vulnerable Rick Larsen.
After the bailout vote, just before the election, crowds were booing Larsen out of public forums and showing up in droves, but the Republican Party did nothing to help a quality candidate or exploit a legitimate vulnerability in that race- the Republican Party should be ashamed.
We in the Republican Party need to look at the quality of our candidates and put our energy behind those candidates and the issues which will allow the party and our communities to thrive.
We have put our faith in George W. Bush and he and the corrupt Republican Congress and Senate have as a group failed us.
We should learn from our mistakes and our candidates should hear that message.
Don't believe me? Just why is it then, that a liberal Patty-Murray-brain-dead lap-dog candidate such as Darcy Burner has lost two consecutive SQUEAKERS to Gary Ridgeway's nightmare?
Could it have anything to do with his far left Republican (RINO) voting record in Congress? The ACU has rated The Sheriff, on a conservative scale of 0-100, with a score of 64 his first year in Congress (not exactly stellar), a 56 two years ago going into his first re-relection (getting more liberal), and he scored a whopping 48 last year - actually going Left of Center!
We don't need another wishy washy RINO in Congress - Hey Dave, try voting with an ounce of conservatism and just watch your re-election bids improve markedly.
Too bad that the waif from Ames Lake didn't win - so that we can finally have a shot at replacing this sad RINO.
Posted by: Jefferson Paine on November 8, 2008 01:05 PMAlso, after reading the comments...Dave won the last 2 races against Darcy in the worst political environments for an "R" since ... well ... I can't think of an atmosphere to run in worse than running against an extremely popular prez candidate (Obama), in a troubled economy, and in the Seattle area. I'm not sure the exact numbers, but about 20 or so seats flipped from R to D in this race (and in 2006), and Dave's didn't. And, by the way, it's turning out not be much of a "squeaker," - it looks like Dave will win this thing by about 20,000 votes. Running hard right, and Dave would have been better off? No way. He won because folks voted for Obama and then voted for Dave. Michael Medved has a great article/blog ("DID SIX MILLION REPUBLICANS REALLY STAY HOME?") blowing up the theory that an "R" running hard right in a moderate district will win.
Posted by: Todd Reichert on November 9, 2008 05:20 PMI agree. What conservatives need to refocus on is actual conservatism. The neocons and Buckley's fusionism created this hard right myth. But in practice, neither political encroachment nor social encroachment is conservative.
The message going forward should be to get government off our backs. And that's going to be a hard pill to swallow for many social conservatives who want to use government to influence the social agenda.
Posted by: Jeff B. on November 10, 2008 12:26 AM