The good news is: it looks like SurveyUSA is going to be polling the race in WA-08 every month, all the better to track the progress of netroots fave Darcy Burner. The bad news is: the race is basically static since last time, with Burner still down by 6. The candidates don't seem to be doing paid media yet, though, so nothing has really happened in the last month to move the numbers (other than Burner's house fire, which at least got her in the news for a few days).
One piece of good news, though: this poll finds the candidates tied among independents 45-45 (an improvement from last month, where Reichert led among indies by 13). If Burner can bolster her numbers among Democrats (16% of whom are defecting to support the ostensibly moderate Reichert), she'll be right in this thing.
Survey USA (7/27-29, likely voters, 6/16-17 in parens):
Rick Larsen (D-inc): 58 (56)
Rick Bart (R): 37 (38)
(MoE: ±4.4%)
Inexplicably, SurveyUSA also keeps polling WA-02, which isn't on anyone's map. Had Rick Bart (a fairly high-profile guy, as the former sheriff of Snohomish County) gotten into the fundraising game a lot earlier, he might have at least been able to get this into 'likely D' territory. But right now, he's sitting on $0 CoH, having raised and spent $31,456 in Q2.
One of the most amazing candidates running for Congress this is year is Darcy Burner in Washington state's 8th congressional district. She was the one who (with the help of retired generals and national security experts) put together "A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq" which has been endorsed by over 50 Democratic congressional candidates, including Jill Derby. She has been on the forefront on all the important fights, including FISA. She's just such a wonderful candidate that I'd be writing about her daily were she running in Nevada.
As you may already know, Darcy Burner's home was destroyed by fire this morning.
Some questions:
1. Is she dropping out of the race?
2. If she stays in, how will this impact the race? Does she get a "sympathy" bounce?
3. If she drops out, who's going to run?
I'm of the opinion that Darcy wasn't the greatest
candidate, but there may not be a credible replacements.
In the last couple days, there have been several posts across the blogosphere citing what various candidates running for Congress have said on FISA and retroactive immunity for the telecoms. But so far, it's been all over the map. I'll try to corral all their statements into this diary, so you can see who the "good guys" are.
First, let's start off with the current House and Senate members who voted against this bill. They do deserve credit, as it's their jobs on the line.
Follow me below the fold to see the dozens of Democratic challengers who are standing up for the Constitution, and are against this FISA bill and retroactive immunity.
As I reflect on the Take Back America 2008 conference, I'm thrilled 21st Century Democrats was a partner organization at the event. We are proud to stand with other great groups like Campaign for America's Future, Progressive Majority, ACORN, People for the American Way, the Center for Progressive Leadership, and many others who are working hard to change the direction of this country from the disastrous policies of George W. Bush.
For me, one of the highlights of the conference was the roll out of "A Responsible Plan To End The War In Iraq" by Darcy Burner, Chellie Pingree and several other Congressional candidates. Darcy explained how a the Bush Administration's top down approach to ending the war in Iraq has failed to stem the violence and that's why she drafted the plan and organized fellow Congressional candidates to take a bottom's up approach by putting forward a plan to end the war.
One of the most important points made during the rollout was the need to change the frame of the conversation about the war from whether the surge is working to what we should be doing to make our country safer. To shift the conversation we need to get more people involved in this debate. We must talk to our neighbors, friends, family - and most importantly to the candidates where we live - and ask them to sign on to the responsible plan to end the war in Iraq.
We in the progressive community have asked for leadership on ending the war, and now have Darcy Burner, Chellie Pingree and several other candidates who have put themselves on the line by not only standing up against the war, but by providing a detailed plan of how the United States can bring our military engagement in Iraq to a responsible end and take steps to restore the checks and balances in our government to make sure we do not make the same mistake again in the future.
Darcy Burner is the anti-Bush Dog. Here she is on FISA:
And here is her Bush indebted opponent, Dave Reichert:
So, chip in some cash to Darcy. Already, more than 450 people have done so, to the tune of more than $18,000. Let's put more and better Democrats in Congress!
"Leadership is seeing the big picture, knowing how to get there, and then painting that picture so vividly that the rest of the world eagerly comes along." - Darcy Burner
Darcy Burner is a seasoned leader with bold ideas that capture the imagination of all Americans. Her work at Microsoft has given her the experience to create new paths to achieve goals worth fighting for such as health care for everyone and dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
