In a sign of desperation Republican Rep. Dave Reichert (WA-08), facing a ferocious challenge from progressive Democrat Darcy Burner (who lost to him by less than 3% in 2006), has invited W. to a massive fundraiser Monday in Bellevue, Washington.
The event will celebrate Reichert’s support for the president’s management of the Iraq war and is expected to raise over $500,000 for the regressive. Shades of Kerry Healey’s embrace of Dick Cheney during her campaign (how did that work out for you, Kerry?)
The netroots have responded with a nationwide, “Burn Bush for Burner,” campaign. The forces of reason have set a goal of $100,000, and have banked over $40,000 $80,000 already.
BMGers supported Burner earlier this month, when she took a stand against the FISA warrantless domestic spying bill. We raised $500 for a candidate 3,000 miles away in minutes (I was stunned, actually). David and I also met Burner at the YearlyKos event and were impressed. Here is another chance to help this excellent progressive candidate, send a regressive packing, and make a statement against the Iraq fiasco. Click here for BMG’s ActBlue page, or here for Burn Bush for Burner’s ActBlue Page (all donations will wind up in the same place).
…when I got home from the Eldridge event in Acton and made my matching contribs for the day to Jamie. Please give what you can to Burner, every little bit helps!
As one commenter wrote on my last post: we need a whole Congress full of Darcy Burners.
A worthy candidate indeed, thanks for giving her a push here.
who want to participate in a rally and demonstration against this administration’s anti-choice, anti-woman policies:
That’s a bit much. Regardless of his election chances, he’ll bring in oodles of money with a GWB fund raiser. His taking advantage of that opportunity doesn’t make him desperate; it makes him wise enough to notice that bringing in a few hundred thousand bucks will make his chances of re-election increase.
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The Burn Bush idea will help mitigate his fund raising effort, and I’m a big fan of the idea. But, to call Reichert desperate for taking advantage of a half-mil boost to his finances is a bit like calling somebody desperate for bending over to pick up a $100 bill on the sidewalk. Hey, free money!
From what I can tell, the President isn’t exactly #1 on the list of most Republicans fighting close re-election races. His miniscule approval ratings among non-Republicans make him radioactive in close races like the one Reichert is in. I stick to my characterization. USAToday has some interesting notes on the same general subject.
Shades of Kerry Healey’s embrace of Dick Cheney during her campaign (how did that work out for you, Kerry?)
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Went through the thread – no reference to Kerry actually supporting Cheney, or even attending. Did it happen?
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I usually don’t intrude on the cheerleading threads, but when you are dishing out possibly unverified snark about a colleague, I have to ask. And I want to say, I don’t remember, as I didn’t go myself.
And, if I recall correctly, she attended.
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Not sure that this amounted to as much as was made of it here, though.
Kerry Healey endorsed Dick Cheney and his unrivaled incompetence. She lost the election. Had she been braver, and used the opportunity of his arrival to make, for example, a speech deriding the President and him, she might have lost by less. Had she not run a series of race-baiting TV ads in a desperate Rovian attempt to appeal to the lowest common denominator … gosh, it might even have been a close election.
I’m still not sure that attending a fundraiser is the same as “endorsing unrivaled incompetence” but fair enough.
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I suspect that the very crappy campaign run by Healy, not to mention the hard right turn taken by the then governor, had an awful lot more to do with November’s result than Dick Cheney.
She probably also wasn’t the best candidate the Massachusetts Republicans could have fielded, but I digress.
that one of our local journos asked her what her opinion of Cheney was, and she said, firmly, “positive.”
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I think that qualifies as an endorsement; and I think Cheney plainly qualifies as incompetent, and worse.
Link:
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Not to beat a dead horse or anything. But I do think it’s relevant to the larger Reichert/Burner issue — when does a fundraiser do more harm than good? Because after all, Burner’s getting a lot of awareness and publicity from this, too — all good on her side, whereas Reichert’s money has to be discounted for the bad publicity he has to endure.