Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more. Daily Kos is pleased to announce a new addition, and a familiar one, to Orange to Blue: Suzan DelBene, the Democratic candidate for Washington's 8th district. Ms. DelBene is new to us, the 8th district and its current representative, Dave Reichert, are not.
Back in April, 2006 Markos was on book tour and came to Seattle. There he found an energized local netroots which had accomplished a pretty amazing job in fundraising for the challenger, Darcy Burner. That contest ended up on the Daily Kos/MyDD/Swing State Project combined ActBlue Netroots page. That was a race that was totally discounted, considered hopeless for Dems, and we almost pulled it out. Darcy lost by just just under 3 percent. She came back for 2008, and we were with her and stayed with her, through thick and thin. We believed in her, and we believed that this district could be won by a Democrat.
We still believe that, and have good reason to believe so in the polling in the district. But it's not just the polls: it's the candidate.
Suzan DelBene has been running a smart, well-targeted campaign. She ran the risk of being typecast as this year's Darcy Burner, because of the similarities--this is her first run for office, she's a former Microsoft executive. Those comparisons were bandied about early on, but she's run her own race and has distinguished herself.
DelBene is determined to make her campaign different. She put her headquarters in the south end of the district, focusing heavily on Pierce County, where Reichert is strongest. She plays up her résumé – a former Microsoft executive who helped start Drugstore.com and another small startup.
"I understand what it takes to create a job. This isn't a theoretical exercise," said DelBene.
DelBene's laser-like focus on the economy did something that those of us who lived through the past two elections in this district thought just couldn't happen--it turned the Seattle Times editorial board against Dave Reichert for the first time in three cycles (twice, actually, because she was also selected over Reichert in the top-two primary).
A deep and continuing financial crisis calls out for someone with sharp business and entrepreneurial skills and an acute understanding of what went wrong in the first place. DelBene is an unambiguous supporter of the tough financial reforms recently enacted by Congress. Reichert would work to repeal parts of the reform legislation. A repeal would signal a return to diminished federal oversight and watered-down consumer protections....
DelBene is not a guaranteed Democratic vote. She would have gone further to reform Wall Street, including reviving the Glass-Steagall Act — the Depression-era legislation that once kept commercial lending separate from investment activities. DelBene seems to grasp the urgency to simplify and reinvigorate government oversight....
DelBene is unequivocal about the need to disengage America from two protracted and expensive wars. Long-term stability in Afghanistan, DelBene says, is best led by the Afghans.
The Democrat supports significant investment in transportation infrastructure as a way to speed up the movement of cargo and help this region's bottom line on trade.
DelBene supports net neutrality and the role of the Federal Communications Commission in regulating the Internet. Unfettered access to the Internet resonates in the tech-oriented 8th District. Reichert has gone back and forth on the issue, supporting net neutrality in his 2006 re-election campaign, but more recently signing a letter urging the chair of the FCC not to proceed with plans to protect net neutrality.
Newspaper endorsements a winning candidate do not make. But here we once again revisit the 2008 election, and the last minute hatchet job the Seattle Times did on Burner, smearing her by saying that she was lying about her Harvard degree in computer science and economics, a smear that was quickly debunked, but not before the damage was done. Darcy lost another very close race, and based on the GOTV and tracking the campaign was conducting, it was that story that lost the race. That's not going to happen again.
This Orange to Blue endorsement for Suzan DelBene isn't about sour grapes, it's not even about finishing what we started four years ago. Well, okay, maybe it is about finishing what we started back then--proving that a smart, energetic, and capable progressive can win in a swing district. Suzan DelBene is all that. Her responses to our O2B questionnaire (which are posted below the fold) prove that she'd be a strong progressive voice in the House.
Contribute to Suzan DelBene.
(1.) Do you support:
a) A public health insurance option, offered by the federal government and tied to Medicare reimbursement rates plus 5% (H.R. 3200 § 223, as introduced in the House)
I fully support a public option that increases competition in the health insurance industry to drive down costs for consumers and keep the health insurance companies honest. My opponent strongly opposed a public option. If elected, I will work to make a public option a reality.
b) The Public Option Act (H.R. 4789), which would allow all citizens to buy into Medicare?
Yes, I support a public option. I believe the current bill focused on access to health insurance but we have yet to address the ongoing problem of increasing health care costs.
(2.) Do you support the Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 1409/S. 560), including the provision known as "card check"?
Yes.
(3.) Do you support a repeal of the policy known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (10 U.S.C. § 654)?
I believe this policy needs to be repealed immediately. Unfortunately, earlier this year my opponent voted against an amendment to repeal "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell."
(4.) Do you agree that any immigration reform bill should:
a) Contain a meaningful path to citizenship - one that does not include overly-punitive fines or a touchback requirement - for law-abiding undocumented immigrants currently in the United States;
b) Ensure that expanded legal permanent immigration, rather than expansion of temporary worker programs, serves as the United States' primary external answer to workforce shortages; and
c) Ensure that any non-agricultural temporary worker programs maintain current caps on the total number of non-agricultural temporary worker visas issued, and also include a meaningful prevailing wage requirement keyed to the Service Contract Act and Davis-Bacon Act?
Yes.
(5.) Do you think Congress should act to suspend regulation of greenhouse gas emissions by the Environmental Protection Agency?
No. We need to address climate change immediately and must not hamper our ability to do so in any way. Additionally I will oppose all efforts to weaken the Clean Air Act as it is one of our most basic and effective protections for health and the environment.
(6.) If elected to the House, do you pledge not to join the Blue Dog Coalition?
Yes.