Darcy Burner, who narrowly lost the race in Washington State's 8th District in 2006, is featured in a nice 2-page article I read in Politico this morning. The piece outlines Burner's (and other Democrats') efforts to outline a clear strategy forward in Iraq, which they've title a 'Responsible Plan' (Here's a link to the plan, in PDF on Burner's campaign site).
From Politico:
Now a stable of Democratic House challengers, led by Washington state’s Darcy Burner, are promising a new tack.
More than 40 candidates have endorsed the Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq, a detailed 36-page strategy that reads like a “cross between a think tank report and a political platform,” as the National Security Network’s Ilan Goldenberg reported. Burner assembled the plan with input from Retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, known as the “father of the Iraqi army” for leading the first trainings of Iraqi soldiers in 2003, to show voters how Congress will end the war.
More after the jump...
The article covers the 'Responsible Plan' in brief detail - moving war funding back into the general budget appropriations discussion, implementing the recommendation of the Iraq study group to pass legislation banning permanent bases in Iraq, and institute a range of already-proposed legislation to deal with refugees and restore human rights.
Much more interesting is the detail revealed of the duplicitous behavior of the 8th District incumbent Dave Reichert. Reichert is a well-known figure in the Seattle area, serving as King County Sheriff before being elected to Congress in 2004.
In 2006, Burner came close to unseating Reichert, but as the district continues to trend blue (and as the GOP brand continues to sink towards an all-time low), many feel a Burner victory is possible in the 2008 cycle.
Incumbent Republican Rep. Dave Reichert beat back Burner’s first challenge by about 7,000 votes in 2006. The 8th District, which stretches toward liberal Seattle in northwestern Washington, has not sent a Democrat to Congress since its creation in 1980. The district went blue, however, in the last two presidential campaigns. Its northern suburbs are dotted with Microsoft employees and socially liberal, economically conservative households — the kind of Starbucks independents who voted against Bush and for Reichert.
The Politico piece describes how Reichert's moderate GOP credentials have been synthetically manufactured - if this pattern of behavior is revealed more widely, it could spell doom for Reichert's chances in the fall.
According to an analysis of House procedure by local blogger Dan Kirkdorffer, Reichert often votes with Republicans on every procedural step for a bill, but if it is headed for passage anyway, he reverses himself on the final vote. The crass objective is to get credit from gullible reporters for backing some Democratic legislation.
Take the Democrats’ renewable energy bill. Reichert voted with Republicans to thwart the legislation five times. On Feb. 27, he voted to kill it one last time; when that failed, he turned around on the same day and voted for the final bill, with only 16 other Republicans.
It is duplicitous.
Great read, and props to Darcy Burner for showing genuine leadership on perhaps the most important national issue of the day. Read more about Darcy, and perhaps help her out with some financial support, on her campaign site.