I’m supposed to be finishing another story tonight, but I’ve just come from Darcy Burner’s primary night party...and I have in front of me the results of the important races tonight in Washington’s newfangled "top two" primary.

It is unfair to extrapolate the results of elections in the "People’s Republic of Washington" directly onto a national map, but as I look as these results it seems fair to say that if any Republican strategists aren’t sweating bullets this morning it’s because they’ll be hustling for votes in towns like Maggie Valley, North Carolina (don’t forget to stop by Saratoga’s for the Wednesday night jazz...)...or, perhaps, Bessemer Bend, Wyoming.

For the rest of the Republican community, tonight’s events are not good news.

We have a fair amount to cover, so let’s get to it.

It seems we are having similar fundraising issues across this country. Have we democrats become a little complacent or are we just hitting our financial limits?

Rossi tops '04 fundraising
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/...

Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi's campaign reported Tuesday that it has topped its fundraising total from the 2004 campaign, having now raised more than $6,254,035.80.

Rossi is again challenging Gov. Chris Gregoire, the Democrat who prevailed in '04 by 133 votes out of almost 3 million cast after two recounts and a court fight.

As of May 31 Gregoire had reported raising about $6.8 million.

I am not suggesting that Gov. Chris Gregoire is not raising money. I am suggesting that she should be doing better, much better! I do not see this as just a fault of her or her campaign, because in my opinion, this is also partly the fault of all of us.

More below...

Yesterday, Michelle Obama joined me in Seattle for a luncheon attended by over 1,600 supporters. It was an amazing day, and I am very grateful for the support that both Barack and Michelle Obama have shown for Washington and my campaign.

Four years ago, my election came down to 133 votes.  This year my opponent, Republican Dino Rossi, is back, and his friends have already spent over $1.3 million on attack ads.

Why are they attacking me so early?  Because they know there is something happening in our country – people are hungry for a new direction, away from the Bush Administration.

Cross posted at MyDD and EENR.
This is just a small diary with a few words to help push some good candidates and some good ActBlue pages.

I have not been able to give anything for quite a while. I gave a small amount to two worthy ActBlue pages today.

First off, I gave to MyDD's Road to 60 ActBlue page.

They have a great list of candidates that are worthy to support.

More below...

I’ve really enjoyed the time I’ve spent with you Kossacks, and I want to thank you for your comments.

Democratic candidates – from Sen. Barack Obama to governors to state legislators – are fighting a two-front battle in this election.  One is with our Republican opponents.  The other is with 527s and special-interest PACs.

Another Republican failure of leadership on renewable energy and climate change happened yesterday in the U.S. Senate. The "drill first and ask questions later" policy of Big Oil and Republicans has not served citizens paying at the pump and won’t in the future. We need to think bigger. What’s wrong with investing some of those wind-fall profits into renewable energy? Energy independence and a cleaner environment sound like things we should be trying to achieve.

Dino Rossi, loser of the '04 Governor's race to our fantastic Chris Gregoire, gave a speech at the CPO's office at NAS Whidbey Island.  Navy rules prohibit campaign events on their grounds, but apparently this can be looked the other way for Rossi.

At this moment there is a diary at the top of the rec list by the usually commendable Governor Gregoire of Washington State. In between her mom and apple pie routine she blames Bush and Senator McCain for supporting the US Air Force decision to buy a European refueling tanker instead of the plane Boeing offer. Implicit in all of this is that somehow the American worker got screwed by the Federal government.

This my friends is a golden example of baiting and misinformation. The Governor is about to lose a large amount of jobs from her state, and she's trying just about anything to keep it from happening. That's fine, it's her job to do so. But coming here and laying out a massively distorted picture of what is going on is a disservice to this site, and is utterly contemptible in my view.

Boeing lost the deal, and for damned good reason.

More below the fold.

The competitiveness of this year’s presidential election has brought the candidates to more of our communities than any other election in recent years. I believe our democracy is stronger when voters are given an opportunity to learn more about the candidates.

Senator John McCain lands in Washington state today to host a $33,100/plate event at a hotel in Bellevue. Most of us would use $33,100 to pay for our child’s college education or a down payment on a home.

When Senator McCain’s plane lands at Boeing Field, I hope he takes a moment to notice that he is surrounded by the world’s finest workers and airplanes.

Local TV station KIRO TV has an online poll out, asking whether people want Chris Gregoire, our fantastic Democratic governor (and a Kossack in good standing), in 2008, or her rival Dino Rossi. Rossi is leading hugely. This cannot be left to stand. Please go vote for Chris Gregoire in this poll, and pass it on to your Democratic friends. Show her some love.

Sorry to make this diary so short; violates the length rule, I know. But I thought it was most needful to get this info out there ASAP.

We began a story this week that describes how poor clinical practice in a State-operated healthcare facility holds the potential to cause great injury and death to those vulnerable adults living in the facility, the workers charged with their care—and to members of the public who have never even set foot in the facility.

You might say it’s a bit of a "canary in a coal mine" situation, with pandemic flu hovering on the horizon and all. You also might say that since MRSA kills as many people in the US every year as six 9/11s the pandemic is already here.

So in today’s second installment, we’ll look a bit further: into facility management that now contends they are not required to follow guidelines that the Centers for Disease Control says "apply to all patients, regardless of suspected or confirmed infection status, in any setting in which healthcare is delivered"...into the concept that where your care is delivered should determine what protective equipment workers might require...and into a "magic ambulance" that apparently has the power to make you hazardous to some people--but not to others.

Governor Chris Gregoire from Washington State will be taking questions live tonight at 7:00 PM PST.

Enjoy the event.

Her statewide campaign kickoff tour will make 14 stops in 10 cities. At each stop, Gov. Gregoire will meet and talk with citizens and community leaders about their top priorities – jobs, health care, education, public safety, taking care of the environment and veterans’ issues.

Since elected, the Governor has taken on challenges and achieved results that moved families and communities in the right direction, creating nearly 225,000 new jobs, reducing unemployment to historic lows and doubling the state’s exports.

It has been the practice of your friendly fake consultant to keep my personal life separate from the stories you see in this space; and where exceptions have been made it has been because I felt it necessary to tell a larger story.

The story we will begin to tell today must be offered with my own life deeply intertwined in the narrative.

Sadly, it will not just be me that will be affected by the events we will here discuss. Instead, the list of victims will include some of Washington State’s most vulnerable citizens—those developmentally disabled individuals who reside in the State’s "Residential Habilitation Centers"--and the workers who care for them...one of whom is my very own spouse.

We have within the tale all the usual suspects: a lack of safety equipment, managers who fail to do their jobs, a system that’s failing to protect either its own or those who can’t care for themselves...and now, just to give things a twist, pharmaceutical soap, little orange pills, and color-safe bleach.

At 11:00 AM (PST), we will be live streaming Governor Chris Gregoire's  re-election announcement speech here on Daily Kos and on the chrisgregoire.com web site. The Governor will be speaking from Auburn, Washington, her home town.

Following this live web cast, the Governor will board a biodiesel bus and tour the state to launch her 2008 re-election campaign. This first stop is in Auburn, her hometown.

Her statewide campaign kickoff tour will make 14 stops in 10 cities. At each stop, Gov. Gregoire will meet and talk with citizens and community leaders about their top priorities – jobs, health care, education, public safety, taking care of the environment and veterans’ issues.

Since elected, the Governor has taken on challenges and achieved results that moved families and communities in the right direction, creating nearly 225,000 new jobs, reducing unemployment to historic lows and doubling the state’s exports. Recently, Forbes Magazine called Washington one of the top-five states to do business.

On the strength of strong fundraising, and an incredible display of leadership in creating and organizing A Responsible Plan to End the War, Darcy Burner has fought her way to a new CQ rating in her efforts to unseat Republican Dave Reichert. CQ now rates the race as "no clear favorite." At the same time, they've upgraded Gov. Christine Gregoire's race from no clear favorite (a ranking that was too conservative, in my view) to leans Democrat.

In the 8th District, which encompasses the Eastern suburbs of Seattle, analysts say former Microsoft executive Burner’s organization, fundraising, and her views on the Iraq war have boosted her campaign. Observers add that the state and national Democratic organizations are also helping.Burner shocked many in 2006 when in her first campaign for public office she narrowly lost to Republican Rep. Dave Reichert by 3 percent in what was once a Republican stronghold....

Burner has made the Iraq war, which is highly unpopular in the district, a centerpiece of her 2008 campaign. She initiated an effort to create a plan to end the war . After six months of consultation with retired generals and national security experts, she was joined by nine Democratic challengers in the release of a formal plan March 17. It reiterates many of the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group and calls for removing all U.S. troops from Iraq (without proposing a specific timeline), enlisting allies to help stabilize Iraq, and improving America’s international reputation....

Burner reported $607,000 on hand at the end of 2007 (the latest figures available) and Reichert reported $463,000 on hand. New fundraising numbers through March 31 will be available April 15.

Rachel Maddow featured Darcy on her Air America show Wednesday afternoon, with a lengthy discussion of the Iraq Plan, which now more than 50 Congressional candidates have endorsed. She touched on the involvement of many high-ranking retired military officers who helped her formulate the plan, including Petraeus's predecessor in Iraq, Gen. Paul Eaton, and their concern that the U.S. military is being destroyed by the ongoing occupation of Iraq. That concern was echoed in testimony yesterday by senior Army and Marine Corps leaders.

It's on the basis of the kind of leadership she's shown in creating the Plan that Darcy has build such a strong base of Democratic support here in Washington state, and nationally. This race is certainly now in the top five House races to watch, while Gov. Gregoire should hold onto her office without a serious scare.

On the Web:
Darcy Burner for Congress
Blue Majority ActBlue page
Chris Gregoire for Governor

First of all, I want to say that this is my first post here, and I am pleased to join this conversation.

Something remarkable is happening. It’s happening all over the country, from Idaho to South Carolina, from Alabama to Iowa, and yesterday, I saw it happen here, first hand in my home state of Washington. Democrats showed up in record numbers to participate in the primary political system.

A short description of the reaction to my travels to two different caucus sites is simply, "Wow."

Gregoire has come out swinging against her upcoming opponent Dino Rossi.  In 2004 Gregoire and Rossi took it down to the wire, with Gregoire winning on the third recount of the election.   One of Rossi's main attack lines was that Democrats are bad for business.  

Hey Dino, back at you buddy, how do you like them apples?

Go Gregoire.