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Posted on 10/20/2010 11:26:01 AM PDT by jazusamo
Dino Rossi guns for Patty Murray in the race to become a Washington State senator.
Despite the profound effect that its outcome could have on the balance of power in Congress next year, the Washington Senate race has so far been one of the least entertaining of the cycle. No “Aqua Buddha” ads or youthful dabblings in witchcraft. No mob bankers or embellished military records. No gratuitous kicks to the groin. And not one mention of colonoscopies in either of the two debates. Nope, to the dismay of many national media outlets, the race has mostly centered on policy and governing philosophy.
The Patty Murray–Dino Rossi matchup is in many ways an archetype of the 2010 midterms: Murray, the entrenched incumbent, versus Rossi, the outsider promising to change Washington’s course. But while many of her fellow Democrats have wavered, Murray has defended the president’s agenda at every turn. During the first debate, Murray said “not only did I read” the health-care-reform bill, “but I helped write it.” On spending, she insists the stimulus was necessary to save jobs, and perhaps most notably, she has been steadfast in her defense of earmarks, or “investments” as she likes to call them.
According to the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, Murray secured the ninth-highest dollar amount in earmarks among senators — $220 million for nearly 200 individual projects in the 2010 budget. As chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, she has direct influence over an annual budget of nearly $70 billion, and is not afraid to wield it.
While the ability to bring home federal funds has long been a source of pride for members of Congress, in 2010 it has seemed more like a liability. Given the political climate, you might expect her to downplay a reputation that has earned her nicknames such as “Pork Patty” and “Queen of Pork.” Instead, she has embraced her pork-barrel prowess and is actively touting it on the campaign trail.
“I am proud to work hard in every community in this state to ask them what their needs are, and then go to fight within the budget process that we have to make sure the resources are here in Washington State,” Murray said at a June press conference in Olympia. (She was there to promote a $1 million earmark she obtained to help rebuild a city park).
Murray echoed this sentiment in both debates. She repeatedly made clear what she viewed to be her primary duty as senator — talking to community leaders in the state, then returning to Capitol Hill to secure the “investments” they request. “I will not apologize for that,” she said.
Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, says that as someone who is “pretty unabashed” in her pursuit of earmarks, Murray has no alternative but to stick to her guns. “You couldn’t run from [her] record,” Ellis said. “I don’t think she had a choice but to double down and hope that voters go along with it.”
Rossi, who promises to ban earmarks until the budget is balanced, has sought to portray Murray’s earmark spending as “the perfect example of how [she] has changed over the past 18 years.” During Sunday night’s debate, he referenced a speech Murray gave in 1994, in which she said: “I wasn’t elected to bring home the bacon — I was elected to cut the budget.” But bring home the bacon she has, and Rossi is hoping voters concerned with out-of-control spending in the other Washington will connect the dots. There is certainly no shortage of damning evidence.
For instance, in the fall of 2005, Murray took to the Senate floor to defend federal earmarks; at the time, Congress was debating the notorious “Bridge to Nowhere,” the $230 million project of the late Sen. Ted Stevens (R., Alaska). “As the old saying goes, ‘What is good for the goose is good for the gander.’” Murray said. “And I tell my colleagues, if we start cutting funding for individual projects, your project may be next.”
She once entered language into a 2002 spending bill that forced the Navy to pay $4.5 million for an 85-foot speedboat it didn’t want. The Navy ended up giving the boat to the University of Washington, which couldn’t find a use for it either. Top executives at Guardian Marine International, the company that built the boat, later gave $15,000 to Murray’s campaign.
Earlier this month, the Seattle Times reported that at least 17 of Murray’s former staff members have gone on to work at lobbying firms. The clients of those former staffers are expected to benefit from nearly $20 million in earmarks Murray requested for the 2011 defense-spending bill. It’s hardly a surprise, then, that Murray is the second-highest recipient of campaign contributions from lobbyists. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, she has received more than $660,000 in lobbyist money since 2005.
The list goes on. But whether the “Queen of Pork” label will stick (at least in the negative sense) is another question.
Americans are somewhat divided on the issue of pork-barrel spending. An October 15 Rasmussen survey found that 60 percent of likely voters prefer a candidate who would cut federal spending to one who would work to secure earmarks for their state or district — 84 percent of Republicans and 68 percent of independents. However, 56 percent of Democrats favored candidates who bring home the bacon.
That’s good news for Murray in a state that hasn’t voted for a Republican governor or presidential candidates in almost 30 years. “It’s such a deep-blue state, and the recession, unemployment hasn’t hit us as hard as the rest of the country,” says a source familiar with Washington State politics. “Their liberalism hasn’t come back to bite them as much.”
Matt A. Barreto, professor of political science at the University of Washington and director of the Washington Poll, said Murray has done a good job spinning the issue in her favor by highlighting specific state projects she helped fund. “It’s always the case that people are against earmarks in the 49 states that are not their own,” Barreto said.
Polling in the race is difficult to judge. The RealClearPolitics average has Murray leading by several points, but because most voting in the state is done by mail, it is fairly difficult to determine who exactly constitutes a “likely voter.” A recent GOP survey found that 50 percent of “most likely” voters preferred Rossi, compared to 45 percent for Murray.
Both parties, as well as outside interest groups, are pouring resources into the state, as the seat appears increasingly vital to Republican hopes of a Senate majority in 2011. The National Republican Senatorial Committee has pledged $4 million in support of Rossi. Democrats, meanwhile, have reserved $2 million in air time and are rolling out their biggest names — Clinton, Biden, the Obamas — on Murray’s behalf, an indication to some that Democrats are nervous. “If Murray were safe, they wouldn’t be here,” the state source said. “This race is closer than people think.”
For Republicans, who already seem poised to win the seat of “Earmarker-in-Chief” David Obey (D., Wis.), the outgoing chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, knocking off the “Queen of Pork” would be an important victory.
Ping!
Tea Party going door to door would help Rossi. Expose Murray and her DeathCare vote to the voters.
Dino Rossi barely lost his race for governor last time out, amid many allegations of Dem election shenanigans. Rossi is probably the only Republican in the state who could have given Murray a competitive race this time. So, if the GOP does take control of the Senate, if will be in big part because of Rossi's win. So, in a sense, the Dems may well ahve stolen control of the Senate from, well....themselves..
I said on a thread yesterday that there’s no way she read the obamacare bill because there’s tens of thousands of words in it with more than four letters.
She’s an airhead!
Patty Murray is her own joke. She’s short, unfortunate looking in appearance and dumb as a bag of hammers. And those are her strengths.
BOReilly and Newt were having a discussion a few weeks ago. Bill looked at Newt and basically said, we all know how things work in Washington state. If you are a Republican you have to win by a good 3-5 points, because it’s Washington state if you know what I mean.
Newt, who is too experienced a politician to get caught saying something embarrassing, nodded and laughed.
It was just so strange to see something like that. They basically were saying if you don’t win by a good margin, the Dems will steal the election. And most know it but will never admit it.
Yes, and Rossi did win the Governor’s election, he only lost after the recounts. Grrrrr
He has a genuine chance to beat Murray. There’s both liberals and moderates who might be just fed up enough with the fed and WA state spending fiasco’s to vote for him.
Amen to that!
We can do this. We can...... Get Murray Out.
http://catcot.wordpress.com/2010/10/05/get-out-the-vote-a-message-from-ronald-reagan/
Reflections on the coming schadenfreude in Washington State:
Dino Rossi barely lost his race for governor last time out, amid many allegations of Dem election shenanigans. Rossi is probably the only Republican in the state who could have given Murray a competitive race this time. So, if the GOP does take control of the Senate, if will be in big part because of Rossi's win. So, in a sense, the Dems may well ahve stolen control of the Senate from, well....themselves..
Even Maggie lost his job in the 1980 wave election when his alcoholism finally became public knowledge. It remains to be seen whether this wave election can remove Patty.
Believe it. I remember when Rossi lost the election for governor to Gregoire after King County (Seattle) found some boxes of ballots that had not been counted (right!). They had a piece on a local Seattle TV station during the recount with an interview of some King County election official (Dem) who was literally crying because Gregoire was behind. If it is a close race you can count on King County to pull it out for Murray.
I just donated again Mr. Rossi...
PLEASE GET TOUGH AND DIRECT....A VOTE FOR MORE PATTY IS A VOTE FOR MORE PELOSI, BAMA, TAXES, LESS MEDICARE, FEWER DOCTORS,FEWER BUSINESSES, ETC....the list could go on and on...
come on Rossi!
btw...since Seattle is always the last to submit its voter talley, Washington voters should consider a plan to get your ballots in on the last day or two.....the Seattle crooks won't know how many votes to conjure up, or destroy, or discover....
I'm calling all you side liners out....
there is nothing more important than ousting the leftists this election....
We need to win the senate...
I know how you feel. I live in FL! Election night 2000 Bush was WAY ahead, by thousands of votes. I think it was 16000. I remember a friend of mine who was in a position to know told me.
I, the innocent, thought we had won. She said, no, you don’t understand. In democrat districts all over the state they have boxes of ballots in closets to pull out. They will even it up by am. If that’s not enough, they will find a Dem stronghold and “recount” the votes behind closed doors with only dem supervisors there.
Sure enough, they did. Sure enough, she called every play.
Say WA? Evergreen State ping
Quick link: WA State Board
FReepmail sionnsar if you want on or off this ping list.
Ping sionnsar if you see a Washington state related thread.
The Seattle Weekly had a recent cover with Patty covered in pieces of pork meet. The WA DOT pulled all copies of the paper from the stands located in the ferry terminals. Now they regret it. Here’s a link to the cover picture:
http://www.seattleweekly.com/photoGallery/index/1123102/0/
State DOT regrets yanking Seattle Weekly’s “Pork Patty” cover from ferries
Posted by Mike Lindblom
Seattle Weekly’s recent issue that depicted Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. dressed in raw pork should have traveled aboard two boats instead of being banned, a state spokesman said Thursday.
In hindsight, “We probably shouldn’t have pulled it,” said Steve Pierce, communications director for the Washington State Department of Transportation, which runs the nation’s largest ferry system.
The illustration of Murray, in the Oct. 13-19 edition, was a takeoff on the meat dress worn by singer Lady Gaga on the cover of Vogue Hommes Japan magazine.
The pork image provides some comic relief in a race the conservative National Review calls “one of the least entertaining in the cycle.”
The Weekly was banned from its usual position, on a rack alongside advertising brochures on two boats, WSF said. “The concern was, it looks like it was discriminatory to women,” said Marta Coursey, ferry communication director.
The article is mostly positive toward Murray, according to Managing Editor Mike Seely. The senator, in a tight re-election race against Republican Dino Rossi, takes pride in steering federal dollars to Washington state. (Her support has helped deliver $1.3 billion in federal grants for Sound Transit’s light-rail network since 2003, and a few million to the ferry system.)
Pro-GOP television ads blame Murray for a rising national debt, while Rossi has promised to resist “earmarks’ for pet projects nationwide.
Coursey insists WSF had no political agenda. The ferry system’s onboard advertising racks do not allow certain material, including tobacco or alcohol ads, and Coursey said the Weekly was allowed in terminal buildings.
“The core issue in this case was our contract for the advertising space and what it spells out as grounds for turning down advertising materials. But if and when a gray area like this comes up again, we will certainly review it against First Amendment principles,” she said Thursday.
Seely replies the cover wasn’t offensive. “I guess I can see both sides, but their side is incredibly weak, because they didn’t get any complaints.”
WSF is refunding what Seattle Weekly pays for a week’s placement in its ad kiosks, or about $175.
Would it have pulled a male image, say Rossi wearing a loincloth of dollar bills?
Coursey answered: “I hope we don’t have that issue.”
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