Free Republic

In hypothetical general election matchups for United States Senator from Washington state today, 04/23/10, six months to the midterms, incumbent Democrat Patty Murray does not poll above 46% against any of 6 possible Republican opponents, according to SurveyUSA research conducted for KING-TV Seattle. In 5 of 6 matchups, Murray finishes nominally ahead of the Republican, but within the theoretical margin of sampling error. In 1 matchup -- against 2004 and 2008 gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi -- Murray loses by 10 points, 52% to 42%. These 5 matchups are effectively even, and should be reported as such: * Against State Senator...

Trying to promote her image as a champion of education, state Democrats are distributing a campaign flier that boasts Sen. Patty Murray as “the only teacher in the U.S. Senate.” On the back of the campaign literature, authorized by Murray’s campaign, is another statement: “There are 100 U.S. Senators. But only one has experience as a teacher.” In fact, at least three U.S. senators have teaching experience, according to their biographical information: Sen. Zell Miller (D-Georgia) taught political science and history at the University of Georgia; Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) taught at Kansas State University law school; and Sen. Jeff...

Without mentioning she's running for a third six-year term this year, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray told a Vancouver audience Tuesday her tenure has given her clout. "Seniority means a lot in the Senate. When you first come in, you think it's a terrible thing. But every year, it gets better and better," said Murray, a Democrat. Murray spoke about the economy, transportation and other issues while a Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce crowd of 150 lunched on chicken at the Heathman Lodge. The name of her main Republican opponent, Spokane Congressman George Nethercutt, never came up. Murray did criticize the...

James Taranto of opinionjournal.com is one of the few members of the media besides NewsMax willing to challenge Sen. Patty "Osama Mama" Murray. "The editorial boards at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Washington Post must really want a Republican to win Washington state's 2004 Senate race," he writes. "Both newspapers have editorials offering backhanded support to the clueless Sen. Patty Murray, who in an infamous recent speech described Osama bin Laden's popularity as having stemmed from his alleged good works in Arab countries, including the building of - we're not kidding - 'day care facilities.'" Noting that "Murray's comments...