Adam Smith

Washington's Congressional delegation spoke out in favor of today's decision by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates' decision to re-open the bidding process for the Air Force KC-767 tankers. Airbus had won the initial contract, which would have cost the state's economy a significant amount of money, but the process was discovered to be flawed by the Government Accountability Office.

Representatives Brian Baird (D-03), Doc Hastings (D-04) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (D-05) have yet to speak on the matter. Links to and excerpts from the rest of the state's elected officials statements are below.

Washington's full delegation, with the exception of Rep. Brian Baird (D-Vancouver) spoke out on the Government Accountability Office's decision today to uphold the protest against the decision making process that led to a US Air Force tanker contract to go to Airbus over Boeing earlier this year.

The group unanimously celebrated the GAO's decision because of initial unfairness in the decision making process, and used their statements as an I-told-you-so to those who supported and helped usher the deal through.

"It has been clear all along that the process was flawed, as evidenced by the clear recommendations made by the GAO," said Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Auburn). "This is a great victory for Boeing, Washington state and every American who values our nation's economic and homeland security."

Read all available statements below the jump.

It wouldn't be a real "veepstakes" without an elected official from nearly every state in the union being considered by one pundit or another trying to make a career by successfully picking a darkhorse candidate two months in advance. Sure enough the prognosticators, mostly in the blogosphere, have made their way to the Evergreen state, as chronicled by Seattle Times' David Postman.

Politics junkies from around the nation are guessing that Sen. Patty Murray and Gov. Chris Gregoire could be on a long list of potential number twos to Sen. Barack Obama for their various political skills and to balance the ticket with a woman. Even the 9th Congressional District's own Adam Smith, an early backer of the Illinois Senator, is making the rounds.

Still no word from Republicans on Attorney General Rob McKenna or Rep. Dave Reichert for Sen. John McCain, but give it time.

The filing deadline for Washington's candidates for public office ended last Friday afternoon. The full list of filers can be found here at the Secretary of State's website. The Tacoma News-Tribune has also compiled the same list, but theirs is worth including because they denote the incumbent in each race, if applicable.

As with any filing period, there are a few surprises in terms of candidates who filed without formally announcing beforehand, but nothing major. Gov. Chris Gregoire is still seeking re-election, and Dino Rossi is still challenging her for a second time. Attorney General Rob McKenna and Democratic challenger John Ladenburg both remembered to get their paperwork in well before the deadline. The top races in the state before last week will remain the top races going forward.

Washington's superdelegate count stands at five for Obama, five for Clinton and seven undecided. State Republican deciders may know something the Democrats don't know, since they've been campaigning against Obama, without a single mention on Clinton in recent letters. The Republican decidee is coming to town, and you can meet him for dinner for only $33,100.

More importantly, does it matter? Looking at our leaders, the experience trope has been inconsistent at best.

On the national level, touting her experience hasn’t worked at all for Hillary Clinton, and experience was not required of George W. Bush.  read more »

WEST SEATTLE -

There appears to be approximately 1000 Democrats in attendance here at the West Seattle High School gymnasium, but that is a rough estimate. It is the standard convention mix of interest groups, delegates and, of course, candidates.

Rep. Adam Smith, an Obama endorser (and one who made the decision based on both his conscience and his constituents - something Senator Cantwell ought to note) takes on Hillary's dubious memories of sniper fire in Bosnia on Hardball. Ever accurate, Smith contends that "dishonesty is not something we're looking for in a presidential candidate."

In new congressional power rankings released this week, Washington's delegation ranked 20th out of 50 states led by Rep. Norm Dicks and Sen. Patty Murray in the House and Senate, respectively.  read more »

Yesterday the League of Conservation Voters, an interest group that calls itself the “independent voice for the environment,” released its annual congressional scorecard. These ratings are based on the environmental legislation in the House and Senate from the past year. The LCV makes a judgment on what they consider to be the environmentally friendly position on each bill, and assigns a plus or a minus to each vote, with absences considered a negative.