WA-8

MINNEAPOLIS - Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Auburn) has consistently shown up on lists of vulnerable Republican House incumbents in 2008, just two years removed from a close race in 2006 in a district that voted for John Kerry. Among those is the Pindell Report, which showed Reichert's rematch with Democrat Darcy Burner as the country's most competitive.

Still, he won the primary on August 19 by four percent and it was just revealed that the National Republican Congressional Committee was dedicating a million dollars toward advertising on behalf of his campaign. Both are signs that his race will be close, but that Reichert may have a slight edge. King County Republican Party Chair Lori Sotelo agrees.

The National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee announced Monday that it would be reserving television advertising time prior to November's election and among those receiving substantial support from the committee is 8th District Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Auburn ) according to RealClearPolitics.com.

The NRCC is set to spend $1 million on Reichert's behalf as he fends off a challenge from his 2006 opponent, Democrat Darcy Burner.

DENVER - Bill Clinton made his way into Washington state politics today. No, he didn't stop by to greet the delegation, instead he came up in a story told by Rep. Brian Baird (D-Vancouver) about the 1996 race that saw him fall frustratingly short against then-Rep. Linda Smith.

After the blanket primary showed Baird within four points of Smith when he had expected to be twenty points back, President Bill Clinton gave Baird a call and told him, "bear down. You think you have worked hard? Work harder." Baird heeded Clinton's advice and came within a thousand votes of unseating the popular incumbent.

He came back two years later, when Smith left her post to run for Senate, and won handily over state Sen. Don Benton (R-Vancouver). There are no doubt plenty of differences between that story and the current scenario in the 8th Congressional District where Darcy Burner is giving a second shot at taking on another two-term congressman, Rep. Dave Reichert. But there are also enough similarities to cause a double take.

Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Auburn): campaign photoRep. Dave Reichert's re-election campaign is plugging two recent endorsements from atypical sources. In the days since the "top two" primary of August 19, two of the four fallen candidates in the 8th Congressional District have endorsed the Auburn Republican over Democratic challenger Darcy Burner of Carnation.

Both Jim Vaughan and (Boleslaw) John Orlinski have announced their support for Reichert in the last week, citing what they believe is an overly partisan trend in politics these days. Vaughn ran as a Democrat in the primary, and Orlinski stated no party preference.

"I'm concerned about the direction of our country," Vaughn said in a release. "The problems I see in Congress right now are due to partisanship."

Both sides were spinning fast in the hours after Tuesday evening’s primary in the hotly contended race for the 8th Congressional District seat.

“This is a significant defeat for Burner who made it clear that she needed to outpoll Reichert in the primary to keep her national fundraising base engaged and spent over half a million dollars in the loss,” the National Republican Congressional Committee wrote in a post-primary memo, referring to U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert’s 48 percent to 44 percent outpacing of businesswoman Darcy Burner.

“In fact, despite his turnout advantages, the incumbent has been held under 50 percent of the primary vote, and the combined Democratic vote is greater than the Republican vote,” Burner pollster Celinda Lake wrote in a memo of her own today. “This is sobering news for Reichert.”

Who’s right?

Politicker.com national political columnist Reid Wilson writes today about how some losers from the 2006 cycle are poised to winners this fall. That includes Democrat Darcy Burner, who is trying again to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert in the 8th Congressional District.

Writes Wilson: 

The former sheriff has a strong field operation, but the district voted Democratic for U.S. Senate in 2004 and 2006, and for Al Gore and John Kerry. An area that was once barren of Democratic state legislators now sends a majority of Democrats to Olympia, the state capital. Burner, who has made her opposition to the war in Iraq a central part of her campaign and who has outraised Reichert, stands as good a chance as any Democrat ever has of winning the seat.

Read Wilson's full column here. 

In staffing news, The Seattle Times' David Postman reports tonight that U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert's chief of staff Mike Shields is stepping down from his post in order to take over Reichert's re-election campaign.

This move was a matter of when, not if, and Shields has been moonlighting as a campaign spokesman throughout the spring.

Rudy GiulianiFormer New York City Mayor and one time Republican presidential frontrunner Rudolph Giuliani will be in the area to headline a fundraiser for Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Auburn) on August 25. Giuliani's turn for Reichert coincides with his participation in a motivational seminar at Seattle's Key Arena on the same day.

Money has been a major issue in the 8th District race so far, with Democratic challenger Darcy Burner (D-Carnation), who just had a fundraiser with House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), outraising Reichert so far. Through the end of July, Burner had raised $2.3 million to Reichert's $1.8 million, and their cash on hand difference is about the same as their contribution difference.

By the end of the week, Seattle will have been host to two prominent Democratic fundraising events. The Seattle P-I reports that Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the U.S. House Majority Leader, stopped by yesterday on behalf of 8th District Democrat Darcy Burner.

At the event Hoyer bragged of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's financial advantage and how that will help the Democrats increase their majority by electing candidates like Burner, and hopefully Idaho Democrat Walt Minnick and Alaska Democrat Ethan Berkowitz, both of whom were also graced by Hoyer's presence on his westward swing.

This Saturday Barack Obama will have a fundraising event at a Seattle art gallery hosted by Grey's Anatomy stars Ellen Pompeo and Justin Chambers and Obama LGBT vote director Dave Noble. The New York Times reports that the fundie will be $250 a head, or $10,000 to be an event chair.