"WA-08: Burner Ready to Run Again"

mcjoan (on the front page of Kos):

Three outcomes of the 2006 election broke my heart: Larry Grant's loss in my home state of Idaho; Gary Trauner's razor thin loss in Wyoming; and Darcy Burner's extremely close loss in Western Washington. All three were netroots candidates, and all three invited me into their campaigns enthusiastically on Road Trip '06, for which I'll always be grateful.

Darcy's was a hard one. I talked with her a few weeks ago, and in the extensive analysis she's done of the vote, the loss came down about five votes per precinct. The heartbreak of that could really send a lesser person into a year-long funk.

But not Darcy. Yesterday, she filed with the FEC for a rematch in '08. Here's the message she sent to me to give to you:

Over the last several months, many of you have come to me and asked me to finish what we began in 2006. Recently Congressman Reichert has made clear once again how out-of-touch he is by supporting President Bush's plan to put more American troops into harm's way in Iraq, by voting against basic fiscal responsibility for our federal government, and by opposing worker's rights. In the face of his actions, I have realized that you are right.

We need members of Congress who will work to build the country and the future we deserve. We need people who will fight to ensure that we keep our promises to the young, to the old, and to all who contribute to making our county great. Thanks to all that you taught me and all you helped me build, there is nobody in a better position to win this seat than me.

So I am in.

But nobody can do this alone. The netroots has begun to fundamentally change the way politics is done, and I am entirely with you. If you'd like to show the world you're with me, please comment here and visit my website. If you'd like, you can make a contribution of any size.

I am, once again, grateful for your support, and look forward to embarking with you on this journey.

I'm going to go warm up the car--Road Trip '08 can't start too soon!

Update by kos: Here's a perfect example of a race that might've been won had it not been hijacked by clueless DC consultants. In this case, Howard Dean foisted his good friend and horrible human being Steve McMahon on the campaign, who then proceeded to produce some of the shittiest campaign ads of the cycle.

Burner should talk to Kansas' Nancy Boyda, who won in 2006 after giving the finger (metaphorically) to the DC consultants who ran her first campaign into the ground in 2004.

U.S. Rep.-elect Nancy Boyda thumbed her nose at advice offered by political consultants. The Democrat proposed a 2nd Congressional District campaign against Rep. Jim Ryun, R-Kan., that relied on old-school methods of communicating: newspaper inserts, radio ads and word of mouth. It was as if FDR whispered into her ear. Reaction of Washington pros who pulled the strings of Boyda's disastrous 2004 campaign against Ryun ranged from polite skepticism to open ridicule. The Kansas City Star suggested Boyda was essentially committing political suicide. Boyda just shrugged and pressed ahead. "The benefit of having run two years ago is that you learn the rules of campaigning," she said. "We went ahead and broke a lot of them."

Race tracker wiki: WA-08