It seems we are having similar fundraising issues across this country. Have we democrats become a little complacent or are we just hitting our financial limits?

Rossi tops '04 fundraising
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/...

Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi's campaign reported Tuesday that it has topped its fundraising total from the 2004 campaign, having now raised more than $6,254,035.80.

Rossi is again challenging Gov. Chris Gregoire, the Democrat who prevailed in '04 by 133 votes out of almost 3 million cast after two recounts and a court fight.

As of May 31 Gregoire had reported raising about $6.8 million.

I am not suggesting that Gov. Chris Gregoire is not raising money. I am suggesting that she should be doing better, much better! I do not see this as just a fault of her or her campaign, because in my opinion, this is also partly the fault of all of us.

More below...

Yesterday, Michelle Obama joined me in Seattle for a luncheon attended by over 1,600 supporters. It was an amazing day, and I am very grateful for the support that both Barack and Michelle Obama have shown for Washington and my campaign.

Four years ago, my election came down to 133 votes.  This year my opponent, Republican Dino Rossi, is back, and his friends have already spent over $1.3 million on attack ads.

Why are they attacking me so early?  Because they know there is something happening in our country – people are hungry for a new direction, away from the Bush Administration.

Everyone has probably heard the horrific story. Darcy Burner the congressional candidate for Washington States WA-08 lost her house in a fire.  I’m putting my money where my mouth is and  giving her my $99.99.  Why $99.99?  Because my wife and I have an agreement that if anything costs $100 we have to talk to each other. ;)  She doesn't get my passion for politics. Shhhh, don't tell her. :)

You can donate here: Orange to Blue candidate Darcy Burner

George Fearing for Congress
Please subscribe to my diary if you live in Central Washington or follow the race in WA-04.  Thanks!


Soon I'll write in greater detail about why George is such an excellent candidate for Congress, and there are some great diaries already out there about why Richard "Doc" Hastings is as bad as they get, and why it's in the national interest to unseat him.

Keep your eyes posted for some entries from Mr. Fearing himself in the coming weeks.  For now, for the skeptics and the pessimists, have a look at some of the many reasons why this race is VERY competitive -- much more so than Republicans would like to admit.

But trust me.  The Hastings crew is getting nervous.  We've seen folks drive by or even sit in their cars in front of the office, peering in.  They've mentioned us in a fundraising letter.  It's clear that Doc's campaign knows that we will fight for this.  And this year, we can win.

After the jump.

En Tequila Es Verdad got an email from Washington State Democrats (h/t frostokovich):

You may have heard that [gubernatorial candidate Dino] Rossi and 27 other Republican candidates in our state will not allow the word "Republican" to appear next to their name on the ballot.

3/31.    6/30.    9/30.    12/31.

Most of us reading or writing at DKos understand what those numbers mean.  The end of the fundraising quarter.

This is my first diary, and it's not going to be a beautifully written narrative or a watertight rebuke of a corrupt official.  Just a simple "hello!"

I attended the Washington State Democratic Convention this weekend in Spokane.  It was my first state convention, and given the experience I certainly hope it won't be my last.

Another Republican failure of leadership on renewable energy and climate change happened yesterday in the U.S. Senate. The "drill first and ask questions later" policy of Big Oil and Republicans has not served citizens paying at the pump and won’t in the future. We need to think bigger. What’s wrong with investing some of those wind-fall profits into renewable energy? Energy independence and a cleaner environment sound like things we should be trying to achieve.

There is a lot of talk about Washington being merely a "lean Obama" state, even though most recent polls have given Obama a very solid lead. Now comes a Survey USA poll which simply says that McCain has no chance here.

Peter Goldmark (a Kossack) was one of my favorite netroots candidate back in 06. You can read Teacherken's 2006 personal diary about Goldmark here.

Peter and I began as freshmen living in adjacent rooms on the 2nd Floor North of Barclay Hall at Haverford College.  That was September of 1963.  Peter is quite bright, having achieved a Ph. D. in Microbiology in 4 years at Cal Berkeley.  But he grew up in rural Eastern Washington, and has never lost his connections with the rural area and agriculture.   This is not his first run for public office, having been elected to his local school board.   And as you will read in the material below, he has statewide service in agriculture and in higher education.

OLYMPIA — Seattle attorney and Democratic National Committee member David McDonald says he is endorsing Barack Obama for the party's presidential nomination.

McDonald had been holding off making an endorsement until after this past weekend's rules committee meeting in Washington, D.C., where he was one of 30 members deciding what to do with the disputed delegates from Michigan and Florida.

In an e-mail statement to The Associated Press, McDonald says Obama's candidacy "has brought astounding new energy and hope to the Democratic Party nationwide."

The following letter -- apparently written in all seriousness -- appears in today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

"The news from Iraq is increasingly good and hopeful, so what are the media talking about? Scott McClellan's denunciations of the Bush administration. McClellan himself admits that the final product is not the book he set out to write and that he is a recent convert to his current views. My guess is that he succumbed to pressure from his anti-Bush publishers and sold out his soul for big royalties and media buzz. Certainly the media are hungry for new anti-Bush material.

One of Hillary Clinton's high profile supporters is fellow Senator Maria Cantwell from the state of Washington. Follow me over the fold to see why I believe Senator Cantwell should now consider switching her support and what Washington state residents can do about it.

I have heard from Clinton supporters that caucuses disenfranchise Democratic voters. They claim the better measure of popular support is the primary system. Now Clintonistas are claiming the Washington State caucus doesn't count because we had a primary.

Here we go again. Today, all over Washington state, delegates will gather in their Congressional District caucuses and caucus for their choice of candidate. As before, I expect that we Obama people will outnumber the Clinton people by a fair margin.

Today I'm also running for national delegate, one of 89 women in my district to run for the 2 female slots we have. I am handing out M&Ms packages with stickers on them that read "My Real Name for National Obama Delegate"; I spent several hours with labels and 300 packages of M&Ms the other night, sticking two labels on each package.

Could you imagine Rep. Brian Baird not being the official nominee of the Democratic party?

That could happen.

Typically, Democrats in Washington don't nominate candidates, in the past we just passed on our person through an open or less than open primary. But, this year, because of a Supreme Court Decision impacting our primary, local Democratic organizations are now voting to nominate candidates.

John McCain apparently came to Washington State Tuesday.  Landed at Boeing Field.

Washington Governor Chris Gregoire, a good Democrat, an Obama supporter, and (in her role as the State's CEO) a Boeing Cheerleader, stopped by the Daily Kos today as well - and made it to the rec list.

I am not pleased by what she had to say, nor by her treating us here as rubes, knowing that Anti-McCain rhetoric would play very well here.

As a peace-loving person, I take extreme exception to the Governor's tactic of using this forum to blast John McCain - when it seems that all she really was here to do was to pimp for the Boeing Company.

The competitiveness of this year’s presidential election has brought the candidates to more of our communities than any other election in recent years. I believe our democracy is stronger when voters are given an opportunity to learn more about the candidates.

Senator John McCain lands in Washington state today to host a $33,100/plate event at a hotel in Bellevue. Most of us would use $33,100 to pay for our child’s college education or a down payment on a home.

When Senator McCain’s plane lands at Boeing Field, I hope he takes a moment to notice that he is surrounded by the world’s finest workers and airplanes.