Former RealNetworks exec Maria Cantwell is the junior, freshman senator from the state of Washington who squeaked by Slade Gorton in 2000. There’s been a lot of talk about her vulnerability in 2006 against a strong Republican candidate. Dragging down Cantwell’s chances are angry progressive Democrats who disliked her votes on Iraq and Rice (and ignore her positive work, described below), and are looking for primary opponents. (Deaniac Chad Shue is pushing the candidacy of peace activist Mark Wilson.) While people like Kos insist that Washington state is safe for Democrats, a lot of us know better. Washington voters are independent and will vote for whoever they perceive is the sharper cookie … How the White house is involved, below the fold:
Writes The Seattle Times this afternoon:
By Alicia Mundy, Seattle Times Washngton bureau
The White House has a message for would-be Republican challengers to Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell: No messy primary.
The White House has made Cantwell among their top targets in the 2006 midterm elections, and has told some candidates it wants to avoid an expensive intraparty battle.
That means that there likely will be no Republican primary in Washington state for the three men who are considering running against Cantwell — former U.S. Rep. Rick White [PHOTO], state Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance and Mike McGavick, the chairman and CEO of Safeco.
However, there will be a primary of sorts — in Washington, D.C. And it’s already begun.
Vance and White visited D.C. recently to meet with Bush administration officials and Republican campaign gurus to gauge interest in their potential candidacies and set the groundwork for fund raising.
This is being done, though, with the understanding that the first shot would go to Dino Rossi in the event the GOP fails in its lawsuit to overturn the November gubernatorial race Rossi lost to Democrat Christine Gregoire.
Both Vance and White said the White House has expressed its interest in a primary-free election against Cantwell. Cantwell, who is in her first Senate term, has been named one of the most vulnerable Democrats by numerous campaign journals and political consultants.
The White House will not send either the president or vice president to the state for a “nasty” primary, Vance said.
“The White House and national party don’t determine who gets the nod,” Vance added, but for a race that is crucial to Bush’s strategy for increasing GOP seats in Congress, “The national party and the people in D.C. will have a role.”
Added White: “We [Vance, White and McGavick] have all talked and agree there can’t be a primary.”
The White House played a similar role in recruiting candidates and trying to avoid primaries in the 2004 races for governor and U.S. Senate. …
Don’t listen to anyone — even Kos — who tells you this race is safe for Cantwell. She’ll be in the fight of her life, and so will all of us. And the progressive-leaning Democrats had better wake up, and get on board. Their passive, resentful attitude — because their favorite candidates lost the primaries — almost cost Chris Gregoire the governorship and did cost liberal Dave Ross an East King County congressional seat that went to rightwinger Dave Reichert. (Can you tell this is one of my big beefs?)
Most recently, Maria Cantwell gave a stirring floor speech against the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales, emphasizing his involvement with Enron, and she joined forces with John Kerry to lead the almost successful fight to save ANWR.
The Republicans, according to the Times article above, are convening to hand-pick a candidate and to avoid a bloody primary vote. The Democrats must do the same for Cantwell.
Susan, your practical take on this is a breath of fresh air.
Thanks. She’s a fine senator and a fine person. And we can’t afford to lose one Senate seat in 2006. My god, things are horrible already in Congress.
I’m just furious with the Seattle Deaniacs who are bashing her all the time and plotting to find candidates to run against her in the primary, probably so they can force her — they think — to become sufficiently liberal to please them. Forgetting that half the state voted for Dino Rossi, a conservative, real estate-hungry, anti-environmental GOP candidate for governor in 2004, partly because he’s easily perceived as sharp and capable. If they force Cantwell to go too liberal, the GOP will eat it up! Jesus … it’s so fucking simple. (Sorry .. it really gripes me.)
I hope Maria can feature her involvement in the Apollo-style Energy Independence project more. (wrong name, I forget the specifics right now.)
Perhaps the energy price context will help her there.
A new market for farm crops for biofuels will help her in Eastern Washington.
You are right, Susan, about the statewide strategy. Murray has helped herself a lot over here with the work she’s done for Veterans. Without that, people would still be hanging on the fact she asked “why does Osama do what he does?” – which is a reasonable question of course, except….
I think you’re painting the progressive-leaning Democrats in Seattle with too broad a brush. My candidate (Phil) didn’t last because of health reasons and so I supported Gregoire in the primary.
But she sure didn’t run very good commercials and never really defined the differences between her and Rossi. Rossi was allowed to define himself as a moderate even though his voting record was not.
She needs to make sure she gets some traction with the voters in Eastern Washington. Here, as best I can remember, is a conversation I had in another forum with a friend of mine from Washington’s Tri-City area:
Him: <some gripe or another>
Me: You should write your senators about it
Him: they don’t represent me
Me: Of course they do, they’re senators for the whole state
Him: they don’t care about eastern washington
Me: Then get them to pay some attention to you. Go to their office.
Him: neither one has an office in the tri-cities
Me: (does a quick look at murray.senate.gov and cantwell.senate.gov)
Me: You know the federal building on Jadwin in Richland?
Him: yeah
Me: (copies the address of Sen. Cantwell’s office in that building and pastes it for him)
Now granted I don’t know how much credence I should put behind his gripes if he can’t be bothered to find out for himself that his senator has an office within 10 miles of where he lives, and if he didn’t like Cantwell it’s not much of a drive to Yakima where Sen. Murray has an office. But still, if he’s griping about how his senators won’t pay any attention to anyone west of Issaquah, he might not be the only one.
Plus I seem to remember this was a big problem for Gregoire, who didn’t do much campaigning if any east of the mountains.
And finally, Cantwell is doing good things for Washingtonians. She just needs to make sure they know what she’s doing.
The Dems should find a candidate that will switch parties to run in the republican primary and throw as much dirt as posible during the campaign.
I don’t buy the “no-primary” argument. It grants the reeps more power than they have a right to claim. Think about it: they’re afraid of their own people. They don’t believe the public has the intelligence to select their own candidate. I mean, for chrissake look at the message:
They have sent you a gift, so use it. Now, not a year from now.
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These two statements are contradictory:
whoever they perceive is the sharper cookie
If they force Cantwell to go too liberal.
How can a “sharp cookie” be forced too far in any direction? Does she listen to the people up there? Travel the district during breaks? Is she fair and honest? Communicate? Then she shouldn’t have a problem running.
Wilson??? He hasn’t changed one word of his speech in over a year. [interview & article are almost word-for-word]. And he reads like a perennial “runner”. Libertarian one time, Green the next, now Democrat? For shit’s sake, can’t the man make up his damn mind? From what you write, the DFA folk aren’t for Wilson, they’re not happy with Cantwell. F*cking brilliant. “Beat Bush” all over again.
Let her stand or fall based on her record. Running sends the message to the public that unlike the republicans, she’s earned her support.