WA-09: Desperate Smith Goes Negative on Muri

There’s no other way to explain this; Adam Smith is desperate:

Smith’s pollster put out an internal poll showing his candidate safely up 19 points.

Even some conservative bloggers acknowledge Muri is likely a longshot.

So why risk going negative? Obviously, Smith’s people are worried about Democrats and Independent voters buying Smith’s supposed “moderate” credentials for the umpteenth time. Republicans will vote for Dick Muri, a well-known local GOPer who does retail politicking like no other. But those swingy types — Smith either wants them back safely in his column or staying home altogether.

The sad thing? Smith promised Muri personally that he’d “keep it clean” and focus on the issues.

Lesson: career politicians say the darndest things. Oh, and ones like Adam Smith who vote in lockstep with Nancy Pelosi will say or “do” anything if they find themselves in political peril. Desperation has a strange way of doing that.

We have an email in to the Muri camp requesting comment.

UPDATE: Muri’s campaign manager Josh Amato responds:

“The ad is so misleading, so poorly researched, and so easily refuted, that I have to wonder if they let an intern write it.

“Smith should apologize to the voters for its content – and then ask his campaign manager for a refund.”

Muri further rebutted the ad with this statement through a spokesperson:

“Americans have learned to set a very low standard for honesty from Congressmen – yet Adam Smith still manages to sink even lower.

“The Pierce County budget is balanced.  The U.S. budget faces record deficits.

“Pierce County prioritized spending and protected public safety.  The county did make cuts, but they were smart cuts and left intact public services more effectively than the state legislature or King County. Adam Smith and Nancy Pelosi have forgotten how to balance a budget. He spends so freely that he voted to increase the U.S. debt ceiling to a record $14.3 trillion.

“In terms of pay raises, I’m amazed Smith wants to bring attention to the fact that members of Congress benefit from automatic pay raises every year. Since being elected, his pay has increased 34% and now tops $176,000. To put that into perspective, Smith’s increase in salary since 1997 is just shy of his average constituents’ income.”

WA-09: Adam Smith, Proud Democrat? Not Today!

It looks like Adam Smith forgot something in his latest ad:

Smith’s Republican challenger, Dick Muri, must be getting a little too close for comfort in the polls.

Or perhaps it’s the unpopularity of Nancy Pelosi, the healthcare takeover he voted for, and all the rest of the failed Democrat policies he’s rubber-stamped?

“Independent Voice”? Don’t make me laugh.

“Common Sense”? More like lapdog for Nancy Pelosi.

But the most laughable of all? “Fiscal Hawk.” Right, like supporting the “engine to nowhere” while lining his pockets with special interest money.

Adam Smith is no moderate. He’s as liberal as they come. Smith only pretends to be “mainstream” and “moderate” when he’s running for re-election. Nowhere is that more fully on display than this fluff-filled ad.

Don’t be fooled, folks!

WA-03: Some Local Media Carry Water for Heck

Kathie Durbin and Tony Lystra. Both names you’ll be familiar with if you follow political news in Southwest Washington.

But you might not know that both have also occasionally carried water (enthusiastically) for the retiring Democratic incumbent Brian Baird.

For instance, back when Rep. Baird was describing constituents who opposed a government takeover of health care as “Brown Shirts,” “Lynch Mobs,” and reminiscent of “Timothy McVeigh,” Lystra cast Baird as embattled but not in the wrong.

The Columbian’s archives don’t stretch back far enough now to link to their coverage, but suffice it to say Durbin is not exactly a paragon of unbiased journalism. Read up on NWD’s previous Brian Baird coverage for details.

Now, in the current race to replace Baird, coverage from both The Columbian and The Daily News has tended to swoon over Denny Heck, and have a decidedly negative bent against Herrera.

The latest one-sided hack jobs can be found here, and here. You’ll notice that both pieces pretend to be objective. Except that instead of covering the issues, both writers instead deliver what amounts to cheap political analysis of campaign strategy. They implore readers to forget about the national debt, stagnant economy, and sky-high unemployment for a moment — and instead focus on insider baseball.

You see, it’s OK for Heck to be an Olympia fixture and wealthy businessman who’s self-funding his merry “Give ‘Em Heck” campaign.  But apparently if you’ve ever worked in the other Washington (gasp! and gained relevant experience), Durbin thinks you’re the “career politician.” Not the guy who’s been in the thick of Democratic machine politics for 30 years. Uh-huh.

Of course, in the next breath, Durbin will be only happy to completely discount or marginalize that same Congressional experience. Lame.

Lystra is probably the more redeemable of the two. The TDN story looks more like a botched pitch from Team Heck. He’s behind in the polls, and all his campaign can do is whine about Herrera’s shrewd and strategic campaign schedule.

Stay tuned for more. We’ll be taking apart many more stories as Election Day nears.

WA-SEN: Blogger Reveals State Aided Murray Camp.

Bryan Myrick of RedCounty.com has the story:

Eighteen pages of emails obtained from the Washington Employment Security Department contain communication suggesting that Sen. Patty Murray’s re-election campaign met with a state worker with the purpose of asking for campaign work to be done using state resources.

Read the entire report.

LD-6: Marr Skirts the Truth on Women’s Event

In what is shaping up to be one of the hottest political contests of the year, comes a report in the Spokesman Review with some recent news from the State Senate race in the Spokane suburbs:

The campaign of state Sen. Chris Marr this week falsely accused his Republican opponent of withdrawing from a weekend candidate’s forum “at the last minute.”

The report continues by quoting the event organizers:

Judy Blair, public policy co-chairwoman of the association, said Baumgartner never accepted an invitation because of a scheduling conflict.

Clearly, it’s a tough cycle out there for incumbent Democrats.  But blatantly misrepresenting the facts in a press release based on information heard “second hand.”  That seems a little below the what you’d expect from a sitting State Senator, doesn’t it?

Sooner or later, voters might begin to question what else the incumbent has been fabricating.  Like perhaps his voting record, or any of his other public statements.

If that’s the case, it looks like the Spokesman Review will have its hands full with this race.