Koster Lays Out Agenda in First TV Ad

Taxes, spending, and the budget figure prominently in John Koster’s first ad out of the gate:

Can Koster capitalize on dissatisfaction with the incumbent? In an email to supporters, Koster’s campaign cites a Wenzel Strategies poll showing him leading Rick Larsen in the primary. If we get a link to that poll, we’ll post it here. Primary ballots will be in voters’ hands very soon.

UPDATE: Sam Taylor has an update on the race at the Bellingham Herald’s Politics Blog.

Is Adam Smith Building a New Bridge to Nowhere?

Rep. Adam Smith of Washington’s 9th Congressional District likes to portray himself as what the Seattle Times calls a “raging moderate.” Smith supported the Iraq surge in 2007 and he voted against the House’s original health care reform bill.

But Smith is the chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on Air and Land Forces. And in this role, Smith is showing that he can play the pork barrel polka with the best Big Government liberal. But unlike earmark champions Patty Murray and the late Robert Byrd, Smith’s effort do not benefit his district at all, but rather fat cat corporate donors to his campaign.

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Rep. Geoff Simpson accused of domestic violence…again

This week is 47th Legislative District Week here at NW Digest.  And one of the current Democrats representing the 47th in the Washington House of Representaives has just been accused of domestic violence for the second time in two years:

The Seattle City Attorney’s office today charged Rep. Geoff Simpson, D-Covington, with one count of assault stemming from an alleged incident of domestic violence at Seattle Children’s Hospital on May 22.

Simpson is accused of pushing his ex-wife as she tried to stop him from entering a hospital room where their young daughter was recovering from surgery.

Once he got inside the ex-wife said she tried to open the door and go in and he “pushed her out of the room and used the door to force her all the way out,” according to a Seattle police report.

A social worker told police she saw Simpson “barrel” into the room, push the former wife and shut the door.

He “closed the blinds and barricaded himself inside using his body” and was yelling inside, according to the report. Once he came out, he left the property, witnesses said.

Simpson denied wrongdoing and issued a statement today which you can read below. Friction between Simpson and his ex-wife drew cops to their home in 2008 where Simpson was arrested but never charged for alleged domestic violence.

In a statement, Simpson denies the charges and predictably blames it on politics (no doubt the “teabaggers” are behind it all.)

Guilty or not, Simpson’s domestic violence charges are a continual distraction.  47th LD voters deserve better.

Patty Murray Pulls “Sinners and Saints” Attack Video

According to the Spokesman-Review’s Spin Control blog:

Patty Murray’s Senate campaign was forced to pull a video that jabbed GOP challenger Dino Rossi because it was using a Billy Joel song without legal permission.

“We have not received any complaints,” campaign spokeswoman Alex Glass said today. “We did it out of an abundance of caution.”

The one-minute video that was being circulated by the campaign and Democratic sources, and posted on YouTube, took a swipe at Rossi for comments attributed to him in a recent National Journal article. In describing his chances of winning over uncommitted voters, Rossi was quoted as saying: “In the old adage, there are saints and sinners and those who can be saved. The saints are with us, the sinners are not. And the ones that can be saved are the ones we will be talking to.”

That prompted Democrats in Washington state to respond with “who you calling a sinner?”

The Murray campaign produced a quick video with some big business GOP supporters, questioning their sainthood, and Murray with veterans, moms and kids, asking if they were sinners.

The video used to be here.  This isn’t the first time that Murray’s attacks have fallen flat.  Leftist Seattle-PI columnist Joel Connelly, referring to DSCC attacks on Rossi, wrote,  ”What’s being debased is not Dino Rossi, but a process of self-government that should deliver honest choices to the votes.”

Candidates Weigh In On Petraeus Confirmation

The U.S. Senate today unanimously confirmed the appointment of General David Petraeus as the top military commander in Afghanistan to replace Stanley McChrystal.

I commend President Obama on his outstanding pick of Gen. David Petraeus to serve as commander of the multinational forces in Afghanistan. The U.S. Senate’s vote to confirm him today demonstrates that they have the same confidence I do in Gen. Petraeus’s ability to lead a successful counterinsurgency campaign.

Rossi’s fellow Republican candidate Paul Akers’ campaign also issued a press release, taking a swipe at incumbent Democratic Senator Patty Murray’s former stance on General “Betray-Us.”

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