Rossi Must Feel Like Don Benton’s Phantom Menace

Back channel alliances. Late-night missives. Proxy political battling.

No, it’s not a space opera. But it sure feels like one.

I’m talking about the GOP U.S. Senate primary in Washington State.  Republicans, as we reported several weeks ago, are full of angst.  Their best opportunity at taking back a U.S. Senate seat came in a year when it was least expected: 2010.

Months ago, Patty Murray was expected to easily cruise to re-election.

The Cardinal of the Senate was just too powerful. Too good at bringing home the bacon.  The political equivalent of the Democratic Party’s “too big to fail.” If Murray could fall, then what Democratic incumbent was safe?

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Meet Patty Murray’s Professional Mudslingers

Meet Paul Tewes.

Described in media reports as a low-key Midwesterner, Tewes is a former political director under Patty Murray at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

In the past few years he’s made the jump from field organizer to heavy-hitting political consultant. And he’s now got a posse of fellow-travelers who get hired to destroy Republicans. Back to that in a minute.

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Gregoire Now Says She’s Open to Obama Job

Whether you believe it’s all parlor tricks, or a real world scenario, Gov. Gregoire is at least now publicly stating a willingness to consider a presidential appointment in the Obama Administration — and that’s a radical departure from all previous reports (i.e. Secy. of Commerce or Interior).

In fact, Gov. Gregoire says she’s now “humbled” to even be mentioned as a potential pick to replace Solicitor General Elena Kagan.

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Cheat Sheet: Jay Inslee’s Lobbyist Problem

A National Journal article claims that Washington Congressman Jay Inslee (D-Bainbridge Island) is circulating a letter to colleagues that was ghost-written by a lobbying group that wants the FCC to regulate the internet. The conservative blog, RedState.com, points out the irony of the Inslee letter originating from a Congressman so close to Microsoft being caught in a scandal by their technology.

Speaking of Inlee’s relations with lobbyists, it’s instructive to revisit a dust-up that hasn’t gotten much attention. After the state’s Republican AG joined a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the health care reform bill, all eyes were on Inslee (as he’s widely thought to be a candidate for Governor, ahem, should the incumbent leave early).

At the time, Inslee wrote in a press release:

“We fought over 2,000 insurance industry lobbyists in Washington DC to protect Washingtonians health care, we shouldn’t have to fight our own Attorney General too.”

You see, Inslee isn’t any lobbyist’s stooge. Unless, you know, you’re talking about a group wanting to regulate the internet, or the drug companies wanting to maintain their ability to charge exorbitant fees for life-saving drugs (h/t Firedoglake).

Norm Dicks: Mr. Boeing to Mr. Spending?

Norm Dicks (D-Bremerton) is slated to take the gavel of the U.S. House’s most powerful position: Chairman of the Appropriations Committee. In a rather scathing column, the WaPo’s Dana Milbank takes on the Democrats’ pick to replace Obey:

Now, with the just-announced retirement of Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.), Democrats are signaling that he will be replaced as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee by Dicks, the next in line — giving the honorable gentleman from Boeing broad control of about $1.4 trillion in annual discretionary spending. It’s an odd message the Democrats are sending: Return us to power, and we’ll return to business as usual.

As Milbanks points out, Dicks recently survived an ethics probe, even after it was revealed campaign donors gave him contributions with the expectation of gaining influence. Dicks is also one of the top House earmarkers, and opposed an outright earmark ban earlier this year.

Last October, the Seattle Times reported on the ethics cloud surrounding Norm Dicks:

In July, Dicks acknowledged he secured $27 million in earmarks for four PMA clients over the past three years. All of them were defense firms with Navy contracts. Though all of them are headquartered outside his congressional district, all of them have offices in Bremerton.

At the same time, Dicks received more than $133,000 in campaign contributions from the PMA political action committee and the firm’s employees and clients, according to a Moneyline Analysis of Federal Election Commission records from his last four campaigns.

In March of ‘09, the FBI raided the offices of the lobbying power house, PMA Group, which gave Dicks and Sen. Patty Murray thousands of contributions.  The Times lede in to the story was:

Congressman Norm Dicks has never been shy about accepting campaign donations from favor seekers.

Now the FBI is investigating one of Dicks’ most generous donors — the powerhouse lobbying firm PMA Group.

Questions remain about the contributions, and Dicks’ connection to the firm that nearly took down his late colleague, John Murtha. Dicks and Murray, Washington state’s two most senior Democrats, were also connected to a $4.5 million boat boondoggle:

Why would the Navy waste taxpayer dollars on a boat that nobody wanted?

Blame it on Sen. Patty Murray and Congressmen Norm Dicks and Brian Baird. All three exercised their political muscle to slip language into a 2002 spending bill to force the Navy to buy the boat from Edmonds shipbuilder Guardian Marine International.