Poll: Will it be Herrera vs. Pridemore in WA-03?

According to the results of our two unscientific web polls (see here and here), rising GOP star Jaime Herrera looks poised to take on veteran Democrat Craig Pridemore. Of course, the primary is still many months away. Much could happen to change the current landscape, including the entrance of better known, and financial heavyweight challengers on both sides. Alternatively, one of the other candidates already in the race could make a move, and slingshot past either apparent frontrunner in our poll.

The sample size on the Democratic side was indeed small (n=37) — but Pridemore finished on top of the candidates included with 11 votes, or 30% (with “Other” taking 43%, or 16 votes).

However, on the GOP side, Herrera finished above the 50% mark with 361 votes cast. A late surge by Jon Russell ate into Herrera’s lead, but Russell was not able to catch up. Olympia financial adviser and former Bush appointee David Castillo, who was the first to throw his hat in the ring against Baird, had a strong early showing but never gained steam.

So what does all this mean, especially considering this was an unscientific poll of Internet visitors to a small corner of the blogosphere?  Gauging enthusiasm for candidates online is important in and of itself.  In every poll participant is a potential online donor, campaign volunteer, or online activist, willing to engage in the race.  So while the field may look different come next August, taking a pulse online now, may just provide an interesting glimpse into how things shape up.

Baird Blasted at Town Hall By Marine Vet

Interesting to note that this exchange is only now surfacing. Little or nothing was mentioned in mainstream media reports about the town hall regarding this impassioned veteran taking Baird to task…

(H/T: OrbusMax.com. At this writing — Sunday afternoon — the video had 80,000 views)

UPDATE: The video now has over 250,000 914,384 views.