DARCY SAYS THANKS

Darcy Burner's campaign raised even more than the original goal. And her teach-in style virtual Town Hall on Iraq was a smash (unlike the one Brian Baird had in the southern part of the state). No one knows how the Bush-Reichert fandango was because it was closed to the public (perhaps because they didn't want to draw attention to the fact that Karl Rove, who had deployed millions of dollars in dirty tricks money to defend Reichert last time and has publicly targeted Darcy for 2008, was along for the ride?) and the ticket prices started at a grand and went all the way up to $10,000. But Darcy sent the Blue America activists at Crooks & Liars, Firedoglake and DownWithTyranny a big thank you just now. With donations still trickling in, it is clear that Bush's visit to suburban Seattle helped raise over $114,000.

This weekend, you all changed the ground rules in politics. I am incredibly impressed and deeply touched, and I have this odd desire to bring you all home with me.
 
But you changed politics.
 
There is no PAC in the country that can do what you just did, raising more than $100k from more than 3000 contributors for a House candidate over an August weekend fourteen months from the election. Not EMILY's List, not anybody. You've just blunted the only advantage Reichert got from bringing Bush into the district, and over the next several weeks I'll work to eliminate it entirely-- which is probably possible because of the work you've done and the support your communities have given me.
 
This was an amazing show of people-powered politics, and I'm deeply honored you did it to help me.  I promise to do my utmost to live up to the trust you've placed in me.
 
Now I've got to spend a bit figuring out who's going to help General Eaton draft the Iraq exit plan I asked him to chair this morning...
 
Darcy

One thing I can tell you for sure. Congresswoman Burner will never turn into a Chris Carney. Let the DCCC try to keep reactionaries and Bush Dogs like Carney and John Barrow and Jim Marshall and Melissa Bean in office. We'll keep helping real Democrats with real progressive values, like Darcy, Donna Edwards, Steve Cohen, John Laesch, Victoria Wulsin, Angie Paccione and Carol Shea-Porter.