YOU CAN HELP CHANGE AMERICA-- AND DARCY BURNER IS AN OUTSTANDING AGENT OF CHANGE

Wave bye-bye, boys. Your time is up

You may have come to the conclusion that DWT and our Blue America partners at Firedoglake and Crooks & Liars are very enthusiastic about Darcy Burner's candidacy for the suburban congressional seat currently being held by rubber stamp Republican Dave Reichert. Your conclusion would be very correct.

Our strong feelings about this race go beyond the issues, on which Darcy is always correct and Reichert is always wrong. (Even when Reichert, fearful of his moderate constituents, mouths mainstream nostrums about the environment or Iraq in the district, he then goes back to DC and always votes with the hard right and against the feeble attempts he makes from time to time to claim that he is either an "independent voice" or a "moderate." He is neither.) But Darcy is worth our enthusiasm because she is a real leader, not just a dependable vote.

One of the most intelligent and thoughtful of all the candidates we have talked to at Blue America, she is also one of the most plainspoken and clear. Darcy Burner doesn't hide behind rhetorical nuances. When someone asked her how she felt about the passage of the FISA bill-- which saw over 40 reactionary and cowardly Democrats joining the Republicans-- she didn't beat around the bush. The Fisa bill... completely sucks... We have got to elect more and better Democrats."

More and better Democrats is like a motto for Blue America and "better" is something we will never, never, never sacrifice in pursuit of "more."

Monday Bush will be in Seattle trying to help Reichert raise more money from right-wing fat cats to stave off his nearly inevitable defeat. Jane, John and I are joining other progressive bloggers in urging people who don't agree with the Bush-Cheney-Reichert agenda to participate in Darcy's virtual Town Hall Meeting at the same time. Our goal, articulated by Atrios: a headline in the Seattle Times something to the effect of "Burner Raises $100K On Bush Visit to Rival Reichert."

And so far it's going really well. We're over halfway to our $100,000 goal and it's only Saturday. Over 1,600 people have contributed online. Here's part of a press release her campaign sent out today:

Democrat Darcy Burner’s campaign announced today that it has raised more than $57,000 over the web since Friday morning, pushing the campaign well past the halfway point in its quest to raise $100,000 from netroots contributors by early next week.
 
The astounding fundraising burst comes as President Bush prepares to visit the hotly contested 8th Congressional District, covering Seattle’s eastern suburbs, on Monday for a $10,000 a head fundraiser for his friend and close political ally, Republican incumbent Congressman Dave Reichert.
 
“I am overwhelmed at the levels of support we are seeing from thousands of engaged citizens from across the district and the nation who are responding to this campaign’s message of positive change,” Burner said. “We still have a long way to go to counter the mistaken Bush-Reichert agenda, but a growing number of ordinary Americans are determined to send a direct message to Congressman Reichert, President Bush and our go-along Congress that the time has come to bring this war to a responsible close.”

Just as Lieberman's fundraising for Maine's rubber stamp Republican Susan Collins resulted in even bigger contributions for her opponent, Tom Allen, it looks like a certain albatross from Inside the Beltway is about to do the exact same thing in Washington state for Reichert and Darcy. "The visit is Bush’s first fundraising trip since the 2006 election on behalf of a member of the House. That the White House chose Reichert for this trip is an indication of how close the Bush-Reichert relationship really is-- and how vulnerable Reichert has become because of his poor judgment in supporting Bush’s misguided policies, particularly his enthusiastic backing of the president’s never-ending Iraq War."
 
You can join us in donating directly to Darcy's campaign here. There aren't enough Democrats, let alone Republicans, who are willing to stand up at a public forum and speak like this: