Clay Shaw (Florida) and Dave Reichert (Washington) are from opposite ends of the country. But, they're as close as they could be when it comes to cozying up to polluters and giant oil companies. In fact, they share identical 28% scores on the non-partisan League of Conservation Voters environmental scorecard. That means they vote against the environment 7 out of every 10 chances they get.
This article in the Seattle Times describes Reichert's race as competitive and his district moderate. I don't know about the competitive part but his district is one of the more conservative ones in Western WA. Having said that, this IS Western WA so its not THAT conservative. I do find it surprising his environmental record is poor considering again that this is Western WA, the undeclared home of environmental concerns.
Reichert will appear with Cheney at fundraiser
By David Postman
Seattle Times chief political reporter
When Vice President Dick Cheney makes an appearance in Everett Monday, Congressman Dave Reichert will be there.
That's news only because when his campaign manager suggested earlier that Reichert might not make it, Democrats jumped at the chance to say the freshman Republican was afraid Cheney's poor standing in the polls might rub off on him.
But it was just a scheduling problem, and Reichert will "have a speaking role" at the fundraiser for 2nd Congressional District candidate Doug Roulstone, said Reichert campaign spokeswoman Carol Beaudu.
Reichert's schedule change, though, doesn't do away with questions about the Cheney effect.
"In a less-charged time, having the vice president come and put his arm around you would be a pretty good thing. But this is not that time," said Seattle pollster Stuart Elway.
And in a competitive race in a moderate district like Reichert's in eastern King County, little things can make a difference. Reichert has been working to show his independence from President Bush. Bush lost the presidential vote in Reichert's 8th Congressional District.
"The people who are going to decide that race are the independents and undecideds, and Cheney's standing with them are probably close to single digits," Elway said.
Reichert doesn't sound exactly excited about the prospect.
"The man is vice president of the United States of America. He is the vice president of the most powerful nation in the world," Reichert said last week on radio station 710 KIRO. "I think he deserves our respect."
Cheney arrives Sunday night at Paine Field. He speaks the next day at a lunch fundraiser for Roulstone, a retired Navy officer challenging Democratic U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen.
After lunch Cheney will fly to Spokane, where he will attend a rally at Fairchild Air Force Base and a fundraiser for Republican Senate candidate Mike McGavick.
There are no public events on the vice president's schedule.
Already this election cycle, Cheney has made more than 50 fundraising appearances around the country, according to The Associated Press. That is despite his low popularity ratings — which were low even before he shot and wounded a hunting buddy earlier this year.
His approval rating has dropped from a high of 68 percent in 2002 to 36 percent, according to the Gallup Poll. His disapproval ratings are now about 52 percent.
Former state Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance points out that Bush and Cheney have never been very popular in Washington state. Voters here went with the Democratic presidential candidates in 2000 and 2004, as they have every year since 1988.
But Vance doesn't think Republican candidates need to worry about Democratic warnings — or hopes? — that appearing with the vice president will hurt election chances.
"It's a game both sides play," said Vance, who stepped down as chairman in January.
"When I was chairman, whenever Hillary Clinton or John Kerry or Howard Dean would come to town we'd send out a press release and say, 'Look, Patty Murray or Maria Cantwell aren't really Northwest moderates. They're part of the Eastern liberal establishment.'
"It was a ritual. And I don't think it had any effect."
Even if there were a political downside, Vance says, it'd be worth it for the money that can be raised.
"Springtime is about money in the bank," he said. "I can tell you from experience there is a certain level donor, a certain strata, that will only donate if they get some face time from the president or vice president."
Christian Sinderman, a consultant working for the state Democratic Party, said that while voters may already identify Republican candidates with the Bush administration, the visit is "a big deal because Cheney is the face of the Bush administration's many failures, and having him here delivers those failures to our front doorstep."
He said "it is telling" that McGavick's Cheney event is in more conservative Eastern Washington.
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