There's a new storyline taking hold about Republican Congressman Dave Reichert, the freshman representative from the Eastside who last year turned a reputation as a dogged sheriff into a successful run for congress. It goes like this: Ex-cop Reichert may look like he's straight out of Republican central casting, but he's actually a spirited independent.
It's a smart storyline for Reichert to cultivate, given that he represents the 8th congressional district, which covers the eastern portions of King and Pierce Counties and is in political flux, becoming more liberal as cities such as Bellevue and Redmond grow in influence. Voters in the district may have sent Republican Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn to D.C. for 12 years running, but they also voted for John Kerry and Al Gore, and last election sent two new Democrats to the state legislature in place of Republicans. The district has historically been close to 60-percent pro-choice, a fact that Dunn, a strong woman, managed to finesse while casting anti-choice votes, and one that Reichert, who is anti-choice, also managed to overcome when he narrowly defeated Democratic radio-talk-show host Dave Ross to claim Dunn's seat.
With a number of recent stories about Reichert, "the Independent," the media is clearly taking the bait, leaving Democrats tripping over themselves to debunk Reichert's maverick label. If they can derail his re-branding, they see him as one of several Republicans who could easily be unseated in mid-term elections next year.
A recent poll conducted by the Democrats shows only 39 percent of voters in Reichert's district supporting his re-election. Perhaps more importantly, the poll found that 47 percent of voters in the district would choose a Democrat who ran against Bush's policies over a Republican who was closely identified with them.
"I think that Dave Reichert is trying incredibly hard to make it look like he is bucking the Republican Party," says Sarah Feinberg, spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "He loves to tout that one Terry Schiavo vote, but one vote does not a maverick make."
Reichert's vote agaist Congressional interference with Terry Schiavo's death does come up frequently when Reichert's image-makers talk about how he's not marching in lockstep with his leaders. But that wasn't his only independent move. Recently, Reichert again bucked his leadership by supporting the COPS program, a Clinton-era effort to put more police on the streets. He's also gone from favoring drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to opposing it, unsuccessfully.
And in May, he showed up at a press conference held by Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader, and in a display of bipartisan chivalry got down on one knee, Cinderella-style, to offer her a pink pump that she had lost, and he had found, in the frenzy of a security evacuation.
The whole thing, from the pump stunt to the independent label, is part of the making of a fairy tale, say Democrats. Among Reichert's first votes in Congress was one to weaken the rules of the House Ethics Committee, which has been trying to investigate House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Reichert also hasn't been shy about seeking financial support from hard-right politicians such as DeLay and Dick Cheney, who have thrown fundraisers for him. And he has voted on the wrong side, Democrats, say, on issues from stem-cell research (opposed) to the PATRIOT Act (favored allowing government officials to look at library and bookseller records).
In addition to the Democrats' poll, recent national polls show approval of Bush tanking, support for the Iraq war tanking, and satisfaction with Congress already in the tank. Democrats are hoping those trends translate into an even bigger wave of discontent in Reichert's district in 2006.
"If that happens, there's no way Reichert holds onto his seat," says John Wyble, campaign consultant to Ross Hunter, a Microsoft millionaire and two-term Democratic representative from Medina who is seen as a favored candidate to run against Reichert next year. (Hunter hasn't yet made up his mind.)
Reichert's chief of staff, Mike Shields, says the Democrats, feeling jitters about Reichert's success, are desperately taking votes out of context in order to try to make Reichert fit the bad-guy Republican clichĂ©, and that it won't work. The people will see the real Reichert, Shields believes—particularly since he has close to $500,000 already in his campaign war chest. â–
