News Apr 30, 2009 at 4:00 am

Democrats Question DelBene's Chances

Comments

1
Chris Hurst's comment is a clear indicator he's not fit for the seat because he can't do basic math and has no concept of reality. Which two phone calls does he think he could make, exactly? Because the math says that the most one person can give towards the primary is $2,500. The most one PAC or labor union can give is $5,000. Two phone calls, at most, is worth about $10,000. DelBene has more than $300k in the bank - more than thirty times that - and had raised more money than any other Democratic challenger in the country as of her last filing. As near as I can tell, she's likely to continue raising money at an impressive clip for the forseeable future, while people like Chris Hurst and the "concerned" folks cited in the article wring their hands and do squat to actually win the seat.

But go ahead, Chris. I, for one, would love to see your xenophobic paranoid delusional arrogant ass wiped all over the floor by DelBene.
2
Oh, and Eli: as to your obsession with comparing DelBene to Burner - would you also say that Ross Hunter and Eric Oemig are clones? Because they're both ex-Microsoft middle managers who are men who ran for state office from the Eastside. They're clones, then, right?

Or does that standard only apply to women?
3
Agree with the above; it is pretty lazy just to say Burner and Suzan are clones because they had a commom employer. Note that SD also was a player at Drugstore and you might want to dig into how big of a role she played at MSFT as she was a VP.
4
Hurst is exactly the kind of candidate who can win.

The idiots slamming him don't realize the moment he announces he gets tons of money without even making a call so the nerdy mathematical uptight "argument" about the donation limites times phone calls is myopic at best, dihonest at worse. Sounds like someone working for DelBene btw.
And yes they are clones because voters spend about 20 seconds thinking about the race and after you say former MS exec they think DelBene is Burner.
DelBene is already a loser. She will have a million $ in TV ads knocking her for NOT VOTING IN ELECTIONS and she has NO GOOD ANSWER and the whole campaign will be her on defense. Do not back this loser.
Get Hurst, or Tom, or even that Ross Hunter (he could run and lose for county exec., keep the lists and team together and fo right into a run for congress using the county exec race as a warm up. )
5
I'm not so sure about Chris Hurst, he has many issues I don't agree with. However, I don't consider Suzanne and Darcy to be clones because they both came from Microsoft. There are big differences between the two, at least from the surface. Also running for congress first time out isn't a problem because a fresh voice is sometimes nice. One can always voice ones views to make sure the people know where they stand (which Suzanne really hasn't done). The biggest concern I have about Suzanne is her deplorable voting record. If the last eight years hasn't made her so upset to vote, why is she running now. If someone doesn't take the time to vote then basically they don't deserve my vote. The least one can do to preserve this democracy is to VOTE.
6
I'm a dyed-in-the-wool leftie, but I won't support DelBene because of her voting record. It makes her seem very arrogant - she's been completely outside the process and now wants to step in and fix things. I'm sure there are better candidates who have been more involved in the public process.
7
It's not just that Congress her first run for office (but that is a big issue). Correct me if I'm wrong, but from all articles its apparent that this is her first interest in anything outside of the corporations she worked for. She didn't vote, didn't go to caucus last year, doesn't belong or give to polical orgs, isn't on boards or involved in community orgs, or anything. She's explicitly anti-partisan and won't take a stand except she thinks Obama is cool.

Who really wants to vote for the workaholic boss of their boss?
8
Speaking as a CD8 voter, I'm sick of political neophytes getting mulched by Reichert. News flash: deciding that your first public office will be in the US House of Representatives doesn't make you "fresh" or "postpartisan." It just makes you look like an egomaniacal loon.
9
Oh, and @1/2 is clearly a DelBene campaign committee member.
10
The first commenter is making such an uncharitable interpretation of Hurst's boast that I suspect we have seen this cycle's first partisan hack making anonymous drive-by attacks in the comment section.

He's obviously boasting that with two phone calls, he would set in motion other people who would make more phone calls, and these combined efforts would result in many donations over a 24 hour period that would top the partisan hack's candidate's $300,000. Which is without a doubt quite a thing to boast, in of itself. There's no need to deliberately misinterpret the meaning if you want to criticize.
11
The Darcy Burner comparison is a bad one. I liked Darcy--though I see why many of the 8th district voters didn't--but the fact is that she was a middle-manager and DelBene was a VP.

The problem is her voting record. I'm not in the 8th district but I'd vote against her in a primary for that alone, unless her opponents were pure poison.
12
This new name does not support gay marriage - toast - she needs to get on the clue bus.

Bruner was a BETTER candidate.
13
I did the math. The math says Chris Hurst looks like a muppet.
14
Nicholi M. -

Hurst gets tons of money without making a phone call? Really? From whom? Is it legal?

Because the only money that candidate for Congress can raise must come from individuals (limited to $2400 per person per election) or federally-registered PACs (limited to $5000 per person per election), or from the state or national Democratic Party (limited to $5000 for the state party and $5000 for the national party per election). See http://www.fec.gov/info/contriblimits091… for more information.

So you're telling me that Christ Hurst - who has never raised $300,000 total for any election in his life - will with a couple of phone calls raise more than $300k?

Yeah - and I have a chunk of the Brooklyn Bridge I'd like to sell you.
15
...And for the record, Big Sven and elenchos, I do not work for, have never worked for, and have no plans to work for DelBene. I'm merely an 8th District voter who - even in the last election - votes for people in both parties, and who would love to have a member of Congress who would actually do something constructive, rather than merely filling a seat as Reichert does or being an arrogant ass as Chris Hurst is.

Plenty of people talk a big game; few people are willing to actually do the work. DelBene, to her credit, is doing the work. Hurst is just spouting off.
16
Ross Hunter told me Tuesday night that he has absolutely no intention of running for Congress. He said he'd love to serve, but that it would ruin his marriage and family life.

Ross has battled lymphoma to a standstill, and I'm guessing that his family would rather they see as much of him as they can while they can. I don't blame him one bit.

I'm still waiting for DelBene's supporters (and I talk to plenty of them) to tell me what she has ever done in this life that qualifies her for a seat in Congress -- what she knows about public policy, at the very least.

I remember posing the same challenge to Darcy Burner, and to Darcy's credit, she went out and got the answers. We'll see what DelBene does about that.

Right now I spend a good part of my time as a Precinct Committee Officer getting out the vote. Why would I give a rat's about someone who can't be bothered to vote, much less support them for Congress?

Hurst or Tom absolutely would get my support if either of them ran. In my experience they are both stand-up guys.
17
I'm drunk, and that's when I'm optimistic. DelBene will still lose, she can't overcome my inebriation.
18
“Xenophobic”? Get your facts straight – I have never been afraid of spiders!

Christopher Hurst, State Representative
31st Legislative District, Democrat
19
While "xenophobic", meaning a fear of people of foreign origin (see http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionar…) certainly applies, perhaps "racist" would have been more straightforward. Your district newsletters, Mr. Hurst, give you away.

As a voter in the 8th District who votes for Democrats in 90%+ of cases, I would never vote for you.
20
You know, it's possible to be an unpaid volunteer partisan hack, O anonymous coward. Crawling out of the woodwork just to pitch for one candidate kind of puts you in that weak credibility category. Kind of like a certain Microserf who wants to begin her political career -- practically her entire political involvement -- with a seat in the US Congress.

It isn't as if there were no opportunities over the years to get involved and make a name for yourself. It's just that those opportunities lacked celebrity stardom and franking privileges.
21
You know, elenchos, it's possible to have opinions without being an unpaid volunteer partisan hack.

There are other candidates I'd certainly be happy to support in the 8th: State Sen Claudia Kauffman, former State Sen Marilyn Rasmussen, State Rep Tom Campbell, State Rep Zack Hudgins, State Sen Rodney Tom, and plenty of others, both previously elected and not. All I ask is that they (a) be willing to do the work; (b) support the basic premises on which our country was founded, including the fundamental equality of all persons.

Suzan DelBene is far from perfect, but is working hard and as far as I can tell supports those founding ideals. She is, right now, the *only* candidate in the race: nobody else is working for this at all right now. If some other person in the district is willing to outwork her and any other contenders to get the nomination, fantastic. But who's stepping up?

As for Chris Hurst, he fails on part (b) due to his anti-Hispanic racism. I don't support racists for public office, whatever party they belong to.
22
You'd be happy to support Tom Campbell in the 8th? Shows how much you know, which is jack shit. Tom Campbell (1) is a Republican, (2) lives in the 9th District, and (3) is said to be running against Adam Smith (who will kick his ass).

It's nice to hear that you would support Zack Hudgins in the 8th. Zack at least is a Democrat. Only thing is, Zack lives in the 7th District.

So pardon me, but I'm not real impressed with your political analysis.
23
these are the two phone calls Hurst could make:
1. To campaign manager (likely, a staffer who volunteers for the campaign after hours): hey, go ahead and file my candidate papers! And send out that press release.
2. To finance chair, please get out a fundraising letter asap to my list of 30,000.
Duh.
DelBene is a loser with a huge "I did not vote" albatross.
In modern politics, it may be better to be loved than feared -- but it still is no good at all to start the race being laughed at.
24
Yes, Tom Campbell is a Republican, and both Campbell and Hudgins represent districts that straddle the boundaries of the 8th.

Like most voters on the eastside, I split tickets for both Democrats and Republicans; I like Tom Campbell. And conveniently there is no requirement that people live in the districts they want to represent in Congress. To already be representing portion of the district likely would give either Campbell or Hudgins credibility - though it would obviously be easier if they moved.

But Ivan, your astute political analysis from West Seattle is obviously superior to that of someone who actually lives and votes here, right?
25
And as for the fundraising, let's do the numbers.

Hurst could reach people by USPS mail or email. If he did USPS mail, how big is his donor list? If he had a list of 30,000 donors as Nicholi suggests (*very* unlikely), it would cost about $15k to mail, and if he got a response rate of 2.5% and an average donation of $50 (both pretty generous estimates, especially in this economy), he'd raise $37,500 and net $22,500. That a far cry from what DelBene has raised, and relies on a whole bunch of overly-generous assumptions.

Let's say he does email instead. If he has an email list of 30,000 donors (also extremely unlikely), and he emails them, the response rate for email is lucky to be 1% and the average donation unlikely to be greater than $50, so while his costs would be lower - only a couple hundred dollars - he'd only raise about $15,000, even with generous assumptions. Again, no go.

So suppose he's assuming that the call he makes is to someone in the labor movement. Well, the problem is that for federal office, all of the checks come from the internationals, not the local labor groups. I don't think there was a House candidate in the country who raised $300,000 from labor last cycle - and most of that money comes late. Again, strikeout for Hurst.

Finally, perhaps he thinks the call he makes is to the Democratic Party, and they shower money on him. Okay, you show me a single instance in any district in the United States last cycle where any House candidate in a contested primary against an incumbent was handed a bunch of money by the party - either directly or bundled. No dice.

Hurst is bluffing - badly.

Frankly, DelBene could at least make the argument that an EMILY's List mailing would raise her about $100k in a short period of time, which is better than Hurst is going to do from any one source.
26
Tired:

(1) I don't live in West Seattle and (2) judging from your posts here, I'll match my political analysis of the 8th CD against yours any time.

27
Wow, Ivan, that's all you've got? No substantive analysis? No comment on whether Chris Hurst can, in fact, beat $300k in 24 hours with 2 phone calls? No response regarding his anti-Hispanic racism? No analysis of whether he could beat DelBene in a primary? No substantive discussion of whether one of your other favored candidates could?

It's fine to come out and say that DelBene hasn't pandered enough to the Democratic party yet to expect party support - and that you're a party support guy. And it's perfectly fine to say that you'll take your current elected Democrats regardless of their flaws, in fine yellow dog Democrat tradition. But let's at least be honest about what the state of things is.
28
Listen, Bub, I don't know how much money Chris Hurst can raise, and neither do you. I haven't seen any evidence that Chris is an anti-Hispanic racist, except for your unsupported assertion that it is so. Who the hell are you that I should believe something like that?

It's May 2009 and the election is in November 2010. That's being perfectly honest about the state of things.

Quit bothering me with your crap. Keep pimping a candidate who can't even be bothered to vote.

All I have heard from DelBene supporters is how much money she has raised and what a great campaign team she has recruited.

She has 18 months to show Democrats that there's more than that, and that they should bother working for her.

Darcy Burner did more poorly in the southern part of the 8th in 2008 than she had done in 2006. What evidence is there that DelBene would do any better there?

There's none. You got nothing, and so does your candidate. Unless she has video of Reichert fucking a sheep, she couldn't beat him with an AK-47. So quit bothering me.


29
First, allow me to reiterate: DelBene is not my candidate, she is the only candidate opposing Reichert right now. If someone else is willing to outwork her, terrific. More choices for us voters.

Second, you seem to be opposed to DelBene because you don't feel she can win the district. Obviously any candidate running will need to figure out where they get the votes from - though a vote is a vote is a vote, they're not geographically weighted. If she can get the Republicans in Medina to vote for her and give her the margin she needs, great.

And, by the way, the race can also be LOST by a candidate in any part of the district. I'd wager Hurst would get far fewer votes in Bellevue and Medina than DelBene, or Tom, or Hunter. His appearance will not play so well with affluent soccer moms (especially in comparison to Reichert); it's not clear to me how he gets the Microsofties who pervade the northern part of the district to vote for him when they'll think he's, well, a muppet. How does he win if he loses those votes?

As to racism, when an elected official in their communications with their constituents blames "Hispanics" for the ills of the district and the state, as Chris Hurst has done, that's racist. Perhaps that sort of racism plays well where he lives, but it won't play so well in many of the other parts of the district. And while you're welcome to be in denial that it is and will be a problem for him, it's easy pickings for anyone running against him in a primary or general. Ask him to send you his district newsletters since 2006; I'm sure he'd be happy to oblige you.

Ultimately, as someone who actually gets a vote in the race in question, I'd be happy to send DelBene to Congress. I'd be happy to send Rodney Tom to Congress. I'd love to have a chance to choose between them in a primary. But I found it offensive to read an article that whacked DelBene in ways that it would not have she were a he, and I found Chris Hurst's comments absurd. He is all hat, no cattle, and while I don't think he actually has the guts to run, I'd almost love to see it happen just to watch his annhiliation.
30
It's clear.

The last thing we need is an experienced politician.

Look at the mess our state is in. Look at the mess our country is in. Look at the mess our county is in.

About time a smart business person decided to do what's right and run.

Out with the politically experienced! In with those who can make good decisions! Self-financing? Great...not beholden to anyone.

31
Rodney Tom, indeed. Everybody knows you can't trust anyone with two first names.

Please wait...

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