Eastside Rumble 2: Reichert v. Burner

It's an election year, which means it's time again for Democrats in this part of Western Washington to get all excited about the opportunity to flip the 8th Congressional District into our column. That's right. For the next few months, we will be told to believe that the Eastside district's trend toward a more liberal stance will be completed this year and that this time, Microsoft Millionaire Darcy Burner will actually beat Rep. Dave "I'm the sheriff that caught the Green River Killer single-handedly" Reichert.

To kick off this exciting repeat horse race, today we bring you news of Reichert's lack of power and influence in the other Washington, courtesy of Horse's Ass:

Reichert has climbed all the way up to 401st. That’s better than 34 other congressmen, some of whom aren’t even dead, retired, indicted or behind bars. Congratulations Dave. Another 18 years of attrition and you might actually discover some real influence.

Not only is Reichert ranked 401 out of 435 members of the House of Representatives, he moved up in the rankings from last year, when he was 419th. That's good news since when he got there in '05, he was 165th. Goldy at Horse's Ass thinks it has to with his love of earmarks: He had 36 last year year for a total of $27 million. Only 26 members of Congress had higher earmark rankings than Reichert.

We know it's only her second attempt trying to unseat Reichert so we shouldn't be too catty, but when running against a powerless incompetent like that, we wonder why Burner wasn't able to win on her first try. Maybe the new responsible plan to get us out of Iraq she and nine other Democratic challengers are announcing live on the Web today will help tip the scales in her favor, finally.

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By Charles Redell in News on March 17, 2008 11:30 AM

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Daniel K

I don't see why you have to have such a snarky tone. No one would have guessed that a complete unknown could come within 7000 votes of defeating "The Sheriff" back in 2006.

Darcy Burner is a far more seasoned candidate this time around and Reichert's task to maintain his seat is considerably tougher for it, and the fact this presidential election year will certainly benefit the Democratic candidate more than the Republican.

But feel free to chime in with more examples of Reichert's incompetence, and maybe you might also consider how such a man could get elected in the first place. Perhaps it had something to do with a lack of scrutiny by the media regarding his role in the Green River Killer case, his running of the Sheriff's office, or his congressional voting record.