As you may already know, Darcy Burner’s home was destroyed by fire this morning.
Some questions:
1. Is she dropping out of the race?
2. If she stays in, how will this impact the race? Does she get a “sympathy” bounce?
3. If she drops out, who’s going to run?
I’m of the opinion that Darcy wasn’t the greatest
candidate, but there may not be a credible replacements.
The Seattle Post Intelligencer reports she will take a few days off and resume campaigning. Darcy, her husband and her 5 year old son were sleeping in the house when her son was awakened by fire at 7 am. He woke up his parents and Darcy and the child evacuated. Her husband attempted to fight the fire with an extinguisher for a few minutes but very soon got out himself.
Darcy, from a distance, seems improved over last cycle. She’s outraised Reichert, spent less, and has more than a $200 K cash on hand advantage (as of 3/31). That’s pretty good for a challenger. Her leadership on the Responsible Plan places her in the top rank of challengers as far as I’m concerned. Do you know another challenger this cycle who has made the same national impact?
The longer Reichert is in congress, the weaker he gets. Reichert was the county sheriff who finally apprehended one of the “great” mass murderers in US history: the Green River Killer (convicted of 7 murders, confessed to and believed to have killed 49, says he killed 71 people). Police were warned about the killer years before they got him. Handling of the case showed persistence but was not particularly effective and police were not good at listening. I suspect that that is Reichert in a nutshell.
1. No I don’t think she’s dropping out of the race. I’m sure she has friends and family nearby who would be able to provide temporary housing as she continues her campaign. I doubt her family would persuade her not to do something she has her heart into.
Besides, she did have that house insured right?
2. This could be Darcy’s Reichert moment, the thing that defines her as a candidate. Reichert was famous for catching this killer in his state. If she (or her advisors) spin this right, her house burning down and her continued candidacy after that could define her strength as a woman who’s an underdog fighter.
3. If she drops out, I have no idea since I don’t live there. But IF she did drop out, Reichert would just cruise to another term like Jim Gerlach from PA is doing right now.
Get a grip, dude. She’s been running for this seat for, what, three years? The lady is determined, and will return to the campaign trail in a couple of days.
Why we would want someone who has out-raised an incumbent and built a strong organization to drop out is beyond me.
I noticed on Dave Reichert’s campaign website that he hasn’t made any public statement regarding his opponent’s house burning down, nor did I find any reference to any comment he made regarding this tragic incident in Washington’s newspapers.
I hope he saids something soon, because his silence kinda leads me to suspect the worst…