A look at the 3rd Congressional money situation.

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A fascinating report came out showing the strengths and weaknesses in terms of fund raising, the "mother's milk of politics," of those candidates running for the now abandoned seat of the WA03 for Congress.

That report was the most recent fund raiser results, which included the last Q of 2009. The numbers are from opensecrets.org.

It's no surprise that Denny Heck has taken the early and substantial lead in these numbers: he dropped a cool $100G of his own cash into the pot to get things rolling.

Like most in the party of class warfare, little is made of their personal wealth. There is little doubt that Heck will put together the biggest bankroll for this race, mostly because he not only can do that; but hell, the man is even capable of getting a state governor to violate the letter, if not the spirit and intent of the law prohibiting her from raising money or using government facilities to campaign for someone else during session.

It's got to be cool to have a governor in your pocket.

So, Heck has put together an impressive $215G...but an amount not quite so impressive when you realize that almost half of it came from one source: the candidate. Heck's fund raising base is an eclectic group, if by eclectic you mean lawyers, consultants and those high up in Washington State Government. They provided, by far, most of his donated cash.

Of particular note in Heck's fundraising realm is Strategies 360, a nice little band that has, through Ron Dotzauer (Of "Boinking Ms. Cantwell" fame) successfully enabled David Barnett to buy an election using money illegally laundered through Progressive Majority for Steve "I'll take it in unmarked bills" Stuart, our most senior county commissioner. Dotzhauer and those connected to him have dropped a paltry $14,000 or so of the $115G Heck has actually raised, all by themselves.

Nothing quite like that one stop shopping!

Next up is David Castillo, leading Republican candidate who was one of 3 slogging along in the trenches before the Queen of Opportunism jumped into the race... and his hard work shows with almost twice as much as his nearest competitor on the "R" side.... at $104G

The Republican Empty Suit, Jaime Herrera has struggled to raise money, when one considers she's the rough equivalent of a wind up toy: Stuff a key in her back, aim her in whatever direction you want, turn the key and the rest takes care of itself.

Normally, a $55G quarter would be rather impressive... until you see that the money in question comes primarily from a whole EIGHT donors.

Then?

Not so much.

Here's a hint, Jaime. When they hand you a list of pre-greased donors? Especially those who've never heard of you?

Make sure you dial "1" BEFORE the area code.... OK?

Jon Russell continues to fade. Herrera's opportunism cost Russell any chance he may have delusional felt he had... and now she's gonna suck all the money out of his room like a turbo-charged Hoover.

Jon's showing $28G, total, proving than his fundraising skills are on par with his political skills.... thus capping off an around $12G quarter.

Deb Wallace, according to the Columbian, has reported $23,000, but I can't find that on the FEC site.

The biggest surprise was the abysmal report submitted by democrat State Sen. Craig "we balanced this budget on the backs of the poor and the powerless, so I'm voting for it" Pridemore.

Because Pridemore has gerrymandered tax districts; rabidly supports the massive waste of billions of dollars known as the bridge and loot rail, and his special-favor for his buddy Steve "cold hard Barnett cash" Stuart, so he could keep $50,000 or so in campaign contributions for a bill Pridemore was running back in what.... 05; he has no chance, anyway. In fact, he and Deb Wallace are "dead men walking" because of their idiotic bridge shenanigans... their political corpses just haven't got the memo.

Pridemore's less than stellar $8,569 SHOULD be sending him a message.

David Hedrick checks in, almost matching the fund raising prowess of Pridemore with $7,216. That's not a bad number for a political neophyte in this kind of climate.

Local illegal alien cheerleader Maria Rodriguez-Salazar won't raise cab fare and is wasting every ones time acting like a candidate... a candidate who has, apparently, yet to even file FEC paperwork.

Is it early? Of course it is. And, unless you're a highly placed democrat, unaffected by the Obama recession, it will be increasingly difficult to find donors with disposable cash to play... thus adding politics to the list of the "Sports of Kings."

Heck will be difficult to beat on the leftist side. He's got the cash and the support of the democrat infrastructure, plus he's unsullied (for now) by the Pridemore/Wallace bridge idiocy.

Castillo is unquestionably the most qualified, followed by my pet Cavalier Spaniel Oliver, Russell, Herrera, and lastly, Hedrick.

Do overall qualifications matter?

They should. Look what happened when we elected an empty suit for president? So, why would we compound that error again?

Meanwhile, these numbers DO count. Even those where all you have to do to get the cash is pick up a check.

Right, Jaime?

Cross posted on Jaime Herrera Watch.
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2010 is shaping up as a bloodbath for the left: Dem recruits continue to head for the exits.

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As the inevitable continues to take shape, it's becoming clearer that the result of the first year of the Obama Administration will be the wholesale political slaughter of the left.

The dutiful inability of the left to think for themselves shows in their votes on highly unpopular and now proven-to-be-failed policies that the empty suit running the show is jamming down our throats NOW, because he's been counting on the classic themes of the short-attention span of the American voter in the future; namely that he will be able to capitalize on his own increasingly dubious personal popularity while spending the next 3 years convincing the now-raped American population that it was our idea to begin with.

Of course, the now-recognized problem on the part of the so-called "Blue Dog" democrats is that they recognize that they will be the sacrificial lambs in the process.

Obama, Pelosi and Reid are selling them out.

Others looking at coming in or staying are seeing that as well. The result?

Dem recruits continue to head for exits
By Aaron Blake - 12/31/09 10:55 AM ET

Democrats have lost yet another touted recruit, this time in Kansas.

State Sen. Laura Kelly (D) just announced her withdrawal from the race to face Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.). She becomes the fifth formidable recruit to bow out in recent weeks.

“I have been forced to make a decision between honoring the pledge I made to the people in my Senate district and my firm conviction that the people of the 2nd congressional district deserve a truly independent voice in Congress," Kelly said in a statement.

“This has been a very hard decision, but it is the right one.”

Kelly joins several recent dropouts, including businessman Jack McDonald, a well-funded challenger to Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) who announced last week that he wouldn't run. The others are Ohio state Rep. Todd Book, who was running against Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio); former Tennessee Commerce and Insurance Commissioner Paula Flowers, who was running for Rep. Zach Wamp's (R-Tenn.) seat; and Solana Beach City Councilman Dave Roberts, who was running against Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.).

Both McDonald and Kelly were cited in a late October memo from DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen (Md.) that touted the committee's recruiting successes.

On top of that, Democrats have lost four incumbents in vulnerable districts to retirement recently. It has been a distinct shift, taking five seats off the map on offense and adding four on defense.

As one of the five seats in question (so far) there can be no doubt that the question here locally is this: How much will this obvious damage to the leftist brand hurt the democrats right here in the WA03?

The strongest democrat running is, by far, Denny Heck.

He's made enough money to self-fund, and he's unsullied by Wallace's waste of tens of millions of dollars on an unwanted and unneeded bridge replacement with loot rail; and Pridemore's corruption on campaign financing and gerrymandering the loot rail operations vote to exclude tens of thousands of Clark County voters who would oppose this massive waste from having a say, while not excluding any of us from paying this massive tax increase.

Crist has no chance. Fringe left isn't going to sell this year.

Salazar has no chance. She knows that; this entire process isn't a serious effort to do anything but raise her profile as chief spokesman for illegal aliens,

But Heck has a the same problem mentioned in the article: he's a democrat. And just BEING a democrat may be problematic considering the massive, generation-long damage they've done to our country in just the past year... so far.

It's the economy, stupid. And under their watch, it's tanked beyond belief.

And having a total clown as president doesn't help your mid-term election prospects at all.
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