Dave Reichert

Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is facing a political headwind from the breath of Boeing here in Washington state, according to a report from Politico.com's Jeanne Cummings.

She cites the relative success of Dino Rossi (R-Sammamish) in his race to unseat Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire, and Rep. Dave Reichert's (R-Auburn) ability to keep his race a tossup in the 8th Congressional District.

Both Republicans have held polling leads during the campaign, although their opponents are currently on top. 

Similar races across the country have been riding a strong wave behind Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to lean Democratic.

McCain has taken many legislative stands against Boeing, and has even mentioned them during presidential debates this fall.

Dave Reichert's campaign is up with a television ad called "Harvard Hoax", its fourth of the campaign season, looking to capitalize on the issue of Darcy Burner's questionable college economics degree.

"Darcy Burner had a problem," the narrator says in the ad, "no experience, no record, no credentials, so she made them up."

The ad then shows a clip of Burner speaking at a recent debate saying, "I loved economics so much I got a degree in it from Harvard."

Burner's actual degree was in computer science with a concentration in economics.

Getty Images Photo

Mitt Romney

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, a top contender for the Republican nomination for president this year, sent out an e-mail on behalf of Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Auburn) Friday, asking supporters to contribute to Reichert's campaign.

"I have to admit, it is good to be on the campaign trail again," Romney says in the e-mail. "I have never been one to sit around, and I cannot do so when there are conservative leaders like Dave Reichert that need our assistance."

Romney was a popular candidate here in Washington, where he earned 15 percent of the vote in the state's caucuses and 16 percent of the vote in the presidential primary despite having already dropped out of the race.

Darcy Burner's campaign released a new ad in response to this spot from the National Republican Congressional Campaign on behalf of Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Auburn) that accused her of being a tax raiser. The ad replaced some previous spots they had running in air time they had already purchased.

Burner's ad repeats her plan to give the middle class a $4,000 tax cut and to remove tax breaks for companies that outsource jobs.

The ad also says "all Reichert has left is tired political attacks" and again seeks to tie him to a congress.org rating that puts him at 401st most effective in the U.S. House, as well as to George W. Bush.

8th Congressional District challenger Darcy Burner has raised more money than any other Democratic U.S. House challenger in the entire country, according to a report by Congressional Quarterly.

Burner, who has raised $3.2 million this cycle, comes in 4th overall behind three Republicans. But considering two of them are largely self-financed, Burner is technically the second best funded challenger in the United States.

She is 7th overall in terms of cash on hand, with $771,000.

8th Congressional District candidate Darcy Burner (D-Carnation) loaned her campaign $140,000 on Friday, just days after releasing 3rd quarter campaign finance data showing that she had raised $1.2 million for the period, more than double her opponent, Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Auburn).

The campaign insists that it was not due to a shortage in funding, but was simply a cash flow issue having to do with strategy.

"The loan was in response to a major television buy that we saw on Friday by Congresman Reichert," Burner spokesperson Sandeep Kaushik told PolitickerWA.com. "We needed to move quickly and it is something that will be repaid in the next few days."

Two new internal polls commissioned by Democrats show 8th Congressional District challenger Darcy Burner (D-Carnation) leading her opponent, Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Auburn).

Yesterday's Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee poll gave Burner a five point lead, 45-40, while an internal poll paid for by Burner's campaign will show her up by seven, 47-40, when it is released later today.

The Burner poll was done by Lake Research from a sample of 500 8th District voters. The same poll showed Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) leading Republican Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) by about twenty points among voters in the 8th.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee went on the air this weekend with an ad on behalf of 8th District congressional candidate Darcy Burner.

The ad, called "Wrong for the Job", suggests Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Auburn) should not be in Congress because he voted with Bush's  party leadership 88 percent of the time in his first year in office, 2005, and says he "rubber stamps" Bush's economic policies.

Reichert has been an outspoken supporter of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, but recently broke with the president on the Wall Street bailout.

His campaign responded to the ad with a memo and a video explaining their disputes with the ad's facts and premise, notably saying that Congressional Quarterly has reported that he has only agreed with Bush 49 percent of the time.

Today the Seattle Times endorsed Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Auburn) for Congress in the 8th District, and in doing so spent most of their time talking about Darcy Burner (D-Carnation).

The editorial opens with kind words for Reichert's opponent, "Darcy Burner has improved considerably in her two years of studying and campaigning for an Eastside seat in Congress, but not enough to replace incumbent Dave Reichert."

But they go on to say "she has yet to prove she is best prepared to represent a district that is both urban and rural, complicated and demanding."

The Seattle P-I endorsed Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Auburn) in his 8th Congressional District race against Darcy Burner (D-Carnation).

The endorsement comes as somewhat of a surprise, since the paper backed Burner in 2006. They say Reichert has "grown" as a congressman, especially in the last two years, and suggest that it is an important move to keep a moderate Republican in office within an increasingly partisan environment.

"As a Republican of moderation," the P-I editorial board says, "he is an endangered species worth preserving."