I am a "blue-collar military brat turned geek soccer mom" running for Congress in WA-08 in 2008 after a narrow loss in 2006. I am a practical progressive: people who work hard and play by the rules deserve a fair chance.
Since the United States invaded Iraq five years ago this week, nearly 4,000 American troops have lost their lives, and nearly thirty thousand more have suffered serious injuries, while as many as a million Iraqis may now be dead. We have already spent more than $500 billion, and the costs of the war to the U.S. economy are expected to ultimately exceed $3 trillion.
There is still no end in sight. And the war goes on endlessly at a time the U.S. economy is slipping into a very serious financial crisis, and hundreds of thousands of American families risk losing their homes to foreclosure.
For five years we've asked our leaders in Washington D.C., how are you going to end the war in Iraq? How do we bring our troops home? How do we redirect the hundreds of billions of dollars being spent on the war to solving our problems here at home? And how do we prevent the mistakes that led to this fiasco from happening again in the future?
They told us we would have to be in our seats by 4, but the place is filled with people milling about, schmoozing with each other like the long-lost vague acquaintances many of them are. The CNN announcer is trying to get people to settle in. (And he encourages us to use the bathrooms, if we haven’t already. It feels a bit like kindergarten.) I’m not sure anyone is really listening.
By the time President Bush left town on Monday, I knew that we had changed the way politics works. For that, I thank you.
First, the netroots parried the advantage that Republicans get when bringing the President to town for a fundraiser: more than 3200 people chipped in to raise more than $120,000 for my campaign. (Wow.)
One of the recent contributions was $5 from an 87-year-old woman who lives in my district, with a note saying that it was all she could afford but that she wanted me to "Give ‘em hell!" I know many of you were struggling to figure out how much you could afford, and sacrificed to help me. Thank you. For her, and for you, I promise I’ll give you everything I’ve got.
As many of you know, I am running for Congress again in Washington's 8th CD against Dave Reichert. Last fall I lost to Reichert by 2.9% after the Republicans put $6 million into defeating me and brought President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Karl Rove and Laura Bush into campaign for my opponent. We also learned this spring about what else the Republicans did, after the House Committee on Oversight and Government reform began investigating the slide shows that Rove's assistant, Scott Jennings, gave at the General Services Administration and other government agencies.
We learned that my campaign was Karl Rove's TOP target for last minute voter contact calls over the last days of the campaign. His operation made 585,164 calls into the 8th, 41,166 on Election Day. No other District in the nation received more calls than WA-08.
Never before in my lifetime has America so urgently needed new leadership to take it in a new direction. The ideals enshrined in our nation's foundingtexts - freedom, liberty, equality, opportunity - or, the timeless values that have made our democracy a role model for other peoples throughout the world, have either been ignored or forgotten by those currently in power.
But there is hope: a revolution has already begun which is challenging the grip of the current administration and its allies on our country. This people-driven, populist movement is built on the most democratic medium for communication ever invented: the Internet.
The Internet has lowered the barrier to political participation and allowed a new civic dialogue to flourish.
It's time for new leadership to take America in a new direction.
My experience as a mother and a businesswoman tells me that the country is currently headed in the wrong direction -- and that together, we can change it. We must take back our country - starting with the House of Representatives in November.
Like you, I am doing everything I can to win back the House this year. I've given up my career, all my time and energy, and much of my life's savings to this task - because I know that we can win.
But the Republicans won't give up their power easily. They are vulnerable here in Washington State, where I'm fighting them - so they're sending President Bush across the country to my district, WA-08, to raise half a million dollars in one morning (tomorrow morning) for my opponent, Dave Reichert.
They know that control of the House is likely to hinge on a handful of seats in November, and they will do whatever they can to keep us from winning them.
One of the critical issues that all Democrats will face in the 2006 elections is the assertion that they are too soft on national security issues. It will certainly be an issue in my race, where I am running for Washington's 8th Congressional District against an incumbent, Dave Reichert, who is a former sheriff, and whose entire message last cycle consisted of "I will protect you."
I think that we spend a lot of time allowing the Republicans to ask the wrong questions, and then we attack their answers when we shouldn't cede them the questions in the first place.
They are asking the question: "Are we tough enough to finish what we've started in Iraq?"
The question that needs to be asked is: "Are we safer than we were on September 11, 2001?"
Don't cede them the question. Ask the right one, and then answer it.
The 9/11 Commission gave us a thoughtful bipartisan blueprint for how we could make ourselves safer by learning from what happened on September 11. We have failed - and a large part of that failure rests on the shoulders of my Republican opponent, Dave Reichert.
I spent Saturday morning doorbelling in drizzle, so Saturday afternoon I embraced the chance to get warm and dry for a few hours listening to Congressman Jay Inslee answering questions from his constituents at a coffee just over the border between my district and his. (Congressman Inslee represents Washington's 1st Congressional District)
About two hundred people had shown up for the occasion - one of three such coffees he was doing in his district that day. He answered questions covering a broad spectrum of issues and viewpoints, but one question in particular stood out for me: "If President Bush decided to invade Iran, could Congress stop him?"
Could Congress, indeed? President Bush has amply demonstrated he believes there are no limits to his power. The current Republican-controlled House and the Senate have not stood in his way.
And the independence of the judicial branch, our last resort, is endangered with the confirmation of Chief Justice John Roberts and the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court.
Over a week ago, I attended a fundraiser with our leader in the House, Nancy Pelosi, and she noted to the assembled crowd a couple of facts which are extremely important to how we approach taking back our government.
The first fact is this: we need only 15 incremental seats to control the House of Representatives.
Those 15 seats change everything about the dynamic of the federal government; they allow us to stop the right-wing machine that's destroying every semblance of effective and fair government in this country.
The second fact is that every list of 15 seats we can take includes Washington's 8th Congressional District (now represented by GOP Rep. Dave Reichert).
Those two facts are of interest very broadly: even if you don't live in Washington's 8th, you can affect the outcome of the race, and it's of critical national importance.
They are, in addition, of particular interest to me, because I am running for that seat and because I have empirical data now that shows that it is possible for me to win it.
