This Washington
Murray Speaks at WCV Breakfast, Praises Rep. Reichert.
There was a surprise speaker at this morning's Washington Conservation Voters breakfast fundraiser—U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), who was not listed on the program.
Murray acknowledged that people were "disappointed" in the Senate for not passing climate change legislation (the house passed a cap and trade bill in 2009) and pledged to keep working "until we get it done"—calling America's "status quo oil dependent energy policy ... unacceptable and unsustainable, and it has to change."
However, she boasted about passing the Wild Sky legislation (with shoutouts to two Washington State Democrats, U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee and Rick Larsen).
Speaking of shoutouts, Murray also name-checked Republican U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert. Three times. She hyped his efforts to expand the 22,000-acre Alpine Lakes Wilderness (Reichert proposed legislation in the House to expand the wilderness area to include lowlands; Murray sponsored the companion legislation in the Senate.) "I'm proud to be working on that with Congressman Reichert," she said.
And speaking of Reichert, I ran into him on the escalator out after the breakfast. I asked him when and if there were going to be any debates between he and his Democratic challenger Suzan DelBene. (There's been some controversial back-and-forth between the two campaigns about debates, with the Reichert campaign saying Reichert's schedule had filled up by the time the DelBene camp asked for the debates, but they were still trying to work it out.)
All of which makes Reichert's response a bit odd: "I haven't been asked [to debate]," he told me.
He said "all the interest has been in the other races," naming his Democratic seatmates Reps. Adam Smith and Rick Larsen, the race for the open seat in the 3rd Congressional District, and the Murray/Rossi race. "We've gone under the radar," he said, joking, "Frankly, that's a relief."
DelBene spokesman Scott Whiteaker says the campaign "publicly challenged Congressman Reichert to debates about a month ago. Reichert’s campaign confirmed that they received our request, though they have not committed to debates." Whiteaker provided me with copies of emails from September 20th and 21st between the two campaigns showing Reichert had been asked to debate and that the two sides were discussing it.
Maybe Reichert thought I was asking whether TV stations had asked the candidates to debate?
Footnote: Reichert, who was called a "champion" by both WCV speakers and a national League of Conservation Voters speaker, has been endorsed by LCV. DelBene was not mentioned by any of the speakers at this morning's event.
Murray acknowledged that people were "disappointed" in the Senate for not passing climate change legislation (the house passed a cap and trade bill in 2009) and pledged to keep working "until we get it done"—calling America's "status quo oil dependent energy policy ... unacceptable and unsustainable, and it has to change."
However, she boasted about passing the Wild Sky legislation (with shoutouts to two Washington State Democrats, U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee and Rick Larsen).
Speaking of shoutouts, Murray also name-checked Republican U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert. Three times. She hyped his efforts to expand the 22,000-acre Alpine Lakes Wilderness (Reichert proposed legislation in the House to expand the wilderness area to include lowlands; Murray sponsored the companion legislation in the Senate.) "I'm proud to be working on that with Congressman Reichert," she said.
And speaking of Reichert, I ran into him on the escalator out after the breakfast. I asked him when and if there were going to be any debates between he and his Democratic challenger Suzan DelBene. (There's been some controversial back-and-forth between the two campaigns about debates, with the Reichert campaign saying Reichert's schedule had filled up by the time the DelBene camp asked for the debates, but they were still trying to work it out.)
All of which makes Reichert's response a bit odd: "I haven't been asked [to debate]," he told me.
He said "all the interest has been in the other races," naming his Democratic seatmates Reps. Adam Smith and Rick Larsen, the race for the open seat in the 3rd Congressional District, and the Murray/Rossi race. "We've gone under the radar," he said, joking, "Frankly, that's a relief."
DelBene spokesman Scott Whiteaker says the campaign "publicly challenged Congressman Reichert to debates about a month ago. Reichert’s campaign confirmed that they received our request, though they have not committed to debates." Whiteaker provided me with copies of emails from September 20th and 21st between the two campaigns showing Reichert had been asked to debate and that the two sides were discussing it.
Maybe Reichert thought I was asking whether TV stations had asked the candidates to debate?
Footnote: Reichert, who was called a "champion" by both WCV speakers and a national League of Conservation Voters speaker, has been endorsed by LCV. DelBene was not mentioned by any of the speakers at this morning's event.
