Eyeing races for control of U.S. House

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Monday, December 12, 2005

Eyeing races for control of U.S. House

By JOEL CONNELLY
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER COLUMNIST

As his party's chief strategist for winning back the House of Representatives, Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., must evaluate whether there will be a groundswell of support for Democrats in 2006, or just a frost heave.

"We're trying to spread the field and put 40 to 50 seats in play," he said in an interview.

Even that number in the 435-member House is an ambitious goal, given how many districts are drawn to protect incumbents -- Republicans in the big states of Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

Washington state was "ground zero" -- Newt Gingrich's words -- in Congress' last major upheaval, the Republican landslide of 1994. The GOP flipped six House seats, and made Tom Foley the first House speaker since 1860 to be defeated for re-election.

The Democrats have since won back four seats in Western Washington and own a 6-3 advantage in the state's congressional delegation. But they failed in a major bid to recapture Foley's seat in 2004.

First-term GOP Rep. Dave Reichert, representing the suburban 8th District, is already on the Dems' target list for 2006. It is one of two dozen Republican-held House districts that gave a majority to Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry.

Reichert is proving to be an elusive target.

He has bucked his party leadership by opposing oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and helped block an under-the-table bid to relax limits on oil refineries and tanker traffic on Puget Sound.

A major conservation outfit, the Natural Resources Defense Council, bought ads in Seattle papers to sing Reichert's praises.

Rep. Cathy McMorris, R-Wash., elected by a 60-40 ratio in the 5th District of Eastern Washington, may also have a tussle on her hands.

The Democrats have a promising potential candidate in Peter Goldmark, an Okanogan County rancher and Washington State University regent.

Republicans may take a run at three-term Rep. Rick Larsen in the 2nd District, which stretches from Mukilteo to the Canadian border. Their candidate is Doug Roulstone, a retired Navy officer who commanded the aircraft carrier USS John Stennis.

The main action, however, is likely to be elsewhere.

Emanuel has assigned Ohio the title of "ground zero" for Democrats' bid to win the House in 2006. "They've done a gerrymander and my job is to pick the lock," he said.

Buckeye State Republicans are beset by both state and national scandals. Rep. Robert Ney, chairman of the House Administration Committee, is embroiled in the junkets-for-favors investigation revolving around former Washington, D.C., superlobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Emanuel brings a background to his post as boss of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He is a native Chicagoan, son of an Israeli immigrant -- he volunteered at an Israeli supply base in the Gulf War -- and was a top White House aide in the 1990s.

Inspiration for a character in the novel "Primary Colors," Emanuel is terse and tightly organized -- the antithesis of Bill Clinton. He is also ruthless, and has to be in deciding which races will get financial support.

Emanuel sees possibilities in our neck of the woods. Two women with backgrounds in the technology industry are central to his party's hopes.

Monica Lindeen, founder of the Montana Communications Network, is taking on Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont. Lindeen is a state legislator who hails from GOP-leaning Eastern Montana. "She has exactly the right profile," boasted Emanuel.

He also referred to "the Microsoft person." The "person" is Darcy Burner, a former lead product manager for Microsoft.NET, who has left the software giant to run full time against Reichert.

Burner has put together a war chest of more than $200,000, while the incumbent has raised more than $930,000 -- though incurring high overhead while raising it.

A second candidate, attorney Randy Gordon, is in the race. Gordon is a Harvard Law grad, workplace injury lawyer, and three-time "super lawyer" winner in the Washington Law & Politics magazine's annual competition.

Emanuel says the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee won't take sides in any 8th District primary.

He is, however, ready to dis Reichert and others labeled as "GOP moderates" in the press.

"A moderate Republican is someone who feels it is wrong to drill in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge but feels it is perfectly all right to pass a budget that cuts $14 billion from college student aid, cuts health care for 6 million children, and cuts 330,000 children off child nutrition programs," he said. "Republicans give new meaning to the words, 'Women and Children First.' "

Will Democrats be beneficiaries of a groundswell? Recent polls of Washington voters peg approval for President Bush's economic and war policies at around 30 percent -- at least 10 points below the president's national ratings.

A FOOTNOTE: The Port of Seattle knows how to care for its own and cushion a fall. Paige Miller lost a Seattle City Council race, but the outgoing port commissioner has since been sent on a farewell junket to China.

When port commissioners convene Tuesday, they'll take up a resolution to rename the Bell Harbor fountain at Pier 66 as the Paige Miller Fountain. Will it get a unanimous vote?

P-I columnist Joel Connelly can be reached at 206-448-8160 or joelconnelly@seattlepi.com.

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