Murray strikes again!

Democrat Patty Murray, trying to win an election against Republican Dino Rossi, sent out a piece of mail earlier this week.  The paper sent out had ballot measures and short summaries to go along with them.  Along with the ballot measures, was why you should vote for Murray instead of Rossi.  There were four sub topics and a brief summary to go with it.  The sub topics were Jobs and the Economy, Wages, Unemployment and Union Rights.

Under Jobs and the Economy for Murray it says she "successfully fought for job-creating federal funding" for schools, hospitals, military bases and roads for our state.  For Wages,  it stated Murray supports raising the minimum wage and voted against cuts in overtime pay.  The Unemployment topic says, "Murray wants to extend unemployment benefits for people who lost their income through no fault of their own."  Finally for Union Rights, "Murray sponsored the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) to restore the freedom to join unions without employer interference."

As for Rossi, it is completely different.  Rossi vows not to bring back the tax dollar back to this state and he voted to lower the minimum wage.  Rossi also voted to cut jobless benefits by $200 and also voted to completely deny benefits to the abused forced to leave their jobs in order to flee from their abusers.  As for Union Rights, Rossi voted against collective bargaining rights for state employees and is against the EFCA.

So far, while not looking into it so hard, I really haven't seen Rossi do as much as Murray.  Step it up Rossi, do something besides putting up signs and ads on Youtube.



The WA Federation of State Employees/AFSCME Council 28

First Lady For Murray

Michelle Obama visited Washington state today, in order to help campaign for Patty Murray. She spoke at two separate fundraisers raising money for Murray's tough campaign against Dino Rossi. Mrs. Obama explained that Murray's re-election is crucial for the president to accomplish his agenda in a friendly Congress.  She said, "This election isn’t just about all that we’ve accomplished these past couple of years. This election is about all that we have left to do in the months and years ahead." Michelle Obama was trying to excite and encourage voters to vote for Democrats, especially Patty Murray. This is yet another popular name endorsing Murray and trying to get Democratic voters out to polls. It will be impossible to know the exact impact of Murray getting all these endorsements. But one thing is for certain, the Democrats are trying to send all of their big players to Washington in what might be a desperate attempt to keep as many Democrats in office as possible.

Woodward, Curt. "First Lady Raises Money in Wash. for Patty Murray." The Seattle Times. 26 Oct. 2010. Web. 26 Oct. 2010. <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013256071_apwamichelleobama4thldwritethru.html>.

The Ethics of Earmarks

Seantor John McCain of Arizona, a former presidential nominee for the Republican party, has conducted a conference call-in with reporters to help fellow Republican, Dino Rossi.  Dino Rossi is running a close race against Patty Murray, a veteran Senator and fighting incumbent.  One of the main points of Rossi's campaign is showcasing Murray's use of the earmark.  An "earmark" is a special amount of money set aside for projects in a particular senator's state.  Usually, these projects benefit local, not national, interests, and are frowned upon by many.  However, Patty Murray defends her use of earmarks, saying it helps Washington state (which it does.)  Dino Rossi is opposed to the use of earmarks until after our national budget is balanced (since they can be costly.)  John McCain is very set against the use of earmarks, balanced budget or not, and his support of Dino Rossi's disdain will perhaps help Rossi win over voters.

"McCain calls in support of Dino Rossi for Wash.." News Tribune (2010): n. pag. Web. 25 Oct 2010. <http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/10/25/1395672/sen-mccain-calls-in-support-for.html>.

Gender Politics?

"And you thought gender politics were past-tense here in progressive, fair-minded Washington. This state, after all, was first in the country to simultaneously have a female governor and two female U.S. senators, so electing women to the biggest political jobs in the land is no big deal", says Joni Balter the Seattle Times editor columnist.

Well to others, it is a big deal.  Looking back to the past presidential election, I watched a T.V program were a reporter went around the city of New York asking people who they were voting for.  Well, Caucasians said McCain, and Africans said Obama.  After the reporter asked all these people who they were voting for, he asked another important question.  Why?.  About almost all of the people he asked, most of them said, "I don't know."  So this goes to show, why wouldn't women vote for Patty because she's a girl?  A woman understands how a woman feels, so of course they would use that power to draw in more votes, from the women voters.

Which would bring me to something I saw a couple days ago, "Trust."  I recently saw an ad that seemed specifically for women.  "He wants to take away women contraceptives, and emergency contraceptives, he also wants to take away a woman's right to choose and make abortion illegal."  Nothing in the ad would benefit men, therefore making me think that Murray is targeting women to win this election, because every person in this world has made a decision based on race, religion, and gender.

Like i said earlier, Caucasians said McCain, and Africans said Obama and they didn't know why they were voting for them. Same goes for Murray, targeting woman, because she knows how they feel and what it takes to get them to say "Wow, that is so true! I'm voting for her!"


http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2013214505_joni21.html?prmid=op_ed


"Trust"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrUd9rUe3M4&feature=related

Obama Targets Women Voters

In the race for the Senate between Dino Rossi and Patty Murray, both sides are looking for endorsements, as previously mentioned.  The best politician to have on your side?  The president.  President Barack Obama is on a rallying road trip, traveling to both Washington and California in an effort to win support for Democratic candidates.  Patty Murray, running neck to neck with Dino Rossi, will need such rallying cries if she wants to win the majority.  


According to a poll in September by Pew, women are more likely to vote Democrat than Republican by 3 percentage points.  Men, on the other hand, favor Republicans by 17 percentage points.  Others who lean toward the Democrats are minorities and young voters.  The bad news: these groups are less motivated to vote.  An NBC poll found that women are 11 percentage points less likely than men to vote this fall.  


So how does Obama react?  He has decided to inspire women of Seattle to take an interest in this election.  At a town hall meeting in Seattle, Obama explained, “How well women do ... will help determine how well our families are doing as a whole."  Women are now over fifty percent of U.S. college graduates, and are closing in on a majority for the U.S. workforce.  By gathering female business leaders of the area, Obama has the leverage to persuade women voters that Democrat policies have benefited them.  For example, Jody Hall, chief of "Cupcake Royale," explained how a Small Business Administration loan helped her expand her business.  What this should mean: women, vote for Patty Murray.


Grier, Peter. "Obama Targets Women Voters in Seattle."Christian Science Monitor (2010): n. pag.  Web. 21 Oct 2010. <http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Election-2010/Vox-News/2010/1021/Obama-targets-women-voters-in-Seattle-trip-with-talk-of-jobs-cupcakes>.

Clinton Endorsement

As the election is getting closer, both candidates are looking for endorsements to help get them votes in November. Patty Murray has recently got support from a few major representatives of the Democratic party, including Barrack Obama, Joe Biden, and Bill Clinton. In fact, Bill Clinton was in Everett, Wa at a political rally with Murray on Monday, October 18th. The focus of Clinton's speech involved creating jobs and decreasing the deficit. Clinton said, "I am pleading with you, folks. I'm not running for anything. I just look at the facts". Bill Clinton was trying to persuade the people that the Democrats have a history of doing a much better job with creating jobs and lowering the deficit. These two issues are a major concern in this Senate election. One of Dino Rossi's main claims is that he will do better job reducing the debt than Murray has. Clinton also simply urged voters to not stay home and go vote on election day, and to not be remember that change takes time.

I think this visit by Clinton helped Murray get votes from liberals who were losing faith in Patty Murray. Clinton said he supports her and gave the people reasons why they should continue to vote for the democrats.




Martin, Jonathan. "Bill Clinton Presses Case for Re-electing Patty Murray." The Seattle Times. Web.21 Oct. 2010. <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013196850_clinton19m.html>.

Schrader, Jordan. "Dino Rossi: Self-made Millionaire Hopes to Take Experience to D.C. - Elections."  The Olympian. 17 Oct. 2010. Web. 21 Oct. 2010. <http://www.theolympian.com/2010/10/17/1406445/missing-headline-for-17orossis.html>.

De-bate or not debate? That is the question...

Incumbent Senator Patty Murray has agreed to only two debates with Dino Rossi, her Republican challenger.  A spokesperson for Murray said more than two would not be possible, with her busy Senate schedule, yet Murray has a history of "limiting debates."  This is typical of incumbents for the House and Senate, and Murray has continued in style, with agreeing to only one debate 1998 with her challenger, Linda Smith.  However, Dino Rossi is pushing his point across to the public: "Sen. Murray is shortchanging you and the other voters of our state by denying them the chance to hear directly from her about her votes which have jeopardized the economy and put our fellow citizens out of work." 

Brunner, Jim. "Rossi accuses Murray of "shortchanging" voters on debates." Seattle Times (2010): n. pag. Web. 18 Oct 2010. <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politicsnorthwest/2012908623_rossipressesmurrayondebates.html?prmid=obinsource>.

October 14 was the first of the two debates between our Senate candidates.  The two focal points were the economy and the war in the Middle East.  Dino Rossi believes that health care and stimulus spending are destroying our economy, and he supports tax cuts for those earning $200, 000.  Patty Murray, on the other hand, feels tax cuts for the wealthy will "destabilize Social Security and halt the cleanup of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and hurt student loan and construction projects that repair dams and other infrastructure."  She supports tax cuts for those earning less than $200, 000.  As for America's military controversies, Patty Murray feels the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy should be thrown out, and that sexual orientation should not be a means for dismissal in the military.  She also supports a withdrawal timetable of our military from Iraq and Afghanistan.  Dino Rossi says he is, "waiting for a study that is under way before deciding whether gays should be allowed to serve openly in the military."  He feels that a withdrawal timetable of our armed forces will aid terrorists by allowing them to manipulate attacks pending our departure. After this first debate of the 2010 Senate race, not much has changed. Both candidates are well known around the state, and so are their position's on many topics. Critics say that there was no clear winner to this first debate. A Spokane news reporter states that this is because both candidates were, "keeping it fairly safe." With both candidates avoiding getting into the most controversial topics in whatever way they could, it places more importance on the second and final debate.

Brunt, Jonathan. "Economy the focus of Murray-Rossi debate." Spokesman Review (2010): n. pag. Web. 18 Oct 2010. http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/oct/14/economy-focus-murray-rossi-debate/.


Allen, M. (2010, Oct 15). Murray - rossi debate ends in a draw. Retrieved from http://www.kxly.com/news/25408719/detail.html 

The second debate between Rossi and Murray occurred on October 17, and focused once more on the economy.  However, other important issues were healthcare, immigration, and the ever present "earmark."  Whilst Dino Rossi contends that earmarks are wrong and mentions how cutting them would improve the economy, Patty Murray feels they are "allocations" from the federal government, and often provide solutions to local projects.  Border control politics also raised disagreements.  Rossi was vague in his answer on whether children of illegal immigrants could embark on a path to citizenship, saying instead that the United States needs, "a high fence and a tall gate."  Murray, however, feels these children should be given the opportunity for citizenship, especially if they are going to college or joining the military.  Last, but not least, the highly contended health care bill sparked a great debate among the candidates.
Rossi: "Was that the part that calls for fines for people who don’t buy health insurance, tax increases to pay for it or more bureaucrats to administer it?"
Murray: "Glad you asked," Murray replied, saying she wrote the section to expand programs for family doctors in medical schools.

Camden, Jim. "Murray, Rossi debate taxes, earmarks, stimulus." Spokesman Review (2010): n. pag. Web. 18 Oct 2010. <http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/oct/18/senate-rivals-spar-again/>.

Dino Rossi for the Senate

Dino Rossi is a member of the Republican party, and is challenging incumbent Patty Murray for the United States Senate.  In a historically liberal state like Washington, he has had great success in convincing voters he is the best choice.  Rossi served in the Washington State Senate, 5th Legislative District, from 1997 to 2003, where he  served as chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee.  While in charge, he drew acclaim for writing his bipartisan balanced budget proposal, which would reduce the deficit without raising taxes.  Although highly popular among Republicans, his run for Washington governor in both 2004 and 2008 ended in disappointment.  However, the 2004 election was a close race, as Rossi lost by only 129 votes.  In 2008, Dino Rossi ran eleven points ahead of John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, and experienced record breaking donations to his cause.  He is an experienced businessman, a graduate of Seattle University, and a successful real estate partner.  Rossi currently serves on the Board of the Special Olympics for the state of WA and as a member of the Dean's Advisory Board for the School of Business at his alma mater.  As a candidate he supports:

• Ending illegal immigration by opposing amnesty and finishing the border fence
• Expanding domestic energy resources and exploring alternative fuels
• Reduce national debt by canceling unspent bailout cash and reducing government employment
• Lower taxes to promote businesses and job creation
• Replace the recently passed healthcare bill

As a successful businessman and expert on fiscal matters, Dino Rossi poses quite a threat to incumbent Patty Murray for the U.S. Senate.

Patty Murray

Patty Murray is a member of the Democratic Party, and the party's 4th ranking member in the Senate. The 18-year incumbent is campaigning to keep her job as a Washington State Senator for a 4th term. She was also the first women to be elected as a Senator in Washington State. During Murray's time in the Senate, she hasn't produced many major pieces of legislation, but she has done a lot for Washington State. Some of her accomplishments include creating the Wild Sky Wilderness Area, and directing Federal money towards Washington's light rail, ferries, and roads. She has also helped increase border and port security in our state. Patty Murray is recognized as strong advocate for veterans across the country. Also, Murray is a strong advocate for education. Her support for education extends back to before congress when she severed on her local school board. In past campaigns, Murray has played the role as the representative for the average working family. Murray has a reputation as hard worker behind the scenes in Congress. She claims to be serving her state the best she knows how.

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