Patty Murray plows through half her cash

[ccharles000]

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) has plowed through more than half of her $7 million campaign war chest last month in preparation for the most competitive re-election challenge of her Senate career against Republican Dino Rossi.

The three-term senator knows she’s in for a tough race, and recent public polling shows why: A Public Policy Polling survey released Tuesday showed her barely leading Rossi, 49 percent to 46 percent. Murray also went on the air this week with a negative ad against Rossi – a sign that she will run an aggressive campaign against the two-time GOP nominee for governor.

Now Murray is spending millions to reserve air time for the fall, dropping $3.4 million in July on current and future advertising buys, according to her campaign finance reports due Aug. 2.

Murray’s campaign has also reserved a whopping $400,000 in ad time from late September through the general election on each of three of Seattle’s broadcast stations, according to sales representatives from the local NBC, CBS and ABC affiliates. A representative from the local FOX station did not return a request for information on Murray's ad buys.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/40622.html

[KT2000]

1. OK then -

I will send her a donation.

[Matariki]

2. Murray is very progressive and Rossi is a slimeball.

Hope like hell she wins.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

11. Rossi has had some dubious dealings

Dino Rossi is a Republican candidate in the primary for the U.S. Senate in Washington. He is real estate investor who previously served as a state senator and twice ran for governor of Washington.

In the 1990s, Sen. Rossi developed a relationship with one of Seattle’s biggest real estate developers, Michael Mastro. In 1997, when Sen. Rossi was serving in the state Senate, he purchased a building from Mr. Mastro. Two of Sen. Rossi’s fellow investors were Washington state lobbyists, David Ducharme and his father, Richard Ducharme. Mr. Mastro loaned the threesome $2 million to purchase the $2.5 million property. Separately, Sen. Rossi borrowed $50,000 from Mr. Mastro for the purchase, which he did not report as required on his financial disclosure forms. Mr. Mastro was also a donor to both of Sen. Rossi’s campaigns for governor. In 2008, Mr. Mastro’s multimillion dollar empire crumbled after it became apparent he had been promising untenable returns to investors.

Sen. Rossi’s relationship with the Ducharmes continued long after they sold the building they had purchased from Mr. Mastro. While still a state senator, Sen. Rossi turned to the pair once again and convinced them to invest in a bank that he had started. Sen. Rossi invested at least $75,000 of his own money in the bank and made David Ducharme CEO. In 2009, the bank came under investigation for “engage in unsafe and unsound banking practices relating to its strategic and capital planning, credit underwriting, credit administration, concentration risk management, and liquidity management.” David Ducharme is currently working to secure enough capital to appease federal regulators.

Following his defeat in the 2004 gubernatorial race, Sen. Rossi started the Forward Washington Foundation. Sen. Rossi used the foundation to pay himself $75,000 a year while traveling the state giving speeches but little else. Sen. Rossi treated the foundation much like his own campaign committee, but he didn’t have to abide by campaign contribution limits or disclosure laws. The Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) opened an investigation into the foundation but Sen. Rossi stepped down as president before the investigation was complete and declared his candidacy for governor. The Commission later ended its investigation because of insufficient evidence.

In his run for governor in 2008, Sen. Rossi was supported by the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW). The BIAW spent $6.9 million largely to promote Sen. Rossi and criticize his opponent throughout the race. A complaint filed with PDC alleged that Sen. Rossi violated state law by coordinating fundraising with the BIAW, failing to register as a candidate in a timely manner, exceeding contribution limits and failing to disclose contributions. After an investigation, the PDC eventually cleared Sen. Rossi of any wrongdoing, but its final report revealed how closely the BIAW skirted the law in promoting his candidacy. Sen. Rossi’s close relationship to the BIAW shouldn’t have come as any surprise, though; Richard Ducharme is a former lobbyist for the BIAW.

http://www.citizensforethics.org/crookedcandidates2010

[SeattleGirl]

3. I'll definitely donate to her. I do NOT want Rossi as one of my

Senators! :puke:

[Aristus]

4. I had the privilege of meeting "Fighting Patty" at a gathering

of employees of Community Health centers in Washington State. She is very nice, and very progressive. I told her she was doing a terrific job. I hope like hell she beats Do-Over Dino, handing him a three-peat loss. Maybe he'll get his loser ass out of politics for good...

[SeattleGirl]

5. Absolutely!

Plus, she is one of the best at fighting for veterans. I doubt Do-Over would do anything like she has for them.

[Norrin Radd]

6. Will that guy ever go away?

He's like a post-apocalyptic cockroach.

[Ramulux]

7. How is this a story?

Apparently being smart enough to reserve prime air-time ahead of time is a sign of weakness.

[marlakay]

8. I voted for her today in the primary

we vote by mail in my county.

I can't think why anyone would want Rossi...he is such a two faced liar. When I first moved here I donated to the recount for the gov against him, and was glad she beat his buns. I live in a semi-red area so I do see his signs around but hopefully Seattlites get out to vote.

[karynnj]

9. Wow - the title of this is very deceptive

It makes it seem that she has already spent half her money on current things - yet when read, she simply has bought late September air time with a significant amount of the money.

[saltpoint]

10. Rossi is bad news.

Go, Patty.