1. The Seattle Times ran a story this week that pointed out a noteworthy discrepancy: The Democratic Party establishment's early coronation of Suzan DelBene as their preferred candidate in the 1st Congressional District vs. her lackluster showing so far in the race against four other Democrats. It's a good point: DelBene's situation reminds FIzz of Mitt Romney circa February 2012.
However, Fizz does have to point out that the article ended with some misleading quotes about DelBene. The Times, comparing DelBene's underwhelming public appeal to rival Democrat Darcy Burner's better polling numbers, gave the micorophone to UW political science prof and pollster Matt Barreto. And they quoted him at length.
Her low-profile campaign thus far mirrors her 2010 campaign, when she waited until after the August primary to introduce herself to voters. Matt Barreto, University of Washington political science professor and director of The Washington Poll, calls that "one of the worst managed campaigns I've ever seen."
That campaign was the time for DelBene to make herself into a "household name" as Burner did in her campaigns against Reichert. Voters have to not only know your back story — they also have to like you, Barreto said.
"People won't vote for you if they can't make a connection with you," he said. "I've always been troubled by DelBene's ability to catch hold."
Huh?
Here are the stats comparing Burner's most recent run to DelBene's:
In 2008 Burner lost (for the second time) to U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA, 8 ) 47.2 to 52.7. (You'll remember, with Obama at the top of the ticket, 2008 was a very good year for Democrats.)
In 2010, a terrible year for Democrats, DelBene bested Burner's score against Reichert, coming in with 47.95 to Reichart's 52.05.
2. Republican gubernatorial candidate Attorney General Rob McKenna, posted some impressive numbers in his first full month back on the fundraising circuit (McKenna was not allowed to raise money while the legislature was in session).
In the month of May McKenna took in $1.1 million, bringing his total raised (he's been running for exactly a year now) to $5.8 million with $3.2 million cash on hand.
Inslee's May numbers are not posted yet. At last count he was at $5.3 million raised with $3 million on hand.
3. Mayoral tryouts at this morning's big Climate Solutions breakfast at the Westin? Former King County Executive Ron Sims and former Deputy Mayor (under Paul Schell) Maud Daudon both spoke. (Daudon is the acting director at the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce.)
Fizz isn't sure that Mayor Mike McGinn (who's on vacation this week, so wasn't at the annual see-and-be seen political breakfast) has much to worry about from this pair, though both have been mentioned as possible candidates in 2013.
During the environmental non-profit's breakfast, Sims talked about LeBron James' big game last night in the NBA playoffs, eventually drawing a comparison between his comittment to winning and Climate Solutions, which played a role in phasing out Centralia's coal-fired power plant this year.
Daudon simply introduced the main speaker, EPA head Lisa Jackson.
Funny moment for Jackson: An attempt to win over the local crowd backfired when she put a Starbucks cup on the podium, then realized it was paper and so not reusable.
