Politics Dave Meinert on Darcy Burner
Down in the forums, political gadfly Dave Meinert is raising a stink over my profile of Darcy Burner because, he says, it doesn’t contain enough information about where she stands on the issues.
And in an email to me, Meinert puts it this way:
I honestly hadn’t heard of Burner until I read the Stranger today. And even after I did, I might know enough to date her but not near enough to vote for her, and definitely not enough to actively support her.
Let’s unpack that, Dave: You say you didn’t even know about Burner until you read my piece. Well, why do you think we ran the piece? It’s nine months before the election, and a lot of people who should know about Burner (like you) don’t. Her race could help determine whether the Democrats take back Congress, but because it’s happening on the eastside it’s not getting as much attention as it otherwise might from the Seattle political scene, and we wanted to change that. Looks like we have in your case.
The piece is about 3,500 words long, and it sounds like you’d want all of those words to have been spent on an exegesis of her political statements so far. But Dave, it’s nine months before the election. People (like you) don’t even know she exists. The article does go into some of the problems with Burner’s opponent, Congressman Dave Reichert, and it does go into Burner’s political beliefs, but we also wanted to let people know who Burner is as a person, because while that might not matter to obsessed political types like you, it’s important to a lot of voters. In fact, this “sense of the candidate as a person” has a lot to do with why Reichert got elected in the first place. He had virtually no political experience, but as the tough-guy sheriff who had caught the Green River Killer he had a lot of name recognition and a ton of personal appeal.
Also, Dave, it doesn’t matter if you want to vote for Burner or not. You can’t. As a resident of Seattle, you’re outside of her district. What matters is whether you’re interested in helping her win her district (by volunteering, raising money, etc.), which could help the Democrats win control of Congress, which could dramatically change your life in Seattle.
We’re going to keep covering this race, which is the only Congressional race in this state where there’s a strong chance for a Democratic “pickup,” and there will be a lot of time over the next nine months to examine where Burner and Reichert diverge on the issues. If you want a primer, click here. And if you want to join Meinert in the bitching about my piece, well, click here.
Well said, Eli.
As you pointed out in your article, while the 8th is perceived as the eastside district (and it is), it also includes SE King and east Pierce.
Dave Ross won the eastside (and so will Burner) but he got clobbered down south.
To win this seat we need boots on the ground in Kent, Auburn, Sumner, and Puyallup.