2008 IS huge, Josh. Michael Grossman can still be a household name. Let's hope for a reunion.

http://www.andyfilm.com/familyties07.jpg

Only Della would touch him for some reason. Somebody knows why, and would be a reliable source, and Josh Feit, please find that person! (Hint: that reliable source will not be Mr. Grossman!)

Obviously one should take campaign litterature with a grain so salt. The one objective bit of knowledge one can gain from mailings however is the political style of the candidate. In Mr Della's case that appears to be unconstructively sleazy mudslinging. Having people like that in government renders it disfunctional, and regardless of his merits, whatever those might be, I'd never vote for him simply because his style of politics is obviously not consistent with effective government.

You guys actually read that stuff?

I recycle it without reading.

Michael Grossman wastes his time on clients like David Della because only clients like David Della will waste their honor and the dignity of their office on hiring consultants like Michael Grossman.

If you think that's dirty campaigning, you're naive. For me the gold standard of Seattle campaigning came back in 1994, when Slade Gorton beat Ron Sims in a Senate race that famously hinged on a discussion of their sweaters. Made me sick. I LIKE seeing someone with the balls to go on the attack.

If you listen to your radio, you'll hear great ads for Burgess, even one where former Mayor Charles Royer slams Della. Good stuff, probably better than a mailing, which it appears is all Della has money left for - no TV, no radio.

Will, political mailers are read diligently by women over 50, the largest and most influential voting bloc.

Will, political mailers are read diligently by women over 50, the largest and most influential voting bloc.

Are any of you going to actually show the mailer at all?

@7: Mailers are the heart of local campaign advertising. TV is too expensive; radio is difficult to target. People like Will who decided who to vote for in March are not the folks that candidates need to reach right now.

Oh, and Michael Grossman rocks.

I want me some Lee Atwater level meanness on the national level.

Shorter Stranger - negative campaigning is just awful unless we agree with you.

Burgess is effectively a Republican. Loves law and order, loves cops, loves the religious right.

Yes, more smear campaigning, which for the right wingers is a form campaigning on their behalf in itself, as the Dems live up to the right's 'sniping smear campaigners without any credibility of their own' label.

And why is it that Dems are perfectly willing to do this sort of aggressive campaigning against each other and then turn into whining defensive wimps when they run against Rethugs? Don't bring a knife to a gunfight, folks....

I actually find myself sitting out of certain election cycles just to cut my political junk-mail influx.

Josh, you are dumber than a bagful of hammers.

Grossman handled Paige Miller last time. The Stranger mocked her campaign materials. You had more hair then.

Shorter Stranger - negative campaigning is just awful unless we agree with you.

Uhhh, wasn't the point of the post that they don't agree with Della? I'll go ahead and speak for everyone when I say negative campaigning is fine as long as it's not too mean spirited or full of lies.

Kinaidos has this one. The most useful information you can glean from a political mailer is about the character of the candidate sending it. And David Della is a slimeball.

I say that from personal experience, having worked with him at United Way of King County where he was in charge of government relations. He had a terrible reputation for taking credit for other people's work. I experienced this personally when he claimed credit on his campaign web site for passing legislation for a project I was managing. He never lobbied, never made a phone on our behalf because he was already too busy with his campaign. All he did was show up in the governor's office for the signing ceremony and to glad-hand people.

We joked at United Way about the questionable morality of voting for him to get him out of our office and into public office. We were both relieved and horrified when he got elected. If there's an opposite of schadenfreude, that's how we felt about Della's move to city hall.

yeah David! I really want you to win and I'm glad to see you come out with a bang! Burgess is mean-really mean.

Plus he was out drinking with Venus and the Fire-Chief--all of whom think they're insiders and are way to cocky.

Vote for David!

Oh yeah, I am a Grossman Girl. I want him to do me when I run for office. HUSH! Not like that, although he is really, really cute. Ahem. Grossman is effective. More people around here SHOULD use him, but, since G-Man is originally from NYC, some folks don't feel a fit as quickly as they do with the others. But G-Man is a heck of a lot more effective, and not nearly as uncreative as Moxie or as sloppy as Christian. Go for Grossman. He gets my vote!

Sloppy? Ouch! What did I goof up?

I do like Michael and think he has done some innovative, if not sometimes over the top, work. The Rate Hike Heidi stuff lives on as extremely memorable and effective.

But you want sloppy? I am receiving two pieces of each Grossman-designed piece at my house since Michael apparently didn't household the data files he is using. Waste of money...