With the VP debate over, Biden the apparent winner, and no earthshaking Sarah Palin gaffes to speak of, attention today will turn right back to the House of Representatives, where a (second) vote on the Wall Street bailout appears imminent.

One interesting facet of the bailout debate that I haven’t had time to Slog until now involves the Democrats in the Washington State Congressional delegation. They’re split, and not in ways you might expect.

When the revised bailout bill passed the Senate on Wednesday, Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the mom-in-tennis-shoes populist, was in the majority voting yes (or yea). And Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell, who made her money in tech stocks and in general comes off as less of a main-streeter, voted no.

What gives? In a nutshell (because I’m running off to KUOW, where I think we’ll talk about this more), Murray endorsed the economic urgency theory for supporting a bill that she saw as flawed, while Cantwell dug in her heels and demanded an equity stake for taxpayers if they’re to be throwing money at failing firms.

On the House side, only one Democratic Congressman from Washington State voted against the version of the bill that went down earlier this week: Rep. Jay Inslee. He explained his thinking to me here:

It’s not that Inslee was worried about getting re-elected; he won 64% of the vote in the August primary and is expected to easily win a sixth term representing the First District, which includes well-to-do Seattle suburbs and the high-tech enclave of Redmond, home to Microsoft — an area full of people whose 401(k)s and stock holdings would likely benefit from a bailout. Inslee says that he simply felt the bill was being rushed. He describes the situation as the Bush Administration declaring, “Give me $700 billion in unmarked bills or I’ll shoot the economy in the head.”

Inslee also told me that he hopes to vote for the revised bill today—if certain conditions can be met. For a possible insight into his thought process, in the jump you’ll find a letter to Slog from an Inslee constituent who says she participated in a recent bailout conference call with the Congressman.

Dear Slog,

I was asked Thursday afternoon to participate in a conference call focus group with Jay Inslee to help him sort through his vote in the House on the bailout tomorrow. I was asked because I had sent an email before the first vote. Along with 19 other constituents, I voiced my concerns and thoughts about the economic situation we are facing.

Here are the important takeaways for me.

• Out of the total of 20 people, 2 are loosing their houses within 30 days. A third is in foreclosure.

•There were several small business owners, some of whom had been denied or limited in their use of credit this week.

•He doesn’t yet know how he will vote

•He believes that the sum total of the justification by the Fed is that ‘something must be done for psychological reasons.’

•The ‘experts’ have said that if it isn’t passed, something ‘worse’ will happen in the next few days

•He is genuinely worried.

Does it make things better or worse for me to pass these observations on to you? I don’t really know. I do know that as a participant in democracy, I have an obligation to do so. I have a deep respect for the man for taking this step to understand what is happening in the community he represents. He really wanted to know our insights. And he offered his staff’s assistance to those facing crisis.

He did a masterful job of giving everyone their say, respecting their opinions and educating us about the issues. I respect him for whatever vote he casts - he clearly is weighing all the elements and while I have an opinion, it is obviously no more correct than any other. He is making a difficult choice and I am grateful for his process.

It is remarkably disorienting to have this front seat to a crisis. May we all emerge with our spirits intact and our hearts whole.

Marit Saltrones
Bainbridge Island