United States Representative Congressional District No 8

This is one of the “close” House elections nation wide. So my vote may actually make a difference here. It is a rematch of a race two years ago. The incumbent is Republican Dave Reichert. The challenger is Democrat Darcy Burner.

I am honestly very very tempted to assume an Obama victory, and then in the interest of having as divided a government as possible (which I generally think is better) voting Republican for the House, regardless of the actual candidate and their positions on things. I think having a healthy strong opposition is important. I don’t like it when one party controls the Presidency and both houses of Congress. That looks pretty much inevitable though. But maybe keeping a Republican in this seat would at least reduce the Democratic margin by one, whihc might help just a little bit. Maybe.

I am tempted by the argument above. But I also fundamentally believe that it is counter-productive to make electoral decisions on meta-arguments about the state of the whole government. I believe you should for the most part ignore party affiliations and just look at the people running for office themselves as well as the positions they hold on issues. And you should vote for the person who on an individual basis you would most like to see in office.

I saw Darcy Burner at various events over the course of this year. I have heard her stump speech. At first I rather liked her. But then on a number of things she got a bit too partisan for me. She was a bit too dogmatic. She didn’t seem to give even a nod to the concerns and viewpoints of those who disagreed with her. She was right and they were wrong. It was that simple. I did not like that. (Of course, they were Democratic Party events full of partisans, so I should probably make allowance for that.)

On the other hand, I really do not know much about Reichert other than what is in his candidate statement and what is on his website. I found nothing horribly objectionable, but nothing to call him out either. And there is one thing in specific I’d be looking for in order to vote for a Republican for Congress. I’d want to see him ignoring party lines and showing active criticism of the Bush administration for the extensive executive overreach it has conducted over the past eight years. I would want to see them defending the rights and prerogatives of the congress vs the executive. I would want to see them defending the rights of the people against the power of the government. I have seen none of that. (Example of a Republican who has done all of the above and whom I would support… Ron Paul.)

Therefore, despite the fact that she annoyed me a bit, I think Darcy Burner is a closer match to my own positions and will better represent me in Congress. Plus, I think she is a geek. And that is a good thing. (OK, a Microsoft geek, which isn’t quite as good, but still.)

So my vote:

Darcy Burner (Prefers Democratic Party)