LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
Capital Letters |
by Hastings Wyman |
Sen. Patty Murray: Dodging the Bullet
With the U.S. Senate closely divided and the White House recruiting viable Republican contenders across the country to keep the Democrats from regaining control, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) has been high on the list of potentially vulnerable incumbents. A strong supporter of the gay communityMurray scored 100 in the last Human Rights Campaign (HRC) legislative ratingsthe two-term liberal lawmaker's defeat would be a major loss for us, especially if she were replaced by a conservative GOPer with an antigay rating. Murray, however, is looking stronger by the minute. The first good news for her re-election prospects was that Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn (R) decided not to oppose her. Had Dunn challenged Murray, she would have been a formidable foe. For starters, Dunn, as a woman, could attack Murray without looking like a bully. Moreover, Dunn's voting record on social issues is moderate. She is pro-choice and overall rates 52 percent conservative, 47 percent liberal on social issues, according to the National Journala record that would appeal to many Northwest voters. (Dunn's moderation, however, does not extend to gay issues: She only scored 17 percent with HRC.) Now the GOP's best hope is Congressman George Nethercutt, the giant-killer who knocked off Speaker of the House Tom Foley (D) in the 1994 Republican tsunami. Nethercutt looks like he's also having second thoughts about the race, but if he runs, his strong conservatism would make him a weaker candidate than Dunn would have been. Also, he's from Eastern Washington, which is a less populated part of the state. For gay voters, a Nethercutt candidacy would produce an especially clear choice: He rated a lousy zero on the HRC scorecard. This is not to say that Nethercutt would be a pushover for Murray. On the contrary, he does have a lot of name ID in the state for beating Foley and probably would have a pot full of money to mount a high-powered campaign. Nethercutt had only $82,000 on hand as of March 31hardly enough to jump-start a campaignbut he cites $12 million as the amount he would expect to raise to run against Murray. With control of the Senate in the balance, the national GOP could make sure he raises that amount. While Nethercutt is conservative, he is quirky enough to present himself as a GOP maverick. For example, he led a battle to relax trade restrictions with Cuba, essentially to help agricultural exports from his district. Moreover, he would be sure to attack Murray for her statement in December 2002 contrasting Osama bin Laden's building of schools, day-care centers, and health-care facilities in the Middle East with Americans "just being the people who are going to bomb in Iraq and go to Afghanistan." Even with 0Nethercutt's assets, however, Murray would be favoredthough not a slam dunkin a race with Nethercutt. To counter the soft-on-Osama charge, she's been working on homeland security money for the port of Seattle. Moreover, at the end of the first quarter she had a hefty $1,610,000 in her campaign kitty and knows how to get more: She served as chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, a major fundraising post. The political oddsmakers were initially calling Murray potentially vulnerable. Now they're shifting to the view that she's probably safe. Thus, this "mom in tennis shoes"as Murray dubbed herself in her first Senate campaign in 1992is likely to continue as a strong supporter of gay causes in the U.S. Senate. Hastings Wyman publishes Southern Political Report, a nonpartisan biweekly political newsletter. He can be reached care of this publication or at HWymanSPR@aol.com. |
ETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 13, No. 8, June 27, 2003. |