Congressman Dave Reichert debated his Democratic challenger Darcy Burner last night at Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue. The forum was hosted by the Seattle Times.
Since I was not on the pad last night I did not get exact quotes. TVW will broadcast the debate tonight at 7 p.m. and streaming video should be available online afterwards and I intend to write more later on.

(Below are some rough notes I took of the evening and my thoughts and things you should look for on the broadcast.)

About 450 people jammed the auditorium. Many more showed up and were turned away at the door. The crowd was heavily in favor of Burner by almost 2 to 1 but many of those were party activists who had ridden the bus across the lake to watch.

Ultimately the debate did not change anyone's minds. At least not the people who were able to get a seat. Of the people in attendance not a single one appeared to be an undecided voter and everyone either had a Burner button or Reichert lapel sticker. The atmosphere of the room had the feel of a high school football crowd almost with individuals showing up to root for Team Elephant or Team Donkey. The analogy is apt since Team Donkey's fans traveled from Seattle, Portland and beyond to watch this road game.

During an off-year election the key to winning is to be able to turn out your party's base. Both candidates performed better than I had anticipated. Democrats and Republicans I spoke to afterwards appeared happy about how their candidate performed.

Reichert worked at showing himself as a centrist who is not only a member of the GOP majority in Congress but who represents a moderate district and who can work with Democrats on the other side of the aisle.

Burner spoke directly to her base throwing out the raw meat phrases that were meant to sate their appetites. She accused Reichert of being a "Rubberstamp" and tried to tie him to Bush. She also dredged up a scandal involving a Florida congressman 3,000 miles away. There was no effort to attract undecided Republicans to her camp.

The key moment in the debate came when nearly half of Darcy supporters heckled, jeered and laughed at Reichert when he brought up the Green River Killer and his efforts leading the task force which apprehended Gary Ridgeway. This was a mistake. Reichert countered by saying "It's not comic to the victims and their families" and he stared down the hecklers causing them wilt and shift uncomfortably in their chairs.

(One of the most bizarre aspects of this campaign has been the attempt to trash Dave on the Green River issue. "It took him 19 years just to catch a serial killer". From what I can tell this strategy began on the blogosphere but the story has been picked up by the Seattle Post Intelligencer which has credulously reported on it. I'll write on this more, hopefully, later but what these progressives who have moved to Seattle from California and New York don't realize is that Gary Ridgeway was not "just some serial killer" and is, unfortunately, almost a social phenomenon that is difficult to explain to anyone not living in this region before the 1990s.)

Burner noticeably brought up her family's history. When you watch the debate you'll see that she speaks more about the public service of her brothers, husband, father and sister. One wonders why the Democrats aren't running one of Darcy's family members instead of her. She did speak briefly about coaching a sports team and alluded to her service on the Ames Lake Community Club.

Conversely Reichert brought the topic back to his public service record over and over again. More than three decades of law enforcement, King County Sheriff, Medal of Valor winner, swat team commander, led the task force which caught the Green River Killer. As kind of a backhand blow against Burner's "military record" Reichert pointed out that of the two, he was the only Air Force veteran on the stage having served in the reserves for six years. Curiously, he did not speak about his record coaching little league sports teams...

Reichert's enemies have resorted to using the same strategy they employed unsuccessfully against President Bush accusing the congressman of being "dumb". The Sheriff outsmarted Burner a number of times with a rhetorical flourish, one-liner and a good piece of verbal jujitsu during the segment where candidates were allowed to question one another.

His best line was "At some point, Ms. Burner you are going to have to come out from behind the bushes and recognize I'm your opponent."

Reichert had meatier talking points bringing up actual votes he took and raw numbers about Social Security, education and veteran's benefits. Burner resorted to calling the incumbent a liar and accusing him of being an unthinking vote for Bush. For the most part she did not give exact examples to backup her spray and pray accusations which left her open to a number of counter attacks.

Reichert began the first 15 minutes of the debate a bit off balance. The initial hostile attitude of the crowd appeared to have the congressman out of his comfort zone. An initial question about the War in Iraq, WMDs and flawed intelligence had him on the defensive. Reichert's campaign staff will have to come up with a strategy that won't leave his supporters scratching their heads.

(Reichert has spoken with veterans and active duty soldiers who have served in Iraq. The U.S. military has succeeded in interdicting supplies and foreign fighters streaming in from Syria. The infrastructure of terrorist cells present in Iraq is being decapitated including the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Pressure needs to be placed on Iran to prevent it from destabilizing the region. Above all, the U.S. military needs to be allowed to do its job so our soldiers can come home.)

Burner's presentation would have worked well if this were only a half hour debate. But with 90 minutes of point, counterpoint the overall shallowness of her presentation showed. After initial lodgment she did not have enough rhetorical momentum to break through. Particularly lacking was any discussion of plans she wanted to accomplish for the district and the rural, suburban and urban voters living here. When you cut out barbs against President Bush, what her siblings have accomplished and conversations with "real" veterans (as opposed to fake ones?) there didn't appear to be a lot Burner brought to the table.

On a couple of occasions she did not appear to understand the questions asked of her. Debate moderator James Vesely called her on this regarding a question about tax breaks to Microsoft for research and development.

For Burner to succeed in November she will have to distance herself from the liberal establishment in Seattle and also the core of Netroots Progressive bloggers who make up her chief constituencies. She not only failed to do this on Tuesday night but she paid homage to the same bloggers, repeated their talking points and singled out the creator of the Northwest Progressive Institute for particular praise.

Something else you'll find is that Darcy supporters need to shut up and let her do the talking. This was evident throughout the debate where they kept interrupting the proceedings, much to Burner's annoyance. There's nothing that scares off moderates and conservative Democrats and energizes Republicans in the 8th C.D. more than crazy 206ers spouting off.

Odd moments of the night:

Burner has a concealed pistol license. She rather eagerly told the audience that she owned a firearm and knows how to use it. After delivering the line she admitted herself that sounded just a bit weird.

A questioner from the audience queried whether either candidate supports abolishing the Washington D.C. Page Program and the Electoral College. It was one of two issues that both candidates agreed on. The other is Net Neutrality which is the forefront issue of every voter from Redmond to Ashford.

The giant, animatronic statue of a gargoyle outside of the Meydenbauer's entrance was not put there by either party. It represents Nosferatu, the true corporeal form of a vampire. It was there to advertise the International Ballet Theatre's production of Dracula being Oct. 27-31.

The humorous:

Seattle Times associate editor Ryan Blethen asked the most articulate, nuanced and relevant questions which were burning in the minds of every Eighth Congressional District voter that evening.

Seattle PI reporter Chris McGann appeared particularly anxious to interview an audience member who actually lived in the district and who wasn't a political staffer.

"Are you a Reichert supporter? I really need to get some quotes for my story! Can I talk to you now? After the debate can you find me so I can get some quotes?"

Janet Grimley must have the cat o' nine tails waiting for any P.I. reporter who turns in their story late and without quotes.

You can't have a political event in this state without attracting Lynden LaRouche faithful. In a sighting much more rare than Sasquatch I can report that I personally witnessed a female LaRouchey who was actually attractive and good looking and didn't smell like old cabbage. I don't have photographic evidence but I've got eye witnesses.