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THURSDAY, JULY 29, 2010
Didier fumbles big announcement
So, Republican Senate candidate Clint Didier hypes an "important announcement" Thurday evening on his website.

Gregoire on tunnel funding: 'It's not Seattle's money'
If Seattle ultimately decides to abandon the tunnel replacement for the Alaskan Way Viaduct, Gov. Chris Gregoire says the $2.8 billion in state money set aside to fix the aging bridge along the city's waterfront could disappear.

Schlafly: "All welfare goes to unmarried moms."
She fought the Equal Rights Amendment, campaigned against abortion, and now Phyllis Schlafly claims: "All welfare goes to unmarried moms."

Video: Dave Reichert can walk!
Patrick Gavin at Politico had some silliness with U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert. And he has the video to prove it.

Sen. Jim DeMint: I'm for Dino
A Tea Party champion in Congress, Republican Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, endorses Dino Rossi for GOP Senate nomination in Washington: DeMint is famous for wanting to make health care into President Obama's "Waterloo."

Ousted USDA employee Sherrod to sue Andrew Breitbart
From The Associated Press:

High court races, high stakes
A pair of controversial State Supreme Court judges debate their opponents. One incumbent says his judicial job is to make sure "the smallest dog can lift its leg against the largest tree."

Can Republicans' resurgence begin on Eastside?
Dan Catchpole takes a look at a state Senate race the GOP hopes will be key in its efforts to pick up seats in Olympia - the 45th Legislative District east of Seattle.

Video: Obama on 'The View'
President Obama appears on 'The View' on Thursday.

Rosen joins SKDKnickerbocker
Politico: Hilary Rosen, one of Washington's best-connected communications and political strategists, announced Thursday that she is jumping from the Brunswick Group, where she heads the Washington office, to SKDKnickerbocker.

Decision near on Waters ethics case
Politico: A House ethics subcommittee has completed its investigation into allegations of wrongdoing by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), and could announce its next steps before lawmakers leave town for the August recess Friday, according to sources familiar with the process.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 28, 2010
Soda tax repeal measure makes ballot
An initiative that seeks to eliminate new state taxes on candy, bottled water and soda will qualify for the fall ballot, the state said Wednesday.

Cantwell: Senate Republicans' middle name is "Stall"
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., takes out after Senate Republicans for holding up a $30 billion program of loans, tax relief and aid to small banks -- aimed at stimulating small business.

Godden slams McGinn's 'fear mongering' on viaduct tunnel
City Councilwoman Jean Godden has penned an editorial for Crosscut, taking Mayor Mike McGinn to task for his repeated opposition to the tunnel replacement for the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

Poll: Economic doldrums defined
Eighty-six percent of Americans tell poll that national economy is poor or very poor, and 62 percent predict the Great Recession won't end until 2011 or later.

Washington state leads way in stemming painkiller deaths
The New York Times is reporting that Washington state is apparently the first in the country to develop laws on stopping doctors from prescribing dangerously increasing doses of painkillers.

Rossi slams earmarks; Social Security bigger budget problem
Republican Senate candidate Dino Rossi has gone after his Democratic opponent, Sen. Patty Murray, hard about earmarks.

Insurers said to hurt troops' families
Politico: Giant life-insurance companies have figured out a way to hold onto death benefits owed to bereaved families, including parents and spouses of U.S. soldiers killed in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a six-month investigation appearing in the September issue of Bloomberg Markets magazine.

POLITICO Playback
Politico: POLITICO rounds up the best of last night's late-night TV.

TUESDAY, JULY 27, 2010
"BIAW twins" on state Supreme Court stand together
The Building Industry Association of Washington keeps a low profile as two of its closest friends in Olympia -- State Supreme Court Justices Jim Johnson and Richard Sanders -- hope to get reelected in the August primary.

Poll: Dems maintain edge in generic congressional matchups
From Gallup:

Rossi: Financial reforms should target Fannie and Freddie
In an interview with ABC/Washington Post's "Top Line" Tuesday, Republican Senate candidate Dino Rossi said he wanted to repeal the recently-enacted financial reform package in favor of laws that "actually protect the public and don't reduce the amount of money that small businesses have available to them."

President Obama to make first trip to state next month
President Obama will visit the Puget Sound area on Aug. 17, to tout his economic policies and boost the reelection of Sen. Patty Murray.

Rossi: Repeal Wall St. reform legislation
Republican Senate candidate Dino Rossi said Tuesday he wants to repeal recently-passed legislation that sought to provide greater oversight of Wall Street in the wake of the economic collapse.

McDonnell rallies House GOP
Politico: Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell rallied House Republicans for the midterm campaign in a meeting at the Capitol Hill Club Tuesday, likening his 2009 election as governor to the 1993 GOP wins in Virginia and New Jersey that presaged the 1994 GOP wave election.

Hoyer: Ethics process is working
Politico: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer launched a staunch defense of the congressional ethics process on Tuesday, saying that Rep. Charles Rangel's impending hearing illustrates that the ethics system is working.

MONDAY, JULY 26, 2010
House leaders squeeze Rangel
Politico: Increasingly impatient House Democratic leaders are prodding Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) to make a deal with the ethics committee before charges against him are unveiled on Thursday, top Democratic officials told POLITICO.

Obama distances himself from voters
Politico: American voters have an intimate political relationship with their president. Because he is both a kind of prime minister, running affairs of state, and a quasi-monarch, personifying the nation as ceremonial and moral chief, the president is an unusual kind of world leader. Our quadrennial vote is one of our most personal — saying as much about what we believe as any action we take.

SUNDAY, JULY 25, 2010
W.H. sends 2012 rescue team to Fla.
Politico: ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The White House has quietly launched an effort to confront the political backlash along the Gulf Coast over its handling of the BP oil spill – giving special attention to Florida, the only state in the region President Barack Obama won in 2008 and one he will need again when he runs for re-election in 2012.

SATURDAY, JULY 24, 2010
Obama, Boehner trade barbs
Politico: President Obama and House Minority Leader John Boehner traded barbs over job creation this weekend, with each saying the opposition's agenda would cost jobs and increase the budget deficit in an exchange that marked a ratcheting up of rhetoric from both sides ahead of November's midterm elections.

Tough test for 'certain justice' pledge
Politico: When the first military commission trial of Barack Obama's presidency gets under way in a few weeks at Guantanamo Bay, the man in the dock won't be the mastermind of Sept. 11 or some other capo in the Al Qaeda hierarchy.

The rise of Netroots Nation
Politico: LAS VEGAS — In five years, the annual convention of progressive bloggers known as Netroots Nation has grown to become one of the premier events on the Democratic calendar.

FRIDAY, JULY 23, 2010
Bachmann promises subpoenas
Politico: If Republicans take the House in November, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) says that "all we should do is issue subpoenas and have one hearing after another."

Rush: Fox 'caved' on Sherrod
Politico: Rush Limbaugh is blasting Fox News for its coverage of Shirley Sherrod, saying that one of the network's anchors "caved" by not showing the original misleading video fragment that led to the firing of Shirley Sherrod.

THURSDAY, JULY 22, 2010
Poll: Only 11% confident in Congress
Politico: Only 11 percent of the country has confidence in the United States Congress, making it the lowest ranked institution in a new Gallup poll.

'Post-racial' blame games
Politico: After Shirley Sherrod pulled her car over to the side of the road on Tuesday to type a Blackberry resignation for her Department of Agriculture post at the request of the Secretary Tom Vilsack, do you think she gazed angrily at the passing traffic and wondered, "Is this post-racialism?"

WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 2010
Poll: Obama approval hits low
Politico: President Barack Obama's approval rating has dropped to its lowest point yet in a new Quinnipiac University poll out Wednesday.

Tea party's Williams defends Sherrod
Politico: After getting expelled by the Tea Party Federation for his own controversial racial statements, conservative radio host Mark Williams on Wednesday said the Department of Agriculture should reinstate Shirley Sherrod.

TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2010
Manchin's in, with nod to Byrd
Politico: West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin announced Tuesday morning that he will run for the Senate seat left vacant by the death of Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd.

Dems take generic ballot lead
Politico: Democrats this week have jumped into a 6-percentage-point generic-ballot edge for November's election, according to a new Gallup poll.

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