A Hardball Strategy for taking on Dave Reichert

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By Joel Connelly

In politics as in war, the surprise preemptive strike carries great weight: The latest target is the gubernatorial campaign of ex-U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert.

The Bob Ferguson campaign and Washington State Democrats are churning out releases and ads seeking to define the affable former King County Sheriff as a MAGA mouthpiece. They have tracked Reichert appearances before conservative Republican audiences and harvested quotes likely to turn off progressive voters in Puget Sound population centers.

The strategy tracks with President Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, which spent a summer defining GOP challenger Mitt Romney. The 2022 Patty Murray reelection, which was on TV in early summer with spots depicting GOP challenger Tiffany Smiley as a right-to-lifer who would back nationwide restrictions of abortion rights.

With Reichert, the rollout is a late winter speech to Douglas County Republicans. “I love Donald Trump’s policies,” he told them. “I worked with Trump for two years when I was in Congress. I met with him in the Oval Office. His nickname for me was ‘Sheeiff’ and we have a good relationship. I think he and I can work together.”

https://www.postalley.org/2024/06/08/a-hardball-strategy-for-taking-on-dave-reichert/