With the end of Q2 comes buzzer-beating fundraising outreach

With the end of June rapidly approaching, and with it the time limit for reporting monthly (for state offices) and second quarterly (for congressional races) fundraising figures, candidates across the state have appealed to their supporters for a last-minute surge in contributions to beef up their prospects for the coming home stretch.

On Wednesday night Governor Chris Gregoire sent out an e-mail to supporters asking for $50,000 by month's end. Her letter doubles to show up her new radio ad, and with it the campaign theme that Democrats are being attacked on two fronts, both by the Republican Party and their "special interest lobbyist" backers.

"Not only are we fighting the attacks of our Republican opponents," Gregoire says in the e-mail, "we are fighting the attacks of their special interest lobbyists who are trying to ‘swift boat' us every chance they get.  Karl Rove mastered these dirty politics, and Republicans are using them against Barack Obama and in our state.

"My Republican opponent's top supporter is the BIAW.  As KING5 TV reported, the BIAW is ‘...Olympia's most powerful special interest lobbying group,' and has launched a $500,000 blitz of attack ads that distort my record."

The quoted KING 5 line she mentions, should be noted is an oft-stated Democratic talking point about the BIAW. Gregoire also mentions the effect campaign contributions have had on their field operation, citing 62,000 new voters the campaign has spoken to since they opened up earlier this month.

Finally, she adds, "Please make a donation today.  Whether $10 or $100, every dollar you give will help keep our ad on the air and help us fight the BIAW's attacks."

On the congressional front, two Democratic challengers are also making appeals, but with a different incentive. Darcy Burner (D-Carnation) and George Fearing (D-Richland) have videos that highlight the hard work their campaigns are doing in the 8th and 4th Congressional Districts, respectively.

Burner's video, called "Why I Support Darcy Burner" shows volunteers, interns and staff explaining why they like Burner. Their answers revolve around policies like women's right to choose, acting on global warming, and creating a better economy for the middle class. And Burner, like Gregoire, talks about how past financial and volunteer support has helped with voter outreach.

Along with it Burner has a goal of $30,000 by the end of the quarter. So far she has outraised her opponent, Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Auburn), by a count of $1,397,000 to $1,371,000.

Her spokesman Sandeep Kaushik told PolitickerWA.com that the reason for the video's theme was to give some credit to the people in the background.

"Darcy's campaign is fueled by thousands of small dollar donors, and, equally important, relies on hundreds of dedicated grassroots volunteers willing to give generously of their time and energy in order to end the status quo politics of Washington, D.C.," Kaushik said. "They truly are the backbone of this campaign and we wanted to highlight their contributions -- without them this effort would not be where it is today."

Fearing's video focuses purely on the candidate. Called "A day at the phones..." it shows Fearing introducing himself repeatedly to 4th District voters by using a mnemonic device to help remember his name, "the English word Fearing".

He emphasizes that he outraised his opponent, Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Pasco), in the first quarter and predicted that he would need help to reach a goal of $1,000,000. So far Fearing had raised $102,000.