WA-07

Don Moody (D-Wenatchee)When you don't have much money and you don't have the pulpit of incumbency it can be difficult to make your voice heard.  The simplest solution, for those in the underdog role, is to seek debates with one's opponent. Just ask Hillary Clinton as of February 5, 2008.

It is no different here in Washington. In the last week two Congressional challengers, Steve Beren (R-Seattle) and Don Moody (D-Wenatchee) have issued calls for a series of public debates with their opponents.

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Seattle) legal woes may be over, but his finances may have cause for concern. The AP is reporting that McDermott has paid former Rep. Boehner in full for the long-running lawsuit Boehner recently won against McDermottRep. Jim McDermott for violation of privacy relating to a phone call Seatte's Congressman leaked to the media in 1996.

But the $628,000 he paid from his campaign account leaves him with roughly fifteen hundred dollars plus whatever he raised in April for his quest to be re-elected to a tenth term in the 7th District.