Smells like no primary
Looks like it may be harder to "primary" Brian Baird than some people think. From The Olympian:
It would be a significant and rather earth-shaking event in the district if any current Democratic elected officials would agree to run against Baird.
It might seem strange to folks who don't know the district, but Baird has built up a pretty large contingent of supporters over the years.
While he can do some maddening things, I don't get the sense that most observers think he is doing those things out of plain, crass political motives.
Baird's kind of an oddball, in a good sort of way. I don't think he ever discarded his professor mode. He said his bit on Iraq, and caught hell for it.
He also stood there and took it.
We'll see what happens. However it works out, it's certainly been one of the most intense episodes I can recall in WA-03.
Critics of U.S. Rep. Brian Baird will have to look a little further if they think they can get someone like Krist Novoselic, former Nirvana bassist and active Democrat, to run for Congress in 2008.The rest of the article is pretty much Novoselic further singing the praises of Baird. It's a hard lesson for those who think they can find a credible candidate to challenge him. People are certainly within their rights to try, but it's a pretty uphill climb. There may be a state legislator or two who will be asked, but those folks have generally been Baird supporters as well.
“Let me put it this way: ‘No way. Brian Baird has made good decisions for the 3rd district. I was proud of his vote against the war” in 2002, Novoselic said Tuesday in a telephone interview from his Grays River home in southwest Washington.
Novoselic, who wrote a book about returning to grassroots politics and considered a run for lieutenant governor a few years ago, said a Vancouver activist approached him about taking on Baird. Word of that solicitation has circulated in Olympia, where anti-war activists are looking for someone to take on Baird after the five-term congressman expressed support for keeping U.S. troops in Iraq for a longer time.
It would be a significant and rather earth-shaking event in the district if any current Democratic elected officials would agree to run against Baird.
It might seem strange to folks who don't know the district, but Baird has built up a pretty large contingent of supporters over the years.
While he can do some maddening things, I don't get the sense that most observers think he is doing those things out of plain, crass political motives.
Baird's kind of an oddball, in a good sort of way. I don't think he ever discarded his professor mode. He said his bit on Iraq, and caught hell for it.
He also stood there and took it.
We'll see what happens. However it works out, it's certainly been one of the most intense episodes I can recall in WA-03.
