NRSC first shot at Senator Cantwell in 2012 fizzles

Looks like the campaign for 2012 has already kicked off, in truly ludicrous fashion. The National Republican Senatorial Committee (which we won’t link to), issued a press release yesterday accusing Senator Maria Cantwell of marching lockstep with the Democratic leadership in the Senate by voting for Harry Reid as Majority Leader, and his leadership team, which includes her colleague Senator Patty Murray.

“By supporting a big-spending, tax-hiking, pro-ObamaCare liberal like Harry Reid, Senator Cantwell once again demonstrated that Washingtonians cannot trust her to represent their best interests and values in DC,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Communications Director Brian Walsh. “Cantwell’s lockstep support for her party bosses’ job-killing agenda puts her at odds with her state’s voters, and that’s why Washingtonians will no doubt elect a fiscally responsible leader as their next U.S. Senator in 2012.”

What the NRSC press release failed to note is that Republicans re-elected their leader, Senator Mitch McConnell, unanimously.

This is yet another cynical attempt by the NRSC to manufacture controversy where there is none. The truth is, when there is no challenge to the leadership, party leaders are re-elected unanimously. Did they really expect Senator Cantwell (or even members of the Republican caucus, for that matter), to not vote for the leaders who were running?

And with Senator Murray defeating Republican real estate speculator/foreclosure profiteer/professional candidate Dino Rossi handily, does the NRSC really expect that Washingtonians want Senator Cantwell to not support her colleague in her leadership position, when it brings benefits to our state? In case the NRSC hasn’t looked at the Senate roster lately, we’d like to remind them that obviously Senator Cantwell and Senator Murray have not been “at odds” with our states voters as they’ve been regularly returned to office.

As for who best represents our interests and values in the Senate, we know that the voters of our state are much more qualified than these smear merchants from the other Washington to make that determination. The NRSC's only interest, much like corporations, is padding the bottom line (in this case, adding seats to their caucus). They don't care about Washington state, they care about having a majority in the Senate.

The good news here is that the NRSC continues to produce such idiotic drivel, which serves to waste their time and resources, but really doesn’t do much else.