Friends - Please see this clip from KING TV 5 Seattle for a look at Tuesday night's strong showing by John Koster and the disappointing result for incumbent Rick Larsen, who thus far has been held to less than 43 percent of the vote.
Arlington, WA - August 17, 2010 - Tonight, John Koster commented on his primary election victory:
Our country is heading in the wrong direction, and tonight's results clearly show that the people of the 2nd District want to reverse the radical policies of Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Rick Larsen!
Tonight was the first step in giving the people of the 2nd District the representation they deserve.
Let me tell you what this election is all about. There is a clear difference between Rick Larsen and myself. Ten years ago Rick Larsen and I debated what to do with the budget surplus. Ten years later, Congress didn't even bother to pass a budget. We are now faced with double-digit unemployment, out of control wasteful spending, massive deficits, and a national debt that seems insurmountable.
Arlington, WA - August 14, 2010 - The Koster for Congress campaign, rich in volunteers and support from working families, announced it's grassroots leadership team today. John Koster applauded their efforts leading up to the (August 17) primary election. Koster, who is seeking to replace incumbent Congressman Rick Larsen, said that he "could not be more pleased with the outpouring of support for the campaign. Our grassroots army has marched in the parades, made thousands of phone calls, knocked on thousands of doors, and installed Koster for Congress signs from one end of the district to the other."
"It is an honor to be the one to carry the banner and represent the values of so many wonderful people in this incredibly important congressional race. We have high hopes for a strong showing in next Tuesday's primary election, and if we get there, it will be due in large part to the commitment and stellar efforts of our grassroots leadership team."
Arlington, WA- August 6, 2010 - New jobless numbers were released today and the much ballyhooed "summer of economic recovery" has fizzled, rather than sizzled.
The country's unemployment rate now stands at 9.5% and over 130,000 more jobs were lost in July.
John Koster, candidate for Congress in Washington's 2nd District, reacted to the new numbers today with the following statement:
"The stimulus has failed to stimulate and the Democrat controlled Congress keeps making empty promises of better days ahead. Until Congress breaks their addiction to spending, this situation is not going to improve. It's time for new leadership. Congress has not gotten the job done and it is now time for the American people to tell them that they're 'fired'.
Arlington, WA - August 3, 2010 - In a year when entrenched incumbents are doing everything possible to divert attention from their dismal voting records, Rick Larsen's shameless attack video posted today sets a new low. Utilizing video footage and still photos gathered from various locations (some in Washington, some from out of state), Larsen attempts to link Koster and Tea Party patriots to everything from the Confederate Army to the BP oil spill.
Conveniently forgetting that he is the only candidate in the race to receive money from BP, and never mind that he himself attended a recent Bellingham Tea Party forum, Larsen appears to be digging deep for ways to implement the old "Big Lie" propaganda technique, where one impudently lies in contradiction to the plain facts.
Utilizing one distortion after another, the photos of confederate flags sprinkled throughout the 2 minute farce are particularly deceitful. One photo shows Koster supporters at a 4th of July parade in Arlington standing next to a civil war reenactment troop carrying battle flags that was positioned next in line to the Koster Team. Another photo was taken at the Everett 4th of July parade where the Confederate flag appeared as part of a historical American flag display by one of the state legislative candidates. While Koster signs may have appeared in the Everett Parade, the Koster Campaign did not even have an entry in that parade.
The most offensive segment of the Larsen video shows a political cartoon with a derogatory depiction of a Tea Party person as a "Tea Bagger" and a Klu Klux Klansman dangling a helpless President Obama in a noose.
"For this kind of trash to surface this early in the campaign, one has to wonder just how deep Rick Larsen will sink to retain power," said John Koster. "Rick has not only insulted me, but an important constituency of solid citizens in the 2nd Congressional District. We would demand an apology from Larsen if we didn't believe it would fall on deaf ears. Larsen lost his common sense several years ago when he became a rubber stamp for Nancy Pelosi. Now it appears he has lost his civility as well."
