Federal help boosts vulnerable Democrats

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Sep 23, 3:33 AM EDT
Federal help boosts vulnerable Democrats
By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- It's been a tough year for Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, one of dozens of Democrats facing a tight race to win re-election this fall.

So when President Barack Obama's top transportation official, Secretary Ray LaHood, went to Seattle this month to tout the $30 million in federal grant money the administration was delivering to help unclog a notoriously snarled interchange downtown, it seemed like a major boon arriving at a critical time.

"We would not be standing here today if it weren't for your courageous representatives in Congress," LaHood, a former Illinois Republican congressman, said during an event largely devoted to praising Murray.

Her opponent, Republican businessman Dino Rossi, has dismissed the stimulus law that created the grant program as a failure that hasn't produced jobs.



Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DEMOCRATS_PERKS_OF_POWER?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[24601]

1. And who says we don't have federal campaign funding? n/t