One item we forgot to mention this morning.
Rep. George Nethercutt, R-Spokane, flew around the state yesterday accusing his opponent Sen. Patty Murray of voting to raise taxes a bunch of times.
But what's interesting is this buried nugget from Jim Brunner:
"Nethercutt's plane had a near-collision with another aircraft while flying into the Vancouver, Wash., airport yesterday, his staff said. The congressman and three aides were flying in a Cessna 441 when a smaller plane zoomed by and nearly hit them. The Cessna pilot swerved to avoid the oncoming aircraft. Nethercutt's aides said the planes were close enough that they could see that the other aircraft's pilot had sandy blond hair and wore a black shirt. 'It was pretty scary,' said Josh Holmes, a Nethercutt policy adviser on the trip."
Brunner had this to add:
"There is some irony here -- Tom Mason, Nethercutt's campaign manager, had managed Norm Coleman's Senate bid in Minnesota in 2002. Coleman, you may recall, is the Republican who won after Sen. Paul Wellstone died in a plane crash.
As for Patty Murray -- she doesn't do charter flights, said her campaign spokeswoman Alex Glass. 'She flies commercial. She’s very strict about that,' Glass said.
Noting the death of Wellstone and former Democratic Gov. Mel Carnahan, who died in a plane crash as he ran against John Ashcroft for the Senate in 2000, Glass said: 'It seems to be a Democratic trend.'"
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