Democrat Darcy Burner began running a TV ad last week that doesn't include any mention or picture of Congressman Dave Reichert or, even more surprising, President George Bush.

Burner's campaign has been a classic example of nationalizing a race. She and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee have worked hard to convince voter that Reichert's ties to Bush and Republican leaders are, as Burner pollster Celinda Lake put it, "disqualifiers."

But that's only step one. Burner also has to sell herself as a viable replacement for Reichert. I think that's particularly true given that she has no previous political experience and entered this race as an unknown.

The Burner campaign knows that of course. Campaign manager Zach Silk told me recently:

"We had a two step task: convince voters they don't want to rehire Reichert because he is demonstrably supportive of the President's failed policies and then offer Darcy as a credible, positive alternative. We feel very good about our execution on step one, now we are focused on step two.

...

"The onus is on us to close with a strong message
that makes Darcy an affirmative alternative."

The campaign hopes this commercial does that:

There's no secret to this strategy. But nationalizing an election only goes so far. In May, Lake said voters were in the mood for "independents who represent their voice." But without a strong sales job by Democrats, that independent could be Reichert, who had positioned himself well.

For Reichert, then, the campaign was about comparing his qualifications and experience to Burner's. He wanted to put the tightest focus possible on the two candidates — think "My Dinner with Andre" — as opposed to the Democrats' wide-lens approach of making every race about the national landscape.

That point couldn't be any clearer than in Reichert's current ad: The job interview.

KUOW's Deborah Wang did a piece on the Reichert/Burner race. She interviewed me and asked if Reichert were an "icon." I answered:

"I would say he's far from an icon but that is clearly what he wants to be. He wants to be the sheriff. He wants people to elect him, it seems, much more because of his time in the sheriff's office as opposed to his two years in Congress."

Someone from the Reichert camp asked me about the quote and whether I really thought that was true. I do. (However, I must add that it's an interesting experience to be interviewed and to read your quotes. It'd be good for all reporters to be on the other side like that once in a while.)

Reichert's reliance on his time as sheriff goes beyond using it to show he's qualified. It's a way of life and a way of thinking for Reichert. It's the Tao of Dave.

It's how he learned to get along with Democrats:

"I've been a cop for 33 years, and I've faced people pointing guns at me. I've had to talk a guy out of shooting me. He had a shotgun stuck in my gut, and for 40 minutes I sat and talked him out of pulling the trigger. So when you sit on the floor of the House and you talk to somebody who gets upset about an issue, I can pretty much talk through that stuff and work it out. They are not going to pull a gun on me, at least I hope not (laughs) on the floor of the House."

It shaped how he looks at issues in Congress:

"As a former cop, I approach each issue as an investigator, gathering all of the information available to me and then taking the position that is right and that makes the most sense for the people here."

And it affects how he looks at the Iraq war:

"The mistake we made in getting into Iraq was inaccurate intelligence. I know a little about collecting intelligence in my previous life. I also know a little bit about collecting intelligence when it relates to taking action. I was the SWAT commander, on the SWAT team."

Reichert has used his background successfully in the campaign. On KING-TV he said something along the lines of, "I'm here as the sheriff." That struck me at the time as a misstep. I thought he should have said someting about being there as the congressman for the 8th District.

Watching Burner compete on the credentials front has me rethinking that. Clearly her campaign recognizes the tricky business of knocking down an icon. As Silk told me:

"I'm not naive. We are trying to make history here. And we're running against a universally recognized political figure with a well-established identity separate from Congress."