Cantwell heats up race

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, the Washington Democrat running for re-election this year, has had a good week. And it's only Tuesday.

She announced Sunday that a rival for the Democrat nomination, Mark Wilson, would drop out of the race, endorse her and come to work for her. Wilson, who has previously run for election on the Green Party and as a Democrat, had been the main alternative for the anti-war flank of the party, which has been irate with Cantwell because of her votes in support of the war in Iraq. Wilson said that he had come to terms with Cantwell's positions, knowing that she is working hard to bring troops home.

Now on the Cantwell Web site is her first television ad, which is also running on cable in all the state's media markets. You can watch it here. The spot features Sen. Cantwell's work in energy regulation, an issue I have long said will be the one that wins her re-election.

Cantwell is well-funded and she is lining up her support and her plan to re-election. One of those strategies is to continue to work hard for the people of Washington state -- working in ways that will help everyday citizens. Her recent e-mail newsletter listed this goal:

Last week I visited a center for abused and neglected children in Spokane to call for desperately-needed resources to help the many children caught up in the meth epidemic. Everyday, at childcare facilities, hospitals, homes, and raided labs all across our state, healthcare workers and first responders see firsthand the harm meth inflicts on our state’s families and children. We need to do more to give these kids a fighting chance and get them the support they need to excel. That’s why I’m pushing the Senate to pass bipartisan legislation immediately to provide $40 million in new annual funding for drug prevention, treatment, training, and counseling to help curb the effects of meth on children. We’ve already done a great deal to confront the raging meth crisis, but we’re still not doing enough to protect the drug’s most vulnerable victims. Between 2000 and 2005, meth arrests and seizures affected approximately 15,000 children in our country. Over the past decade, there has been a 62 percent increase in children entering foster care because of an increase in meth-using parents. In Spokane last year, law enforcement officials made approximately 75 arrests involving drug-endangered children, and referred approximately 125 children to Child Protective Services. In Benton and Franklin Counties, 160 of the 250 kids in foster care are there because of parental meth use. It’s strikingly clear that we need to do more to keep meth from tearing families apart. Congress needs to provide these children with help as soon as possible to help keep parental meth use from holding kids back for the rest of their lives.

Sen. Cantwell is a hard worker, and she is the right choice for another six years as a Senator from the Evergreen State. I know I'll be working hard to see she is re-elected.

-- Wenatchee, Wash.