| THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

Larsen has a huge campaign war chest - more than $1 million - compared to Bart's $37,077, according to their most recent contribution filings with the Federal Election Commission. Those filings are up to date through the end of July.

The congressman is framing himself as a "local guy with a record of accomplishments," having sat on some of the House's most important committees. He helped bring a new U.S. Veterans Administration clinic to Mount Vernon, recently was endorsed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and helped keep Alcoa Intalco Works, west of Ferndale, open.

Bart is trying to focus on Congress' overall record, pointing out the extremely poor favorability rating with the public (lower than President Bush's, he points out), deriding Larsen and his colleagues for extreme partisanship and losing sight of major issues such as Social Security, Medicare and the nation's health care system.

Larsen shoots back that Bart can name the problems but doesn't seem to have many solutions.

Here are the candidates' positions on a few issues:

What is your position on the Iraq War?

Larsen: The war should be stopped and more focus needs to be placed on the real place where terrorism is likely to come from: Afghanistan. Larsen has repeatedly said that he believes that the U.S. should continue to train and equip Iraqi military forces, embed special operations forces with Iraqi military units to fight al-Qaida and provide personnel to help secure the country's borders. All other troops should be removed from the country.

"If there's going to be another attack on the U.S., heaven forbid that there would be, it would more than likely originate in the hills of Pakistan across the Afghanistan border," Larsen said. "That is so much more important now to add troops on the ground in Afghanistan to work on reconstruction and economic development as well as in Pakistan to help the new government there."

Bart: "It's time for us to get out of there," the former sheriff said. "But since we blew the country up, we need to help with reconstruction."

Bart said that the U.S. military shouldn't have a timeline set on it, but it should withdraw "in a safe manner that doesn't destabilize the country."

Two of his sons served in the Iraq War, and one told him that "we didn't know what our mission was."

In a previous interview, Bart also said no to timelines and yes to withdrawing in the "right way."

"We went to war because of terrorists and the threat they posed," Bart said in a previous interview. "We need to be vigilant to protect our people in this land and I think that's what we went to war for."

Do you support drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge?

Bart: We need to drill all sources of domestic oil to get away from foreign sources, he said. Yes, he supports drilling in ANWR.

"We need to explore and once it's discovered, get as much assets as we can." He also believes the country needs to diversify its fuel sources, and Congress should mandate higher mileage cars and have manufacturers work on more electric and hydrogen cars.

Larsen: No to drilling in ANWR. The congressman pointed out that the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska, which is just west of ANWR, has been shown by the U.S. Geological Survey to have more oil underneath it.

"If people are truly concerned about drilling in Alaska and wanting to get oil and gas out of Alaska then they would be advocating for drilling in the NPR-A," he said. "Some of the infrastructure is already in place and there are some leases being let out. We can expedite those." He also called for ridding the country of its dependence on foreign oil and working on other fuel sources and technology.

ABOUT THE CANDIDATES

RICK LARSEN

Age: 43

Family: Wife, Tiia; sons Robert and Per.

Education: Bachelor's degree in political science, Pacific Lutheran University; master's in public administration, University of Minnesota.

Experience: Former Snohomish County councilman, U.S. House of Representatives since 2000.

Web site: www.ricklarsen.org

Campaign contributions: $1,078,859 as of last Federal Election Commission filing on July 30, 2008.

Expenditures: $628,286, according to the same FEC report.

Major endorsements: Veterans of Foreign Wars, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Washington State Labor Council AFL-CIO, Sierra Club, Law Enforcement Administrators of Washington, Washington Patrol Troopers Association, Washington Council of Police Chiefs and Sheriffs.

RICK BART

Age: 60

Family: Wife, Wendy; five grown children; six grandchildren.

Education: Associate's degree in law enforcement, Shoreline Community College; Bachelor's degree in criminal justice, Seattle University.

Experience: Former Snohomish County Sheriff, 1995-2008.

Web site: www.electrickbart.com

Campaign contributions: $37,077 as of last Federal Election Commission filing on July 30, 2008.

Expenditures: $35,313, according to the same FEC report.

Major endorsements: Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo, Island County Sheriff Mark Brown.

Reach SAM TAYLOR at sam.taylor@bellinghamherald.com or call 715-2263. Read his Politics Blog at TheBellinghamHerald.com/blogs.

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