Dave Reichert

Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is facing a political headwind from the breath of Boeing here in Washington state, according to a report from Politico.com's Jeanne Cummings.

She cites the relative success of Dino Rossi (R-Sammamish) in his race to unseat Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire, and Rep. Dave Reichert's (R-Auburn) ability to keep his race a tossup in the 8th Congressional District.

Both Republicans have held polling leads during the campaign, although their opponents are currently on top. 

Similar races across the country have been riding a strong wave behind Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to lean Democratic.

McCain has taken many legislative stands against Boeing, and has even mentioned them during presidential debates this fall.

Dave Reichert's campaign is up with a television ad called "Harvard Hoax", its fourth of the campaign season, looking to capitalize on the issue of Darcy Burner's questionable college economics degree.

"Darcy Burner had a problem," the narrator says in the ad, "no experience, no record, no credentials, so she made them up."

The ad then shows a clip of Burner speaking at a recent debate saying, "I loved economics so much I got a degree in it from Harvard."

Burner's actual degree was in computer science with a concentration in economics.

Getty Images Photo

Mitt Romney

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, a top contender for the Republican nomination for president this year, sent out an e-mail on behalf of Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Auburn) Friday, asking supporters to contribute to Reichert's campaign.

"I have to admit, it is good to be on the campaign trail again," Romney says in the e-mail. "I have never been one to sit around, and I cannot do so when there are conservative leaders like Dave Reichert that need our assistance."

Romney was a popular candidate here in Washington, where he earned 15 percent of the vote in the state's caucuses and 16 percent of the vote in the presidential primary despite having already dropped out of the race.