Rice: Few Talk About Talk Radio Says Area Voters Ask About Issues, Not Rumors

A talk radio whisper campaign targeting Seattle Mayor Norm Rice was having a different effect than intended as the Democratic gubernatorial hopeful toured Eastern Washington last week.

Rice, who this week begins the second half of a 39-county state campaign tour in Western Washington, openly discussed “my own personal attacks” with participants at Democratic Party functions and small gatherings across Eastern Washington.

But economic development, welfare reform and health issues - not unfounded rumors aired by talk show hosts - were on the minds of Eastern Washington voters who turned out to talk with the 53-year-old Seattle Democrat.

“More people come up to me and whisper, ‘Way to go,’ and, ‘Thank God there’s somebody who stood up to them,”’ Rice said Friday after meeting with a group of about a dozen Pend Oreille County residents. “The important thing is, my family is very happy.”

Rice held a news conference May 13 to denounce a statewide broadcast that aired unsubstantiated rumors he had been shot by his wife after he was found in bed with a male aide. The rumor, vehemently denied by Rice, was spread by a disgruntled former Seattle city employee. It could not be substantiated by news organizations, medical professionals or law enforcement agencies.

The program was aired by talkshow host Mike Siegel in Seattle and by KGA’s Richard Clear in Spokane. Siegel was suspended after the show, but Clear was supported by KGA program director Dean Allen, who said Clear had emphasized the rumors were unsubstantiated.

In the cedar-paneled Big Wheel Pizza restaurant here, Rice outlined his campaign themes of education, economic development and the environment to a receptive group of mainly senior citizens.

With only about 6,000 registered voters in the tiny county north of Spokane, “It’s not often that gubernatorial candidates spend any amount of time in small communities,” Pend Oreille County Democratic chair Helen Keane said after Rice’s hourlong visit.

“We look at what the candidate can do for us and for our county,” she said when asked about the effect the talk-radio incident may have had on Rice’s campaign.

“You have to take a look at the people taking potshots at the candidates. We tend to discount those types,” Keane said.

For Keane, it was more important that Rice talked about whether enough money is allocated for senior housing programs, such as an assisted living center she hopes will be built soon.

A day earlier, outside the Circle T Inn in Ritzville, Doug Hoffman reflected on the rumor campaign’s potential impact.

“I don’t worry about it. It doesn’t matter,” Hoffman said after Rice talked to about a dozen of his neighbors and then headed for stops at Moses Lake. “It’s like with Bill Clinton. It’s not what happened in the past. It’s what he does from today on that counts.”

“It’s inconsequential,” added his wife, Ama. The Hoffmans, who moved to Ritzville from Auburn a year ago to open an RV accessories shop, said they would probably vote for Rice.

The Rev. Sandra Sparks, pastor of the Zion Congregational United Church of Christ, said she attended the Ritzville meeting to hear what Rice had to say.

“I would come also to see any public official that comes to town,” she said.

She thought Rice would get a fair hearing from the region’s wheat farmers, who tend to “look at both sides of the issues.”

As for the effect of the radio smear campaign: “We’re not so dumb in the little towns that we believe everything we hear.”