Group shows more arrogance

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has blundered back into Washington politics, this time by supporting the Republican State Leadership Committee, which has opened fire on Deborah Senn, Democratic candidate for Washington attorney general.

Some lessons apparently do not get learned.

The national Chamber got a black eye in September when last-minute disclosures revealed its Institute for Legal Reform plowed $1.5 million into ads ahead of the Democratic primary that attacked Senn’s record during her eight years as Washington’s insurance commissioner. The Chamber had tried to hide behind a front called the Voters Education Committee to conceal the source of the anti-Senn ads. The state Public Disclosure Commission, to its great credit, flushed out the Chamber.

Senn won the nomination anyway, maybe with the help of a little backlash to revelations the Chamber had become involved.

The Association of Washington Business and several local chambers of commerce, notably Spokane’s, sent a letter to U.S. Chamber President Tom Donahue after the primary criticizing the decision to run the anti-Senn ads without consulting with Washington officials, or even clueing them in to what was going on.

“Washingtonians don’t like surprises or what they perceive as outside interference,” the Sept. 16 letter said. “Unfortunately, that is what has happened with this ill-advised ad campaign.”

Unfortunately, Donohue did not get the message.

On Oct. 1, he responded with a letter not only defending the ads and the research behind them, but maintaining Washington law does not require the Voter Education Committee to register or disclose its contributors.

“We will aggressively continue our efforts to inform the public of key issues that affect states’ legal environments,” he wrote.

If so, why not be up front about it? Donohue might just as well have said “arrogantly continue.”

And the meddling does not stop with the Senn race.

The Spokane Chamber’s executive committee last week voted to respond to Donohue with its own letter objecting to, at minimum, his tone. Also, the U.S. Chamber has used the local chamber’s mailing list to send out an endorsement of Republican Rep. George Nethercutt in his Senate race against Democratic incumbent Patty Murray. The same list may also have been used to send out a similar endorsement of Republican Cathy McMorris in her race against Democrat Don Barbieri for the 5th District House seat Nethercutt is vacating. That would be a violation of Chamber policy.

Spokane Chamber President Rich Hadley says members are allowed to buy the list for one-time mailings. He says the mailings have upset committee members because the U.S. Chamber interjected itself into the two political races without advising the state or local affiliates.

The local Chamber, he adds, does not endorse political candidates. Because Barbieri is a former chairman of the Spokane Chamber, the U.S. Chamber’s interference in the 5th District race has angered many members. At least one says he will resign unless the local Chamber repudiates the U.S. Chamber mailing.

AWB President Don Brunell co-chairs the state association of U.S. Chamber members. He says the association plans to meet with national officials after next month’s election because other states share Washington’s unhappiness with the chamber’s new proclivity for action on the state level without letting anybody know what’s up.

“There’s some big issues we have to talk about in terms of our future relations,” Brunell says. “The degree to which we can eliminate surprises would be good.

“We want to make sure that what happened in Washington does not happen elsewhere.”

He says he hopes to arrange a separate meeting at which Washington Chamber officials can make the same points with their counterparts from Washington, D.C.

But by then, most of the election winners will be known. If the U.S. Chamber finds its backdoor activity has been effective, the state and local officials are not likely to get much of a hearing.