Campaign ‘97

What’s in a name?

Every year it’s a struggle for campaign organizations to come up with clever names to catch the voters’ attention without confusing the heck out of them. This year’s no exception … Folks opposed to Initiative 676, which would require safety training for gun owners and trigger locks, call themselves Washington Citizens Against Regulatory Excess, which they shorten to WeCARE. OK, they cheated on the acronym a little, because there’s no “e” anywhere in front of Citizens, but it’s still pretty good … Their adversaries, the supporters of the initiative, are Washington Citizens for Handgun Safety, which doesn’t make for much of an acronym, so they went the slogan and typography route with Safetyfirst … Someone probably spent lots of time thinking up an acronym for the folks opposed to Initiative 677, which would guarantee employment and housing rights for homosexuals in many instances. They call themselves No Official Preferential Employment - which is NOPE … That initiative is sponsored by Hands Off Washington, which doesn’t usually go by the acronym HOW.

Web site of the week

We’re back with places for Internet wanderers to find information about the campaigns and elections. This week’s inaugural site is strictly nonpartisan, the secretary of state’s online Voters Guide, with information on the eight state ballot measures … It can be found at www.wa.gov/se/vote97.htm.

Those without a computer can check out the guides on kiosks located in malls, libraries and other locations around the state sometime in mid-September. Or wait for the mail carrier to bring it in mid-October.

Catch the candidates

Wednesday: Spokane mayor and council candidates at the Soroptimist International of Spokane forum. 7 p.m., Pend Oreille Room, Shiloh Inn, 923 E. 3rd.

Campaign Calendar

Sept. 9: Candidates required to file campaign finance reports.

Sept. 15: Last day for write-in candidates to file declarations; last day to request an absentee ballot.

Sept. 16: Primary election.

, DataTimes MEMO: Campaign ‘97, published Sundays during the election season, is compiled by Jim Camden from staff reports. Information about candidate forums and appearances can be sent to The Spokesman-Review, Box 2160, Spokane, 99210; faxed to 509-459-5482; or e-mailed to jimc@spokesman.com

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled by Jim Camden from staff reports