Public Periscope
After the vet vote
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and one of her GOP rivals, U.S. Rep. Linda Smith, are assiduously courting the veteran vote by aggressively criticizing each other’s votes. Both appeared at a Tacoma forum last month, promising to do everything they can to help veterans. They’ve been sniping at each other ever since … Smith’s campaign sent out a press release criticizing Murray’s vote for the federal highway bill, which passed Congress and awaits President Clinton’s signature. The bill got some of its money by taking $3 billion from veterans health programs. That’s not supporting veterans, said Smith, who voted no on the plan … Murray soon faxed out a press release - coincidentally, we’re sure, because it came from her Senate office which is not connected to the campaign - explaining how she was introducing legislation to get that money restored, through an amendment to the tobacco settlement Congress is considering. Then the attack dogs at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee sent out a notice that back in 1995, Smith voted against adding $213 million for medical programs in the VA.
A little research shows that Murray fought shifting money from veterans to roads while the transportation bill was being debated. And the amendment Smith voted against in ‘95 was moot, because the House later decided against adding the money. So both sides could maybe chill?
The idea is dress down, not smell up
As council members gathered for a recent briefing session, Mayor John Talbott mentioned he had removed his tie because it was “Dress Down for Kids Week.” The annual fund-raising event, sponsored by the Chase Youth Commission, encourages businesses to let their employees loosen up for a $3 fee … Councilwoman Phyllis Holmes said she’d forgotten about the event. At that point, her only option was to take off her shoes. “And soon, everybody will know it,” she said with a laugh.
Art smarts
A recent study by the Spokane Arts Commission and the Spokane Area Chamber Arts Committee proves there is more to the arts than meets the eyes … Arts pad the community’s pocket, too. The study found that the direct economic impact from the arts community in 1997 was $21 million. The indirect impact was $61 million.
Political trivia 101
Last week’s entry of a Reform Party candidate into the U.S. Senate race - the party’s Spokane County chairman and former City Council candidate Steve Thompson - raises a couple of trivia questions for political junkies. All center around the Reform Party’s status as a major party, which it earned in 1996 courtesy of Ross Perot’s showing in the presidential race … Major parties get perks, like a guarantee that their candidates get slots on the primary and general election ballots. Minor party candidates have to hold a convention to get on the primary ballot and receive a minimum number of votes to move on to the general. Most years, only Republicans and Democrats qualify as major parties … But not always. Presidential candidates sometimes head a ticket and capture enough votes in November to get their party into the big league. Who was the last? George Wallace, running on the American Party ticket in 1968, met that threshold; before that, Robert LaFollette for the Progressive Party in 1924.
The harder challenge for a party is getting enough votes - current law says that’s 5 percent of those cast - the next time there’s a statewide general election. That’s what the Reformists are trying to do with Thompson … What party did that last? The Populist Party, in 1892, which collected 22 percent of the vote for presidential candidate James Weaver and fielded candidates that allowed it to keep its status until the turn of the century.