Parties stop by to say hi to the dry side

Sometimes voters in Eastern Wash- ington can feel like the appendix of the state’s body politic. We’re here, but nobody pays us as much attention as the other body parts unless we start causing a lot of pain.

So it is heartening that recently both major parties are making forays to the dry side of the state in an effort to show they like us, they really, really like us.

The state Democrats came to Moses Lake last weekend for a seminar on how their candidates can win in Eastern Washington by talking about messages that resonate enough to make the red counties blue. (And no, talking like Republicans was not the title of the afternoon session.)

Look for “D” candidates in next year’s election to talk more about all the deficit spending the Republican White House and Congress are engaging in, or standing up for family farms against corporate agriculture. They won’t be as likely to draw the line on environmental issues between tree-huggers and land-ruiners but between those who support using federal lands for hunting, fishing and camping (yay for ordinary folk) and those who turn public lands over to corporate interests (boo for fat cats).

They’ve got some live speakers and some on video, including the Democrats’ national chairman, Howard Dean, to rev up the troops.

This week House Republicans are embarking on a “listening tour” of Eastern Washington, with stops in Yakima, Spokane and Pasco. Only fair, since the circuit already took them to Renton, Burlington and Ridgefield.

“So often we have people come visit us in district or in Olympia during session,” House Republican Leader Richard DeBolt of Chehalis said in the press release announcing the tour. “This is a way to reciprocate those efforts and meet with people in their own areas.”

Those looking for some reciprocity from House Republicans can stop by the WSU Riverpoint South Campus, 412 E. Spokane Falls Blvd., at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Getting local

In trying to convince the 200 or so Eastern Washington Democrats in Moses Lake that they do have more than a snowball’s chance in a Hanford reactor, Democratic National Committee Chairman Dean offered an interesting measure of success.

“If we continue to support candidates who uphold Democratic values and stand up for what they believe in, we can and we will win elections, including the mayorship of Spokane,” he said.

This is interesting on a couple of levels.

First, the mayor of Spokane is a nonpartisan post, and while current occupant Jim West is a recognizable Republican after decades in the Legislature, many people can’t even name the political affiliations of his predecessors. (Some who try often get a few of them wrong.)

Second, local Democrats broke tradition in 2000 and supported mayoral candidate John Powers, who went on to win. To borrow a phrase from Dr. Phil, How’d that work for you?

That’s what we thought.

Good news (sort of)

An unusual missive arrived recently from the “No on I-330” people, claiming felicitous developments in the fight over the ballot measure that would change the state’s malpractice system. Spread the word, campaign chairwoman Barbara Frye said, that the Seattle Times is against I-330. So is the AARP, formerly called the American Association of Retired Persons.

“Momentum is on our side!” she exclaimed. But if one reads those endorsements, one discovers the newspaper and AARP aren’t just against I-330. They’re also negatory on I-336, the other initiative that also tries to change the malpractice system.

That wouldn’t be big deal except that the “No on I-330” campaign was financed by many of the same sources as the “Yes on I-336” campaign. The Washington State Trial Lawyers are the deep pockets for both, giving at last count $614,000 to the 330 “nays” and $729,000 to Citizens for Better Safer Health Care, the official name of the 336 “yeas.”

So one would expect at least some ambivalence about the direction of this perceived momentum.

Catch the candidates

With the Nov. 8 election approaching and absentee ballots already in most voters’ hands, there’s a chance you may have some questions about some people and issues on the ballot. But worry not. There still is time, and opportunity, to get those questions answered.

One way (warning: shameless plug to follow) is to go to the newspaper’s Voters Guide on its Web site, www.spokesmanreview.com/ elections/2005/.

Another is to catch reruns of the Spokane League of Women Voters forums on Cable Channel 5. The Spokane council and ballot issues will be on at 1 p.m. Tuesday; 9 a.m. Wednesday; 9 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m. Oct. 31; 8 p.m. Nov. 1; 9 p.m. Nov. 3; noon Nov. 5; and 10 a.m. Nov. 6. The county and statewide ballot issues forum will be rerun at 6 p.m. Tuesday; 9 p.m. Friday; 5 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m. Oct. 30; noon Nov. 3; 1 p.m. Nov. 5 and 1 p.m. Nov. 7.

KSPS will also air a series of interviews with Spokane City Council candidates and a discussion of ballot issues at 7 p.m. Thursday on Channel 7.