Antsy parties look ahead to ‘06 Senate race
While most of us are focused on Nov. 8 and its many ballot measures and local candidates, the state Republicans and Democrats can’t seem to wait for 2006. In the last week, each state party has sharpened its knives and done a little carving on the other’s candidates for the coming U.S. Senate race.
The Dems jumped on Republican Senate wannabe Mike McGavick within a few hours of his “official” announcement of candidacy. And no, it wasn’t a “Welcome to the race, Mike. May the best candidate win” sort of statement.
Democratic Chairman Paul Berendt tried to link McGavick to the week’s headlines involving the problems for the Bush administration, saying he probably wanted to get the announcement out before Karl Rove was kicked out of the White House: “It’s ironic that McGavick talked today about the need for a different kind of leadership as he goes forward as part of the scandal-rocked GOP team.”
Not to be outdone, Republicans teed off on Sen. Maria Cantwell, who’ll be seeking re-election next year against whoever wins the GOP primary. Chairman Chris Vance was gleeful about a Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorial that called for Cantwell and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton to take a strong stand against the war.
Vance accused Cantwell, who voted for the Iraq war and every military spending bill since, of trying to “shore up her liberal activist base” by signing a letter to Bush to change the course of the war.
OK, but back when the vote on the war was taken, seems like the state GOP was excoriating Sen. Patty Murray for voting no, and pointing out that Cantwell had done the proper thing and voted yes. Now they’re making reference to editorials calling for her to change her mind?
It’s going to be a long 53 weeks.
We’re No. 1 (or No. 20)
Washington state was named the best in the nation for the way it makes candidates report their campaign spending and keeps track of it. The Campaign Disclosure Project looked at all the states that do those things and gave the Washington Public Disclosure Commission top marks on all categories in its survey.
It got an A- overall and ranked No. 1 in the survey.
Idaho got a C, and a ranking of 20, with high praise for a usable Web site, and middling grades on its rules for who has to report what, and when. It was dragged down for not offering the candidates the option of filing electronically, which makes the data available much quicker.
In the mail
Hoping to sway the undecided voters on whether to keep or jettison the state’s new gas tax, Mainstream Republicans has weighed in with a mailing to about 215,000 of the state’s “perfect voters,” who haven’t yet cast ballots.
That’s perfect as in “you voted in four of the last four elections,” not perfect as in “you always mark your ballot the way I like.”
Some $85,000 in campaign mailers will go out to all absentee voters who haven’t yet mailed their ballots, plus those who vote at poll sites, said Alex Hays, executive director of the group.
“We figured if you voted early, likely you had your mind made up,” Hays said. Those holding on to their ballots might still be swayable.
The mailers suggest folks vote no, which would have the effect of keeping the gas tax in place.
Yes, it’s confusing. But voters are all adults who can figure it out.
Letting George do it
Looking tanned and rested, former Congressman George Nethercutt was in Spokane on Friday for an announcement that he’s linking up with local law firm Paine Hamblen Coffin Brooke & Miller. He’ll be “of counsel” with an office available when he’s in Spokane, and someone for the local firm to call when a client needs his help or expertise in the other Washington.
How rested is he? Nethercutt, now a lobbyist and lawyer in the nation’s capital, said his blood pressure is down significantly from his days in the House and on the Senate campaign trail. It was never so bad that he had to take hypertension medicine, but it had been steadily creeping up, he said.
He also shows up occasionally on Fox News, commenting on national political events. He gets that gig, he said, because his D.C. office is a floor up from the Fox studios, so they sometimes call and say “Can you come down? We need someone to talk about …”
Candidate reminder
Today is Oct. 30, which is Halloween eve – or the eve of the eve of All Hallows, for you sticklers. But whatever you want to call it, this is also a good time for candidates and their supporters to take the yard signs out of their lawns, and put them somewhere safe for the next 48 hours.
The close proximity of Election Day to Halloween is unfortunate, but it is an annual fact of life. Leaving campaign signs out when sugar-infused pranksters are looking for targets is just asking for trouble.