County Republicans punt on endorsements

The state Republican Party may be headed for a rough collision with its Spokane franchise and the calendar, discussions at the county GOP convention suggest.

The state party has a relatively new rule – enacted last September – about showing support for candidates in the coming primary. To show a candidate is truly entitled to have a capital R after the name on the ballot, he or she is supposed to be able to show “significant support” from the local Republicans at the appropriate gathering.

So legislative candidates should get an endorsement from at least 25 percent of those attending their legislative district caucus, and county candidates a like amount of support from their county convention. That sounds pretty easy on paper. In practice, it may not be.

First, the Spokane County Republicans did not tell their convention delegates they would be asked to give said endorsement in the only countywide contested primary, the race for sheriff. So when the item came up at Saturday’s convention, there was a question of adequate notice because it was not on the official agenda.

But beyond that, there was a practicality issue. Under state law, candidates don’t formally file for office until the end of July. It’s only April.

“We do not have all the candidates in the field yet,” delegate Catherine O’Connell said.

Some delegates worried that flouting a party bylaw would land the county’s delegation in hot water at the coming state convention.

State laws and party bylaws are different, so they might be in conflict, others said, but the county’s representatives to the state executive board should have raised that back in September.

Faced with irreconcilable positions, the delegates did the only logical thing.

They punted.

They passed a resolution not to endorse candidates on Saturday but left open the possibility they would do it later, at another meeting, if they have to.

Watch where you reach

Spokane Republicans had no such ambivalence about another proposal surrounding the upcoming primary, the suggestion that conservatives from so-called minor parties be encouraged to run as Republicans in the primary. They could switch to another designation in the general.

The idea came to the floor as a way to expand the conservative base by reaching out to Libertarians or other smaller parties, who won’t show up on the primary ballot under the state’s new election laws and run de novo in the general.

The trial balloon landed with a thud.

“I’ve always supported Republicans who want to be Republicans,” said delegate Bill Hyslop, a former U.S. attorney. “If they don’t wish to wear the Republican label, why should they receive our support?”

Out and about

One new candidate who might have trouble getting such a formal endorsement was campaigning through downtown Spokane earlier in the week.

A few days after Vice President Dick Cheney stumped Spokane for GOP Senate candidate Mike McGavick, Tom Horne, a local engineer, was walking through town with a sign saying “Will Pander for Votes” and handing out small cards with his Web address and reasons why not to vote for either Democrat Maria Cantwell or McGavick.

Hard to determine how serious Horne is. He has no filing with the Federal Elections Commission, and presumably no money. He has a fairly long-winded Web site, appropriately named tomhorneforsenate.com. As of Saturday, it had fewer than 30 visitors.

Told them, wouldn’t listen

Despite last week’s warnings, Democrats just couldn’t resist a cake munching reference during Dick Cheney’s visit to the Davenport Hotel’s Marie Antoinette ballroom on Monday.

“McGavick and Cheney to Washington families: Let them eat cake” was the headline on the press release that day. The Bush budget cut billions for health care, education and environmental protection, the release said. “That’s a lot of cake,” said state Chairman Dwight Pelz.

As previously noted, Marie Antoinette never actually said “Let them eat cake.”

It’s a common mistake, like quoting Humphrey Bogart as saying “Play it again, Sam” in Casablanca.

Party spokesman Viet Shelton said he’d read Spin Control’s warning about bad history but found the famous misquote too tasty to pass up: “I figured conventional wisdom (i.e. pop culture) could override history this time around,” he wrote when asked about the reference.