Spin control: GOP talks down to its rural constituency

Washington Republicans have banked on maximizing the vote in the rural and eastern parts of the state for years as a way of offsetting Democratic turnout in Puget Sound cities.

Last week, however, they issued a warning that suggested some of their rural constituents don’t know very much about the daily workings of the world around them.

At a press conference at SeaTac Airport, a group of high-ranking GOP officials and former officeholders advised voters who live on rural mail routes not to put their ballots in the mailbox for pickup on Tuesday. The envelopes might not get postmarked by that night and miss the deadline, they said.

Mail early is truly good advice for everyone, whether the ballot is going into a box on a rural route, or into a red-white-and-blue small neighborhood pickup box for the U.S. Postal Service.

And maybe the recent émigrés from the cities to the exurbs of Pugetopolis don’t understand how rural delivery works, but it’s a good bet that folks who’ve spent years on farms, ranches and orchards around the state know exactly what the time frame for their mail is.

Big bucks

This may be an interesting milestone or a dubious distinction. Decide for yourself.

The state Public Disclosure Commission announced Friday that $5 million has been spent in Washington by independent campaign groups. That’s separate from the millions spent by the candidates and the political parties.

Last week, spending on independent ads averaged just below $200,000 per day.

And while some independent ads highlight the best qualities of a person a group wants to support, far more of them are the type of heavy-handed attacks that make even the candidates shudder.

Making nice

How long after months of wallowing in the twin Ns of negativity and nastiness, one might wonder, how long after Tuesday’s election will it be before Republicans and Democrats can sit down together and break bread?

Apparently just a few days. The Washington News Council has a benefit dinner on Saturday with a bipartisan “roast” on the program. The council has invited current and retired officeholders and politicos of all stripes to poke fun at former Sen. Slade Gorton, a Republican, and former House Speaker Tom Foley, a Democrat.

The gig has been set up for months, but a recent heart problem has sidelined Foley and his doctors won’t let him travel back from Washington, D.C. So Gorton will face a panel of would-be Rodney Dangerfields on his own.

(Note to roasters: Do not call John Kerry for tips on joke delivery.)

In Spokane last week for a GOP rally, Gorton was clearly not relishing the prospect. He suspects the roasters will let Foley-in-absentia off fairly easy, with best wishes for a speedy recovery, and turn their guns on him. But there is one consolation in these things, Gorton was reminded: The target of all these witticisms gets the last word.

Information on tickets is available by calling (206) 262-9793 or at the council’s Web site, www.wanewscouncil.org

Catch the candidates

Forums and debates are over, except for the ones that are being re-run on Spokane’s Cable Channel 5, and many candidates are limiting their appearances to waving campaign signs on street corners. When the first ballots are counted on Election Night, many Republican candidates in the Spokane area will be watching returns at the Davenport Hotel while many Democrats will be at China Best restaurant in downtown Spokane.

Monday: 7 a.m., Rep. Cathy McMorris and Republican Senate candidate Mike McGavick waving to motorists on the Division Street Bridge.

11:30 a.m. Sen. Maria Cantwell, other Democratic candidates, at a rally at the Carpenters Hall, 127 E. Augusta.