Attack ads offer, receive criticism

Washington’s Supreme Court races are drawing national attention, and not the good kind. Two national groups issued a joint statement late last week, basically denouncing the hit pieces that independent groups are airing in a couple contests.

“Attack ads seek to pressure courts to answer to special interests instead of the law and the constitution,” said Bert Brandenburg, executive director of Justice at Stake, which issued the statement with another nonpartisan group, the Brennan Center.

The groups are calling for the candidates to denounce the ads “as contrary to the value of fairness they stand for as potential judges.”

Yeah, that’ll happen. And the candidate who was on the nasty end of the ad will say that a group pulled its ad at my opponent’s request, proving this is not an independent campaign at all.

It’s the same thing that would happen in a race for the Legislature, governor or Congress – or school board, for that matter. And some groups think judicial races are different.

A cynical observer might ask: Why should judicial races be any different?

Maybe it was serendipity

If one believes in coincidences, here was an interesting one last week in the U.S. Senate race.

On Thursday morning, Sen. Maria Cantwell joined a rally of her colleagues in Washington, D.C., and some senior citizens to protest any plans by the Bush administration to put a portion of Social Security payments into private accounts. It is, as Cantwell said earlier in the month in Spokane, too risky a proposition for the federal retirement system.

Later that day, state Democrats held a news conference and issued a report denouncing Social Security privatization and pointing out similarities between Bush proposals and statements by Cantwell’s GOP opponent, Mike McGavick.

Doesn’t sound like a coincidence to you? Us either.

Another FAQ for the primary

Question: Say I take one party’s ballot, but really, really want to vote in one of the other party’s races. Could I hypothetically vote a Democratic ballot but write in the name of one of the Republican candidates in the sheriff’s race, or vote a Republican ballot but write in one of the Democrats in the county commissioner race – not that I’d do that of course, but just suppose. Would my vote be counted for that particular candidate?

Answer: Yes and no. Yes you can do that, because you can do all manner of things with your ballot on the theory that it’s yours. But no, it won’t count. For a write-in vote to be counted, that person must register as a write-in candidate at least 24 hours before the election. And a person who is on one party’s ballot cannot register as a write-in candidate on another party’s ballot. The good news (sort of) for anyone intent on doing this is that writing in a Democrat on a Republican ballot, or vice versa, will not invalidate the rest of your ballot.

But it has the same practical effect as voting for no one in that race.

On the Web

Ever wonder about all the poll numbers floating around in the big races, like Washington’s U.S. Senate match-up?

For numbers junkies, there’s a new Web site, www.pollster.com, which allows you to look at races by state, and has a nice interactive feature to narrow or expand your focus as you track the gaps.

Catch the candidates

Today: League of Women Voters primary election forum. 10 a.m., Spokane Cable Channel 5.

Thursday: League of Women Voters primary election forum. 6 p.m., Spokane Cable Channel 5.

Saturday: League of Women Voters primary election forum. 4 p.m., Spokane Cable Channel 5.