Spin control : Even the state’s good news is apt to be campaign fodder
Forbes magazine can expect to sell a few more copies in Washington state this month, having named the state as the fifth best in the nation in which to do business, and not just because a magazine can always expect to sell some extras in a place where it delivers good news.
It’s a story that seems to have political legs, as well.
Gov. Chris Gregoire’s office was quick to send out an official “Yippee!” in the midst of a week already larded with such ain’t-business-great events as watching Boeing roll out a new jet last Sunday and plugging Washington products in Mexico for much of the rest of the week.
The official announcement led conservative Internet pundit Stefan Sharkansky in Seattle to hold forth on whether it was appropriate for Gregoire – who is, after all, a candidate for re-election in 2008 – to be sending out such a self-congratulatory press release under official seal and posting it on a state Web site.
The State Labor Council, meanwhile, said the ranking just goes to prove the business community’s years of hand-wringing over the sad state of the state’s business climate was a bunch of horse pucky.
Even in Spokane, the Forbes ranking figured into the political dialogue. Mayor Dennis Hession proclaimed it as good news for the state and the city – which is doing some of the same things lauded in the magazine – in his opening statement for a debate at the Inland Northwest Business Alliance.
Alternative states
As though we needed further evidence that Washington and Idaho are farther apart than their shared border would suggest, the Progressive States Network rates the two states at opposite ends of their spectrum for this year’s legislative sessions.
Washington is one of six “Star States” for passing an expansion to health insurance laws, targets for lower greenhouse gases and more recycling, and allowing people to register to vote online. The Washington, D.C.-based organization was not too happy that it passed on allowing people to register and cast ballots on Election Day or public financing of elections, but it still made that lustrous top tier.
Idaho, on the other hand, was dubbed “Bottom of the Barrel,” for new restrictions on abortion, making English the official language of the state and failing to make disabled cops and firefighters eligible for health insurance. Gem State legislators got a minor pat on the back for requiring some disclosures for those pesky robo-calls that spring up at election time.
Chances are, a conservative organization would have the two states equally far apart but reverse the shining light/dim bulb assessment on some of these very issues.
Buenos dias, Señora Gregoire
Proof that politicians are different from you and me:
If you were going to Mexico City would you shop at the street markets, grab a cerveza or two at a cantina and have some rice and beans with your chicken mole at a small restaurant? Or would you go to Costco, hit Starbucks and some place selling Chateau Ste. Michelle wine, and have some french fries at a chain restaurant called Wings?
Gov. Chris Gregoire, who was in Mexico last week, did the latter. OK, so she’s on a trade mission and each stop was designed to plug a state business like Costco and Starbucks, and products like the wine and fries made from Washington state spuds.
But still. Let’s hope someone at least sprang for a pitcher of margaritas before she headed back north.
Catching the candidates
The Spokane League of Women Voters’ forum for the city’s primary candidates last week was very much an “eat your broccoli” kind of event. The series of round-robin debates forced candidates for council, council president and mayor to hold forth on such topics as the city’s role in economic development, intra- and intergovernment cooperation and a levy lid lift.
But the event was not without its humor.
Mayoral candidates were asked their views on global warming while members of the audience were turning blue from City Hall’s overactive air conditioning.
Robert E. Stokes Jr., candidate for council in Northeast Spokane’s District 1, gave what some might consider an accurate, if impolitic, description of the city as “Spokane is 200,000 hicks that all live in one spot.”
And George McGrath, longtime council meeting curmudgeon now running for a seat in South Spokane’s District 2, created some suspense when he objected to being passed over for an answer to the question “Name one thing the council does well.” The chastened moderator, Steve Becker, apologized, and Councilman Brad Stark popped in that he was eager to hear something positive about the council from McGrath.
McGrath, however, didn’t miss a beat: “They’ve done an excellent job of driving citizens away from council meetings.”
The meeting was taped for later rebroadcast on Cable Channel 5. The first appearance for the council candidates is 12:30 p.m. Saturday; for president and mayor candidates it’s 11:30 a.m. next Sunday.
Other candidate events this week include:
Wednesday: Dennis Hession at a Rotary Club luncheon; noon at the Northeast Community Center, 4001 N. Cook.
Thursday: Mary Verner at a question-and-answer session; 6:30 p.m., Contempo Mobile Home Park, 1207 E. Lidgerwood.