Election lead-up gets a bit weird
OLYMPIA – For a political column, you’ll find this one to be remarkably devoid of post-election punditry.
Why? Because our print schedule means I’m writing this on Monday morning. My kingdom for a time machine to see how things go in the closest races and to pick a few key lottery tickets.
That said, here’s a brief look at some of the more bizarre moments in the frenzied final days of the race for governor.
Oh, yeah? Well, your sister-in-law’s a Wiccan sea turtle
Despite a crowded field, the award for strangest political attack this year has to go to state GOP chairman Luke Esser for a press release he sent out three days before Halloween.
In it, Esser blasted a lawsuit against the conservative Building Industry Association of Washington, calling it an 11th-hour “legal circus” aimed at tainting Rossi and one of his biggest supporters.
Singled out for special attention was attorney Knoll Lowney, who’s heading up the lawsuit. In trying to paint Lowney as a left-wing legal gadfly, Esser noted that Lowney’s sister-in-law is “a self-described ‘stealth millionaire’ and ‘pagan’ who dressed herself and her children up as sea turtles during the WTO riots.”
But wait, there was more. Esser, citing a 2001 newspaper story, also noted that Lowney’s brother and sister-in-law “used to participate in small Wiccan rites venerating the four elements fire, earth, air and, of course, water.”
Wacky? To many, sure. (Although not here in Olympia, where few would bat an eye at Wiccan sea turtles.) But is a relative’s sea-turtle-dressing seven years ago really relevant to a campaign fundraising lawsuit today?
‘You don’t need to stare at me in disdain’
The sea-turtle allegations weren’t the only odd moments spawned by that lawsuit. Last week, Lowney and his associates forced Dino Rossi, who’s not being sued, to sit for a four-hour deposition to discuss alleged illegal campaign fundraising by the BIAW. And if there’s anyone who can make the bitter governor’s race look like puppies playing, it’s lawyers.
The resulting transcript – a link to it is on my blog, www.eyeonolympia.com – should be required reading for every law school student. Almost from the start, Rossi lawyer Michael Patterson objected over and over to nearly every question.
As tensions rose, he and opposing lawyer Mike Withey got more and more personal.
From the transcript: “Will you please stop interrupting me? … This is harassment … You don’t interrupt me … You were staring at me … This is unbelievable … You don’t need to stare me down, Mr. Withey. This is supposed to be an honorable profession … This is a disaster … You don’t need to stare at me in disdain.”
They took a break, then resumed.
“I’ve been in practice for 36 years,” Withey said at one point, chafing at all the objections from Rossi’s side. “This has been the most obstructive deposition I’ve ever participated in.”
“I probably participated in more depositions than you ever thought of participating in,” responded Patterson.
Things stayed in the same vein, with lawyers telling each other not to stare at each other, not to lean over the table, and so forth. Excerpts:
“It’s a political game … Stop … Please don’t yell … You have not heard me yell … That’s been your whole ploy … That’s discourteous of you to have your phone on … This is frivolous, frivolous … I’m not going to allow a political activist to run his campaign during a deposition …This is outrageous.”
Both sides threaten the other with sanctions.
“You know what, I’m going to ask for terms against you,” Patterson told Lowney at one point.
“I appreciate that,” Lowney responded. “Go ahead … I would like you to do that. I would encourage you to.”
For much of the day, both sides threatened to get a judge on the phone to referee things. But it sounds like what they really needed was a stern elementary-school teacher.
Extra credit: The text of the deposition also contains a wonderful transcription error. “Decorum” is transcribed as “did he cough rum.”
Election predictions
I’m not making them, but a Pasco-based political blogger who goes by the pen name “the Moderate Washingtonian” is.
TMW describes himself as a 26-year-old former Republican disenchanted with both parties, and some of his predictions have been pretty accurate in the past. In what looks like good news for Republicans, here’s how he sees some key races going:
Governor: Dino Rossi 50.3 percent, Chris Gregoire 49.7 percent.
Commissioner of Public Lands: Doug Sutherland (R) 51 percent, Peter Goldmark (D) 49 percent.
House of Representatives, District 6 (western Spokane): Kevin Parker (R) 52 percent, Don Barlow (D) 48 percent.
House of Representatives, District 6 (western Spokane): In the district’s other seat, the blogger predicts that incumbent John Ahern (R) will get 53 percent to challenger John Driscoll’s (D) 47 percent.
If you want to read TMW’s reasoning behind these numbers, his blog is at http://themoderate washingtonian.blogspot.com.