Spin Control: How to check statewide candidates’ Spokane cred
Perhaps it’s the mood of the electorate or maybe the moon is in the seventh house, but the state primary ballot will have 73 candidates between the U.S. Senate race and the nine statewide executive offices. There are so many candidates running for so many offices that the state Republican Party apparently ran out, and didn’t have anyone to file for attorney general, leaving that contest to the incumbent Democrat and a Libertarian challenger.
So for the first time since Washington went to the top-two primary system, at least one Libertarian will make it to the general election.
But this over-abundance of candidates means that many of the lesser-known political hopefuls have headed or will soon head east in search of votes. The Socialist Workers Party’s gubernatorial and presidential candidates were recently in Spokane, which may have been the best representation of that brand of political philosophy since the Wobblies came for a protest in 1909.
As one might expect, these candidates differ in age and background and embrace a wide range of economic and political theories. But one thing you can expect them to do when they come to town is try to establish their Spokane bona fides.
They may drop little hints or tell cute anecdotes from their childhood, designed to convince you that even though they are from Seattle or Tacoma or Bellingham or Vancouver or Sequim, they can relate to Spokane.
If they pronounce the city so it rhymes with cocaine or that lake in Idaho to sound like Cured Eileen, you can pretty much write them off. Beyond that, here are some questions to see if they really know the area. One point for each correct answer:
1. What’s the building that looks like a castle just north of the Spokane River? (County courthouse)
2. What’s the building that looks like it was built between four grain silos just to the south of it? (Health District building)
3. What’s the slogan under Dick’s Hamburgers’ sign? (Buy the bagful. Extra point for spelling the first word correctly.)
4. The Gonzaga Bulldogs also go by what other nickname? (Zags)
5. Besides Gonzaga, what other institutions of higher learning have facilities in Spokane? Name up to five. (WSU, EWU, Community Colleges of Spokane, UW and Whitworth University. Deduct half a point if they list the last one as a college.)
6. What level of baseball do the Spokane Indians play? (Single A)
7. What hockey league are the Spokane Chiefs in? (WHL)
8. What kind of mill is in Millwood? (Paper)
9. What two high schools’ basketball rivalry game is called the Groovy Shoes? (North Central and Shadle)
10. The Japanese Garden on the South Hill is part of what city park? (Manito. No points for mispronouncing it.)
11. What was in Riverfront Park before Expo ’74? (Rail yards and hobos)
12. There are five legislative districts that are completely or partly in Spokane County, with numbers ranging from 3 to 9. What two numbers aren’t in that sequence? (5 and 8)
OK, so that last one is kind of a political geek question. But any candidate with real ties to Spokane ought to score at least an 8 on the quiz. Anything less than that, they’re a poseur.
Another dam protest
Environmental activists mixed Eastern and Western Washington concerns as they gathered outside the site of President Barack Obama’s speech Friday.
They called for the federal government to remove or “breach” the dams on the lower Snake River, not just to save the salmon but also the orcas.
To a salmon, that may sound a bit like being spared the frying pan for the fire, because the main reason to save them for the orcas is so the orcas can eat them. But that was the way of things for eons, so there’s a certain symmetry to it.
Dozens gathered on a corner at Pike Street and Seventh Avenue, some carrying signs, others carrying large, inflatable orcas. There didn’t seem to be anyone who was waving around a coho recently purchased at Pike Place Market, although that’s the most common habitat for salmon in downtown Seattle.
Diagonally across the street in front of the entrance to the Washington State Convention Center was another protest. A group of Bernie Sanders supporters were calling for changes in Democratic Party rules. They had signs like “Bernie or Bust” and “Hillary for Prison” – the latter not likely to win them many friends with the crowd that paid $250 for a ticket to hear two Clinton supporters, Obama and Gov. Jay Inslee, speak at the dinner.
Spin Control, a weekly column by political reporter Jim Camden, also appears online with daily items and reader comments at www.spokesman.com/blogs/spincontrol.