Spin Control: Little words may or may not have big meanings

Every so often a politician utters an unusual word – not necessarily a bad word or a wrong word – that makes a reporter go, “Wait. What?”

That was the case Thursday when Gov. Jay Inslee was talking about the state’s efforts to keep the Boeing Co. from permanently closing the 787 production line in Everett in favor of a single line in South Carolina. The state talked with the company to ask what might make them change their minds, he said, but the company president and his staff were “never able to offer any scintilla of a suggestion of what we could do.”

OK, let’s see. A scintilla is small, obviously. But is it smaller than a crumb? A half of a morsel? A tenth of a jot?

Technically, it’s the size of a spark, which, according to Bruce Springsteen, you can’t start a fire without. Yeah, just ask half of Eastern Washington.

Usually it’s used in the negative sense, as in “he showed not a scintilla of shame” or “they have not a scintilla of evidence.” Scintillating, however, has a much brighter meaning.

Inslee also was asked whether another word he used a while back may have had any impact on relations with Boeing. While he was on the presidential campaign trail, he was asked about the tax breaks pushed through the Legislature in 2013 to secure production of another jetliner, the 777. He likened it to being mugged.

Let’s allow for a minute that several legislators expressed that same opinion during or shortly after that special session, and others have come to that conclusion since. And no one thinks that a major company like Boeing gets its tax breaks by sending every legislator a basket of freshly baked muffins and posting birthday wishes on Facebook.

But whether an international company wants the governor of its home state suggesting it was guilty of strong-arm tactics, even if it was, might not sit well in its Chicago headquarters.

Inslee insisted that wasn’t the case. “There’s no evidence of that,” he said, adding that Boeing Commercial Airlines President Stan Deal is “a very civil, gracious person” who has a difficult job in a tough market.

The fact that Boeing didn’t counter with a request for more tax breaks or other types of government help is probably a sign that the decision was made long before the rumor leaked out. If that’s the case, something Inslee said last year in a cable news interview wasn’t likely to tip the balance.

Odd reason for rejoicing

A few weeks ago I detailed the long line of appeals for cash in a single week from the Joe Biden campaign, adding that I get far fewer from the Trump campaign. That doesn’t mean I get nothing from any Republican organization. The California State Republican Party, which apparently cares little about state boundaries, is a frequent emailer, and on Friday notified its donor base of an unusual cause for celebration.

In an email titled “This is HUGE,” CAGOP announced it had passed a milestone in voter registration.

“Republican Party voter registration has OFFICIALLY surpassed No Party Preference voters in California,” it exclaimed enthusiastically.

So in other words, Californians who don’t want to claim any party affiliation at all had, up to the point, outnumbered those willing to say they were Republican.

I can sort of understand why they were asking someone in a separate state for $50 to help with their “California comeback.” Which is not the same as saying I sent them a check.

Mark your calendar, set your video recorder

The first, and possibly only, gubernatorial debate will take place Wednesday evening. It’s on a half hour after the vice presidential debate – presuming the outbreak of COVID-19 in the White House doesn’t cause that one to be canceled – so be sure to save a bit of room on your brain’s political hard drive for Jay Inslee v. Loren Culp.

It starts at 8 p.m., and sponsors say it will be shown live on KHQ and KREM. We’ll take their word for it, even though we had to specifically ask and their publicity person had to double check because the official announcement only listed Seattle television stations and TVW. But the debate is sponsored by the Seattle City Club, so what else might one expect?

The panel of questioners is first rate, though.

I suspect it will feature less bluster, interrupting or name-calling than last week’s presidential debate. For most people, that’s probably be a good thing.