WA-CD-03 Candidate Debate Produces Some Winners & Some Losers

In a combined effort yesterday evening, Campaign for Liberty (C4L) and We The People (WTP) provided a debate forum for the candidates running for U.S. Congress in Washington’s 3^rd Congressional District. The venue for this event was the Battle Ground High School Commons. Although only three Candidates and one Proxy participated, the event seemed quite worthwhile, producing both some Winners as well as some Losers.

The biggest Winners are the voters of Southwest Washington who participated in this event. Thanks to this sort of participation, it is much more likely that we will succeed in electing candidates who are best suited for preserving and bettering our Republic.

Of course, both C4L and WTP come out of this as Winners too. No doubt, both of these independent “Tea Party” organizations continue to experience growing pains in these early stages of their maturity but I deeply appreciate their tireless efforts to educate and to encourage citizen leadership and citizen involvement. Kudos, in particular, to C4L’s Katja Delevar.

Concerning Winners from amongst the Candidates, I have to ascribe that label to the three who showed up. Though I’m not in agreement with each of these Candidates, these all seem to be fellow-Americans who care about our nation and our community.

With that said, David Hedrick (R) seemed to be the clear Winner, from amongst the debate participants. I last wrote about this Candidate in early April in an article entitled: David Hedrick, Candidate For U.S.Congress (WA-03) – From YouTube Moment To Vetting By “We The People”. I concluded that article by saying, “… e’s matured in his candidacy to a point where he should, at least, be aken more seriously than one who is just extending his 15 minutes of fame.” Frankly, at that time, I didn’t believe his maturing as a Candidate was likely to make further progress. However, based on what I’ve observed about David Hedrick recently and last night in particular, I was mistaken. At the conclusion of last night’s event, I stopped to talk to David, to tell him that and to let him know that I’d circled his name in last night’s Straw Poll, under the heading of “If the election were held today, I would vote for …” Of course, there are many reasons that have led me to this conclusion but key elements for my arriving at this conclusion, as demonstrated by Hedrick’s performance at last night’s debate, were: 

• Hedrick’s familiarity with and ability to speak intelligently to every issue that was raised.
• Hedrick’s unwavering clarity on his principled positions.
• Hedrick’s foundational belief that “God was intimately involved with our Founders, in developing the U.S. Constitution” and that “the U.S. Constitution is the ‘playbook’ for governing our nation.”

I thought that another Winner from amongst the debate participants was Candice Jackson, serving in the role of Proxy for Candidate, David Castillo (R). Of course, a challenge with proxies is figuring out how closely they’re representing the views of the Candidate they’re filling in for. A good example here was David Hedrick’s response to Ms. Jackson’s answer on a question about “Incentive-izing ‘Green’ Business.” Hedrick said that he agreed with Castillo’s Proxy but he disagreed with what Castillo has actually stated as his position. With that said, I thought Ms. Jackson was impressive and very well spoken. I understood that, since she was there as David Castillo’s Proxy, her primary objective wasn’t to achieve a warm personal connection with the audience. However, I couldn’t help but think that, if that warm personal connection could be added, she would make a pretty good Candidate herself.

Although Cheryl Crist (D) and I are probably diametrically opposed on every important campaign issue, I still have to label her as a Winner in last night’s event. If for no other reason than for having the courage to show up at an event where most attendees could be labeled Conservative and boldly expressing her opposing “Progressive” views. I think she’s a Winner for more than that, though. To paraphrase David Hedrick, I hope Cheryl is never elected to anything. However, she is a well educated woman with an excellent resume, who is the Mother of an Iraqi War Vet, who truly cares about our nation, who I’m proud to call my fellow-American.

I, also, felt that Norma Jean Stevens (I) came off as a person whose candidacy stems from the fact that she truly cares about our nation. With that said, she struck me as the least formidable of the debate participants. It seemed that she most clearly expressed her views on the issues raised in the debate by agreeing with the views of the Conservative participants.

Although I think it’s appropriate for me to point out those who I think “lost out” as a result of their not participating in last night’s event, it’s not appropriate to label any of them as “Losers”. I don’t think of them in that way but I do hope that expressing my views on how I think they “lost out” will encourage them to do all they can to not “lose out” the next time they have this sort of opportunity.

The first of these who I think “lost out” are the voters of Southwest Washington who didn’t show up. Our Ship of State is in some pretty stormy seas and if we’re to stay afloat and get on course, we need all hands on deck.

Although I give the David Castillo (R) campaign credit for sending an impressive Proxy, in Candice Jackson, David Castillo “lost out” by not being present. It was announced that Castillo couldn’t attend due to a schedule conflict. Certainly, schedule conflicts are sometimes unavoidable and I don’t know what the nature of this conflict was. However, this was an event hosted by two “grassroots” organizations in the heart of the 3^rd Congressional District so you’d think participation in this would be given the highest priority.

Jaime Herrera’s (R) only “presence” at last night’s debate was an empty chair, along with her name on a placard on the table space in front of that chair. There was no announcement about her absence but, during the debate, a question was raised about whether or not it was appropriate for a Candidate to not attend a debate because that Candidate thinks it’s inappropriate for candidates of the same party to debate. One of the debate participants answered by saying that Jaime Herrera was making a mistake by taking that position. If that’s why Jaime Herrera was absent, I agree that she made a mistake … I think a very big mistake. Regardless of the reason for her absence, as I said about David Castillo, Jaime Herrera definitely “lost out” by not being present.

Another Candidate, whose only “presence” was an empty chair, along with his name on a placard on the table space in front of that chair, was Denny Heck (D). No announcement was made regarding his absence. During a break, I heard it mentioned that his absence was an indication of his arrogance. Of course, that’s only speculation. I can only guess at the reason for Heck’s absence. Perhaps it was that he didn’t have the courage of his fellow-Democrat, Cheryl Crist, who had the boldness to bring her “Progressive” views into “the den of the Conservatives.” As I said, though Crist didn’t gain my support for her campaign, she gained my respect as a person who truly cares about our nation, who I’m proud to call my fellow-American. I don’t know if the same could have happened with Heck. Whatever were the opportunities for Heck by participating in last night’s event, he “lost out” on them all, through his absence.

Finally, I think it’s worth noting that the three Candidates who “lost out” through their absence also caused others to “lose out”. Their absence diminished what was gained by the voters of Southwest Washington who did attend and that is a shame.

In closing, I want to note that, though I took “copious notes”, I chose not to attempt a “blow by blow” report on this debate. I trust that the sponsors will soon make recordings of the event available on their respective Websites, along with the results of their Straw Poll and other related information. So, I want to encourage you to check it out for yourself. It’s being made available for your gain so, don’t “lose out”!