Is This The End of the Washington State GOP?

A wave of dread and doom descended on Washington State Republicans as election results in this off year election were finally counted. The general election result that shattered any hope of Republican resurgence in the state was the King County Executive’s race. Councilman Dow Constantine smashed blue dog, moderate Democrat Susan Hutchinson in that election contest. Republicans in King County now go down in defeat again in their attempt to elect someone other than radical, leftwing, crackpots like Constantine. Many are questioning why the King County Republican Party backed Susan and not a principled conservative in the first place!

Here in Snohomish County Republican conservative John Koster ran up some impressive numbers as he defeated Seattle crackpot Paul Brainerd’s candidate for the Snohomish County Council. There is already talk that Koster will run against a weak and vulnerable Aaron Reardon for County Executive in 2011. Elsewhere, Democrats continued their dominance in the county by re-electing a very unpopular Dave Somers over a token Republican candidate in the 5^th Council District using low turn outs and outright lies combined with little or no campaign cash for Steve Dana. They also elected blue dog Democrat Joe Wilson to the Snohomish County bench, and Dave Gossett in the 4^th Council District. Word reached me on election night that the Democrats can’t wait to vote in a MAJOR property tax increase before the end of November. They apparently are going to ignore record high unemployment in the county and try to completely destroy what is left of the county’s economy now that Boeing is leaving.

Out of the dust of this off year election came some positive news. A group of concerned Republicans and conservatives have decided to begin the process of purging the left of center leadership in the state GOP at the State and County level. This campaign will probably include some of last year’s Ron Paul supporters in the state, but I understand that some surprising names in the rank and file GOP leadership will be leading this effort. In order to accomplish their goal, it is going to be necessary to do away with the current leadership at the Washington State Republican Party. The first target in this purge will be to get rid of Luke Esser as State Chairman. 

As a conservative from Bellevue explained it to me, “Luke has presided over major defeats in 2008 and now 2009; it’s time for a change!” The fact that Esser has continued to support Rob McKenna, the left of center Mainstream Republican for a future run for Governor, has caused some problems in Snohomish County in particular, where one major figure in the GOP told me on election night, “Rob will never carry this county for Governor; no matter how many people he sweet talks in the party.”

Both RINO lefties, Reed and McKenna, refused to support I-1033 and that move has angered the rank and file GOP Precinct Committee Officers in King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties, according to my sources. Also McKenna’s attempt to allow publication all the names of those who signed the R-71 petition to put homosexual marriage on the ballot has even the state’s libertarians up in arms. One of the leaders in the Reject R-71 campaign wondered out loud to me on election night why McKenna remains in the GOP, “He walks like a Democrat, talks like a Democrat; therefore he must be a Democrat. What the hell is so hard to understand about that?” It is widely known that both Reed and McKenna went out of their way to oppose the attempt to roll back “Homosexual Marriage” in Washington, at odds with the majority of the GOP rank and file.

What about 2010? Well, other parts of the nation may have an easy time knocking off Democrats in the House of Representatives, but bleak prospects face Republicans in Western Washington. Even though GOP incumbent Dave Reichert has a war chest in the 8^th CG, his vote in favor of the insane Cap and Tax bill probably dooms him to defeat against an extremely well financed Democrat that has yet to announce their candidacy (according to my sources). In the 1^st CG and the 2^nd CG both Democrats Rick Larsen and Jay Inslee are vulnerable to a challenge, but Republicans cannot come up with candidates or the $2 million dollars per campaign that it would cost to defeat either incumbent Democrat! I expect the GOP to run the typical token and under financed congressional candidates in these races.

As for the State Legislature, ‘slim pickens’ face the GOP in Snohomish and King Counties not only because they have no candidates they also have zero money available to finance campaigns. Dan Kristiansen, the 39^th GOP State House Representative and the Chair of House Republicans told me bluntly that they will have to pick and choose which candidates to support because of the lack of funding and little if any campaign contributions. 

At the state level, Rob McKenna and Sam Reed continue to play the Dan Evans ‘bell curve’ game hoping to get re-elected, but they will have to do it without the support of most county GOP organizations. This next time they come up for election they will be facing not only well financed opposition from the Democrats but a major effort to throw them out of office. Washington State Democratic Chief Dwight Pelz believes the best way to deal with Rob McKenna and Sam Reed is to go after them, head on! To make matters worse, several conservative Republicans are eyeing these races with the full intention of knocking them off. So McKenna and Reed are both under fire from both political parties. Not a good situation to be in.

Whatever happens this next year, Washington State continues its downward drop into the economic abyss. I even hear that crackpot Governor Gregoire intends to push for passage of a STATE Cap and Trade global warming measure with the full intention of imposing a massive energy tax resulting in potential rationing on electrical and energy use across the board in Washington State. She will also be pushing for a state income tax to be placed on the ballot in 2010. If these two items were to pass into law, many believe that this state would suffer an economic collapse unlike anything that has ever happened before. Possibly worse than the great depression and the 1971 Supersonic Transport disaster when Boeing laid off 60,000 people.

KIRO talker Dori Monson nailed it with this evaluation of Tuesday's election here in Washington:

This may be the most singular one-party state in the nation.

New Jersey and Virginia voted for Obama a year ago - but for Republican governors tonight... Liberal Maine rejected gay marriage... Blue-state California voters earlier this year rejected tax increases...

But in Washington, our one-controlling-party mentallity rolls on.

King County government is facing a $54-million deficit - and one of the people who got the county into that financial mess has been elected Exec - because he's a Dem.

Init-1033 restricting the growth of government? Rejected.

Gay partnerships? Supported.

Huge property tax increase in Seattle for low income housing? Of course! Seattle never saw a tax increase the voters didn't love.

I evaluate each race and issue on its individual merits (I supported Ref-71 - everyone other endorsement I made on the above races lost). But despite national trends favoring Republicans, in Washington the vast majority of voters are robots. Every Democrat wins. Every expansion of government passes. Every liberal cause prevails.

The unions chased Boeing out of the state - and every winning candidate paid tribute to their big-money union support. Our unemployment rate is well above the national average. Our state is facing another multi-billion dollar deficit. King County has a $54-million deficit. Seattle a $40-million deficit.

Why wouldn't we stay the course? Election Day was business as usual in our one-party state.

Remember, Governor Gregoire made this astonishing statement over a month before Election Day:

I've told them [Democratic legislators] come on in and convince me that's [raising taxes] the right thing to do and that people will support it. At some point the people, I assume, don't want us to take any more cuts. I'm already hearing about 'why did you cut education?' Well there aren't any options

Many political observers were stunned that Gregoire would reverse her "no new taxes" stance so close to the election and felt that she was handing a win to Tim Eyman on a silver platter.  Wrong.  The Governor knows her liberal Pugetopolis base well and counted on the fact that I-1033 would be outspent some $3 million to none by wealthy liberal opponents of I-1033.  More importantly, local elected officials throughout the state, both Republican and Democrat, joined in the scare-it-to-ya chorus against I-1033.

"At some point the people, I assume, don't want us to take any more cuts."  Don't you think that is the takeaway from Washington voter's rejection of I-1033?  It certainly will be among Democrats in Olympia.  It already is at the Northwest Progressive Insititute, which proudly proclaimed that "Collapse of Tim Eyman's Initiative 1033 proves that teabaggers are just a fringe."

Now, I don't think even Democrats are stupid enough to introduce new taxes in an election year, but if Washington Republicans don't make significant gains in the legislature in 2010, look out for the next biennial budget coming up in 2011.  Labor unions and other left-wing advocacy groups have made it clear they will tolerate no further cuts to their pet programs and the state will have to address what will likely be a $2-3 billion plus budget shortfall by that time.  Those groups will point to the I-1033 vote and say Washingtonians are finally ready for that dreaded state income tax.

Hey, you were warned.  We get the government we deserve.

The Tea Party Express rolled into the Puyallup Fairgrounds last Friday (October 30th) and lots of people showed up to welcome it--nearly 5,000. Did the local media cover it? The only coverage on the web that I've found is this clip, probably taken from someone's cell phone. ntil I found this mea culpa from the Tacoma News Tribune reporter John Henrikson that includes an even better videoclip.

Business writer Bill Virgin had a must-read column in yesterday's Tacoma News-Tribune .  Virgin reinforced the argument that I have been making all along about Tim Eyman (my emphasis):

The voters, seeing little check on the state’s appetite for tax revenue or its fervor for spending, have turned to the only balance at their disposal. 

That would be Eyman.

Ordinarily checks and balances are provided by opposing political parties. That system doesn’t work in Washington because of the long-standing enfeeblement of Republicans as a political force (voters might not have much faith in Republicans anyway, since they’ve exhibited an appetite for pork at least as voracious as that of the Democrats).

Tim Eyman is, to borrow a phrase, the closest thing Washington has to a two-party system.

And it’s a “party” with considerable clout, enough to make Gov. Chris Gregoire and legislative leaders tread carefully on the subject of taxes and spending, much to the irritation of their allies and backers. It’s enough to hold at bay the constant call for tax-system “reform” in Washington, a cause which to the ears of many voters sounds suspiciously like “increase.”

And while Virgin did not specifically address this next part of his column to the Mainstream Republicans of Washington, I will:

There’s one more reason why 1033 might win and why, win or lose on this one, Eyman will have sufficient public support to return to fight another day. As long as we’re in an era of discussing all the nasty isms, let’s deal with two more – classism and elitism.

When voters are lectured to about their foolishness in voting for Eyman initiatives, they catch more than a hint of their supposed betters lecturing the unwashed masses. The constant harping that a vote for Eyman is a vote against their own interests merely heightens the suspicion among those voters that whoever is looking out for them, it certainly isn’t the Establishment.

Some votes for Eyman initiatives are votes endorsing the merits of the proposals. Others votes represent an opportunity to tweak the noses of the elite. Whatever the motivation, the combination makes for a potent electoral force that will continue to perplex the Establishment, will continue to influence debates on government in this state...

The Mainstream Republicans of Washington represent the "Establishment," including presumptive 2012 GOP gubernatorial nominee Attorney General Rob McKenna, Secretary of State of Sam Reed, and Congressman Dave "Cap and Traitor" Reichert. 

Apparently, the Mainstream Republicans are tone-deaf, not hearing the message coming loud and clear out of New York's 23rd Congressional District.  Last week, they sent out a press release urging voters to to reject I-1033 because it is an "ill conceived and unreasonable proposal that will make already tough times worse in our state and our communities."

The only thing "ill-conceived" here is the Mainstream Republicans' rejection of I-1033.  Thank God, the Washington State Republican Party endorsed I-1033 early on in the process.  The Tea Party movement has demonstrated that people are sick and tired of the old tax-and-spend status quo.  And as much as Republcians like to think the Tea Partiers' ire is directed solely at Democrats, it isn't.  There is "a pox on both your houses" attitude that is part and parcel of this grassroots rebellion. 

Former King County Councilwoman and Mainstrream Republican Louise Miller tod the Seattle P-I: "These people [the Republican State Central Committee]  have never held office. They have never looked at a budget when you had to cut $53 million . . . They have never looked at a budget line by line and asked how do we prioritize."

Hello?  There's that classism and elitism Virgin wrote about.  The P-I article posed the question, "Is there a chasm between the business and right wing populist wings of the Republican Party?"  Uh, yeah there is, and I-1033 has demonstrated it perfectly.  If you wonder why conservatives are talking about leaving the GOP and starting a third party, look no further than the attitudes demonstrated by Miller and Dede Scozzafava.  Instead of looking at a budget and asking "How do we prioritize?," how about looking at a budget and saying "WHAT DO WE CUT?"

But that chasm exists in just about every state.  Larry Sabato, probably the best political scientist in the country, wrote this recently about the Virginia governor's race:

Party Unity: Republicans continue to show evidence of a permanent split between their conservative base and the moderate Republicans that used to dominate their legislative party, especially in the state Senate. But these moderate leaders are mainly out of office and in exile, sent to the conservative GOP's Siberia. On the Democratic side, former Gov. Doug Wilder's refusal to endorse Deeds was headline news everywhere, as was the defection of premier Kaine donor Sheila Johnson, co-founder of Black Entertainment Television. The real difference between the parties this year shows up in the enthusiasm being demonstrated by activists. Everyone agrees that Republicans are energized in 2009 as they seek to end their long losing streak, while Democrats appear blasé and disconnected from Deeds. Advantage Republicans.

By attacking I-1033, the Mainstream Republicans have irrevocably built their own gulag.  Let's hope Rob McKenna's shot at retaking the Governor's Mansion in 2012 doesn't get frozen along with them.

Currently, in Southwest Washington and the Portland (OR) metropolitan area, the City of Washougal (WA) is getting a lot of attention in the press due to what seems to be a significant scandal involving one or more of the city’s elected officials. The gist of this is that the Washington State Auditor’s Office is conducting a special investigation involving unaccounted for expenditures of over $100,000 and other alleged “mismanagement issues”, by the city’s Mayor, Stacee Sellers.

Since Congressional Candidate Jon Russell is an elected member of the Washougal City Council, his political opponents within the Republican Party are eagerly manipulating this to reflect negatively on Russell. Though this is personally disappointing to me, I can't say that it's surprising. Ironically, I believe that stepping back and looking at the facts (not the innuendos) here would lead a reasonable person to the conclusion that Jon Russell’s related conduct indicates that he is exactly the sort of person we should have in the office he is seeking – i.e., U.S. Representative from Washington’s 3^rd Congressional District.

Here are some of the facts I have in mind:

Russell has been in the Conservative minority since joining the City Council. Shortly after his initial election he began to develop concerns related to the matter currently being investigated. This included that:

•  Expenditures were signed off by whatever council members were available.
• City Department Heads were instructed not to speak directly to council members; all communication was to go through the Mayor.

Although Jon raised these concerns, due to the council’s Progressive majority and their loyalty to the Mayor, Jon was unable to rally support for his alarm. However, Jon remained vigilant. For over two years, Jon has requested P&Ls for city events that the administration had sponsored … the very events now being investigated. These requests remain unfulfilled. Just this year, Jon asked to be appointed to the finance committee and immediately upon joining that committee, he began bringing forward a motion that would require the committee to routinely scrutinize every city expenditure. Again, the council’s Progressive majority was unwillingly to join in making this commitment.

Thankfully, fairly early-on, Jon recognized the importance of being able to voice his concerns from a greater position of strength. With that in mind, he began developing a strategy to achieve a Conservative majority on the City Council. In 2008, he was joined by another Conservative. This past Summer, yet another Conservative was added. And, it’s likely that next week’s election could lead to Jon being in the Conservative majority on the City Council. From that perspective, Jon issued the following statement to supporters:

“My objective is to work through our city administration’s chaos and to bring a clearer picture to the citizens of Washougal. I am convinced that, with a newly–elected Conservative majority coming in January, we will provide a responsible path out of the disaster permitted by the current progressive administration.”

And he added:

“This experience has given me a deeper appreciation for what I am trying to do on a national level. We need sweeping government reform, which brings more accountability to government and places more scrutiny on government than on individuals. Too much control in the hands of the few will always result in disaster and corruption. As your next Congressman, I will fight for open and transparent government. The people deserve to know the truth.”

It should be noted that one of the most recent developments in this matter is that the Washougal City Council has now passed a resolution censuring Mayor Stacee Sellers, expressing “disapproval of her behavior and her lack of effective communication.” Jon Russell voted for the resolution and in doing so, expressed his belief that additional action should be taken, saying, “I don’t think censure is strong enough.”

I think the facts that I’ve outlined above speak for themselves in supporting my earlier statement that “Jon Russell’s related conduct indicates that he is exactly the sort of person we should have in the office he is seeking.” However, I’d like add a personal observation to emphasize why it adds up that way for me. I’ve been in business in a Sales role for most of the past four decades. During that time, it’s not been uncommon for me to be confronted with a situation where a prospective customer tells me that, in comparing what I’m offering to what a competitor is offering, they can’t find a decisive difference. In those cases, I’ve almost always found it to be effective to get the prospective customer to consider who they want to be shoulder-to-shoulder with when there is trouble. No matter how good your company, your product, etc., if there are human beings involved, there will be problems. I make sure my prospective customers know that when problems come, there is one thing in particular they can count on that the competitor can’t offer. That difference is me … I will be there for them. That’s what I see Jon Russell doing in this matter. He suspected problems and he voiced his concerns. He took actions to prevent the problems he suspected from occurring. He developed a strategy meant to give authority to his actions. And, when trouble came, he stood firm to do the hard work the citizens of Washougal are relying on him to do.

In summary, I’d like to touch on a couple of aspects related to my disappointment with the actions of Jon’s political opponents within the Republican Party who have so eagerly manipulated this to reflect negatively on Jon. In one instance, the question was raised, “If Jon is unable to stand up to the mayor of a small town of some 9,000, how would he ever stand up to the likes of Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Washington D.C.?” Of course, this question is a bit short-sighted, since I expect Nancy Pelosi to be an ex-Member of Congress and for her party to be the minority party after the elections of 2010. However, it does raise an interesting hypothetical question: “What would Jon Russell be doing about a similar situation in the current U.S. Congress … oh say regarding Charlie Rangel … if he was the Representative from Washington’s 3^rd Congressional District, instead of Brian Baird?” Well, I know what we’ve heard from Baird on this … nothing! And, based on what I’ve outlined above, I’m pretty confident Ms. Pelosi would be hearing from Jon Russell regularly.

Finally, I want to offer some advice to Jon’s political opponents within the Republican Party who have so eagerly manipulated this to reflect negatively on Jon. Take a look at all the Comments left by readers of what you’ve published on this. No doubt, I haven’t found all that has been written along these lines but of the ones I’ve found, I haven’t found one single Comment that supported the author’s position. With that in mind, I would encourage you to consider what I have termed the “Hoffman v Scozzafava … Wake-Up-Call …”. As the old folk song says, “The times, they are a changing” and you should be giving more sober thought to how your words and especially your actions, fit in with the current political landscape.

Major Congressional Scandal, Graft and Corruption!

When a junior Ethics Committee staffer saved a copy of a secret US House of Representatives Investigations Report on his home computer; he forgot that he had ‘information sharing software’ on that PC. As a result an enterprising reporter for the Washington Post got hold of a copy and since then there has been a nuclear explosion of embarrassment up on Capitol Hill! This may be one of the first times in history that such a report WAS NOT leaked on purpose to the press!

When the leaked report hit this week, it said volumes about Norm Dicks, Washington State Congressman from the 6^th Congressional District, who received contributions from the criminal lobbyist organization formerly known as the PMA Group. What wasn’t known until now was the amount; some $90,000 in cash that Dicks may have gotten in return for voting the right way on the House Appropriations Committee and two other defense related committees. This last Friday when these VERY sensitive details of this current investigation and a review of that report came out it indicated that Dicks may be under investigation by the Justice Department and the FBI!

Insiders told me late this last week that Dicks has not looked well these last 9 months and at one town hall meeting in August, Dicks looked bloated and had red marks on his face to cover a sickly skin color. I have no information about the state of Norm’s health, at this time.

The history of the PMA political action committee came to an end this last February when its offices were raided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. But the real problems for Congressman Norm Dicks began earlier this year with a scathing report by the insider publication in Washington DC the “Roll Call” outlined in some detail many of the very suspicious campaign contributions that Dicks received. This was followed in March of ‘09 by a prediction by the other insider newspaper in Washington “The Hill” when it predicted that many of the politicians included in this PMA investigation might not get re-elected in 2010! Right now Norm Dicks is under intense fire from Democrats and Republicans in his Congressional District for signing on to the massive Pelosi “Healthcare Bill” released this last week; in particular Dicks support for the Public Option. So this new report on his involvement with the PMA Group comes at a particularly bad time for the long time Democratic Congressman, whose seat many thought was SAFE!

Smarting from charges that the newspaper's editorial staff buried sexual harassment charges and other irregularities against Democrat ‘pretty boy’ Dow Constantine, who may lose his bid to become King County Executive, The Seattle Times buried its ‘softball’ version of the Dicks’ story on its back pages. As of this date the 'moron infested', out of town owned Everett Herald isn’t even covering the story. The Dicks campaign hopes the FBI will do the same.

Full Disclosure: Norm Dicks’ brother Les Dicks and I were friends for many years during the 1970’s when we both worked for the Xerox Corporation in Seattle and later Tacoma. I was District Engineering Vertical Marketing Manager, and Les was a territorial Xerox salesman in Bremerton. We attended social occasions together on ‘Frat Row’ at the University of Washington during that time. I am a member of Lambda Chi Alpha. Les and I have NOT been in contact with each other for more than 3 decades