In an interview with Publicola, even with Josh Feit softballing it, Rodney Tom decides to act like an asshole. When asked why he’s endorsing someone who would undo the progress made on civil rights for gay people, he decides to attack Seattle.
I think that there is a lot of talk of that. The politics over there get a little weird. If we’re measuring any of their politicians from a Seattle basis, they think Seattle’s crazy, and Seattle’s probably going to think they’re crazy. But overall, she’s an intelligent legislator that I think can serve her community well. I think she’s an intelligent lady that can work her way through some very complicated issues that we need more of in Olympia.
I’ll defend Seattle any day of the week and twice on Sunday, but that’s pretty fucked up. Oh those awful Seattle folks with thinking gay people deserve not to be discriminated against and that workers deserve basic rights. Crazy.
Also, it doesn’t really paint a picture that Rodney Tom respects Eastern Washington either. “Vote for Sharon Brown, you crazies” is maybe not as great a slogan as he thinks it is.
Anyway, later Josh asks him why he didn’t support the DREAM Act on the floor of the Senate if he supports it in theory (the aside is Josh’s):
Sen. Tom: I don’t know. If 25 and 50 are the magic thing to get anything past out of both the house and the senate, that’s a very different element in the way this place has been run. There’s a ton of votes over in the house that I can get 50 votes for that never see the light of day. If that’s going to be the measuring stick, let’s use it for both the house and the senate. [PubliCola, has, in fact, pointed out this Democratic double standard before.]
PubliCola: Can you give an example?
Sen. Tom: A lot of the workers’ comp type issues. A lot of labor issues. Pension issues. There’s a lot of business-centric Democrats like myself over in the house that would be voting for these things that don’t stick in labor states—you know, they don’t love it—but our business communities and small businesses in particular need some of these reforms.
If you wanted to have a say in how the House does business, you probably shouldn’t have left that body. Also, the difference is that the Speaker HASN’T SAID HE SUPPORTS GUTTING WORKERS COMP. The House Speaker killing a bill he doesn’t like is not analogous to the Senate Majority Leader killing a bill he says he is for.
See, that’s why the analogy doesn’t work. If Chopp was trying to convince people he really wanted to gut worker’s comp, then that would make sense to make that comparison. But the leader isn’t going to have a vote on gutting workers comp because he doesn’t want it to pass. In fact, the only way the analogy works is if Rodney Toms critics are right and he doesn’t want the DREAM act to pass. So, we’re all on the same page then.
I bumped into that son-of-a-bitch, Rodney Tom, at a Demo caucus. He put his hand out, but I wouldn’t shake his hand. We need to send his ass packing.
He’s either for it or against it. His words don’t count. His vote does. No more complicated than that.
@1 Yeah, Democrats should ostracize him. He can’t call himself a Democrat but vote like a Republican. If he votes like a Republican, he is a Republican, end of story.
It’s time to recruit a very good candidate so we can primary this guy out of office if he runs as a Democrat, or beat him in the general if he runs as a Republican.