Apparently, state Senate Minority Leader Mike Hewitt (R-Buttcrack) did indeed moon Sen. Pam Roach, as she alleged… at least according to yet another inflammatory intraparty email, this one from Sen. Don Benton:
“First, the fact that our elected leader, Senator Hewitt screamed uncontrollably at both Senator Roach and myself during the meeting was degrading and embarrassing. I believe it made everyone in the room feel uncomfortable. No one wants to attend a meeting like that and perhaps that is his goal since we are in such dire straights. His immature and vulgar display of lifting his coat and showing his rear end to Senator Roach may be comical to some but was over the top and most certainly behavior unbecoming any senator let alone the leader of our caucus.”
I sure find it “comical,” but not necessarily in the way that Sen. Hewitt intended. As for those “dire straights” Sen. Benton writes about…?
“I was shocked to discover at the meeting that $300,000 of the $400,000 raised in 2007 was also spent in 2007 even though we had no races that year at all. It appears that no attempt whatsoever was made to conserve funds for the crucial 2008 election cycle. This is greatly disturbing. A statewide mailing list composed of only 2600 donors is pathetic. And I hope you caught the fact that $100,000 was spent on direct mail to break even and only add 200 or so additional names to our list. If this wasn’t so sad it would be laughable.
[…] The other serious concern after spending over $300,000 last year is the fact that we still have no candidates recruited for 14 of the 16 “D” seats that are up this cycle. The filing period is only 2 months away. In fact, we only have two candidates, one of which found us. This is a sad commentary on the effectiveness of our whole team in recruiting candidates.”
A “sad commentary”…? Gee… ya think?
Read the whole email over at the TNT’s Political Buzz.
You should see how heated things get when they plag Tag during recess.
This, boys and girls, is indicitive of how the Blue Tsunami is going to finish rolling over this great country.
Republicans LOVE the phrase: “All politics is local.”
It’s laughable that the Republicans are going to stand a chance anywhere in America, local or otherwise.
@2 You are being rather optimistic, to put it mildly. Ever hear the term ‘Hubris’?
I find it disturbing that you folks seem to delight in the pain, suffering and ultimate demise of an honored and historic political movement like the Republi – Republi – Republi…(snicker)….I can’t do it…HAHAHAAHAHA! I tried…HAHAHAHAHAHAHA ….. this is rich….I’m crying..stop….stop….HAHAHAHAHAHA!…
Oh, geez….I haven’t had a good laugh in years. Thanks Goldy!
If the Dems don’t force Hillary to wake up and smell the coffee, they’re probably going to lose the presidential election in 2008. She needs to bow-out so Obama can win. If the Dems nominae Hillary, they are greatly increasing their chances of losing.
@3
The point is that the Republican Party will not be able to reverse this trend unless it rejects certain fundamental assumptions that it’s been operating under when it comes to waging war and running the economy. 2008 could very easily be worse for the GOP than 2006.
@5
I agree. If Hillary wins the nomination in a way that many Democrats see as “shenanigans,” she will be in serious trouble against McCain.
A couple of things jumped out at me from reading the full e-mail:
“If this same behavior is demonstrated toward lobbyists who disagree with him, it is no wonder we have trouble raising funds for our caucus….”
“Anyone that has raised large sums for any organization knows, or should know, major donors are where the greatest potential for growth lies. This needs to be the focus of our efforts.”
“Even the lobbying community is openly criticizing our lack of decisive, effective leadership.”
http://blogs.thenewstribune.co.....ssails_sen
So, Benton thinks that the biggest problem is that the state Republicans aren’t being nice enough to the lobbyist, because they need their money? And the lobbyists are dissatisifed with the effectiveness of the Republicans, so the Republicans need to clean house to satisfy them?
We might wonder who those lobbyists are (BIAW?), but it is a bit unsettling to see, in writing, how clearly the Republican party feels it’s loyalty is tied to keeping lobbyists happy, rather than the voters.
I certainly don’t have a dog in the fight between Hewitt and Roach and Benton. And I don’t know whether Hewitt is doing the best job he can under the circumstances (i.e., political scandals affecting the national GOP “trickling down” to hurt local GOP efforts). But it seems to me that Hewitt is going to be the scapegoat for the GOP problems in the state, whether deserved or not.
I-burn: There is no need for hubris when the opposition is self-destructing. The simple facts are that the Republican party in Washington is self-destructing and they are losing without much hope of coming back. The national trend and the local trends are running against them. Even if there were some trends in the republicans favor – they are too disorganized and incompetent to take advantage of them.
Who would trust this squabbling party to lead anything? When Pam Roach is the voice of reason – the republicans are in real trouble. When Luke Esser can’t even run a primary and give accurate results – that doesn’t reflect well on the republicans in Washington. When the turnout in the presidential primaries is almost 3-4 to 1 democrats over republicans – it doesn’t bode well for republicans.
On top of this, Dino Rossi (whiner and complainer) is at the top of the state ticket and will drag down the rest of the state. Gregoire hasn’t even started to campaign and Rossi is already behind despite his head start. McCain is not going to mobilize the base – and as soon as the Clinton drops out – Obama will start to hit McCain on his multiple problems like lobbyists, a lack of understanding of foreign policy and hypocrisy. Poor McCain better be on the right meds – ’cause he is going to need to be lucid for the debates. Pretending to be an expert without knowing the facts won’t cut it in a debate.
@8: rhp
Good catch. the republicans aren’t trying to win VOTERS back – they are trying to win the confidence of LOBBYISTS to bring in money, to then hoodwink the voters.
Luckily, our local trolls are already hoodwinked and don’t require money to be convinced – just the regular kool-aid.
Not to worry, WA Republicans. Just ask Sheriff Dave to use his franking priviliges.
Another symptom of the Republican problems in this state: there was not even a modicum of a qualified challenger to Dino Rossi for the Republican nomination. He’s the best they can do???? Sure, he almost defeated a Democrat who had troubles in her last state office, led a dispirited campaign, and is an uninspiring public speaker. But you can bet a lot of Democrats will be voting in 2008, so he’s got to do a LOT better than in 2004. It isn’t going to happen.
11: Interesting scenario – Sheriff Dave loses to Burner, comes back home. Does he run for the state legisltature? If so, for what district?
Personally, I see him as working for a lobbying firm, people trying to get contracts with Homeland Security. But I don’t see him generating a lot of business for them, giving that he isn’t trained as a lawyer, was voted out after only two terms in the House (therefore has no seniority or prestige attached to his reputation), and the value of his contacts are diminished since the Republicans are out of office from 2009 onwards.
Just out of curiosity – if the state Republican caucus is doing so bad in fundraising, then how is Reichart doing? You would think they would be trying to raise money from the same sources. If they are giving money to Reichart instead of to the state caucus, then it might be Hewitt’s organizing failures. But if it’s down significantly for both – it doesn’t bode well for the Republicans anywhere.
@3: Ever hear the term ‘Hubris’?
Why, yes. The GOP is the living embodiment of that appellation. Only time will tell if the party learns from this experience, but right now it doesn’t look too good.
@ 3:
Yes, I am optimistic. But, I also understand demographics very well since it’s a major part of my ability to earn an income.
What Republicans ought to be SCARED of is that the polls are so close between BRO or HRC vs. McCain.
John McCain come through the primaries relatively quickly and unscathed. He’s not getting any real negative press while the Democrats are getting nasty. McCain should be soaring in the polls ~ running away with it right now.
What do you think is going to happen to McCain’s popularity once the Democrats coalesce? What do you think is going to happen when the death toll in Iraq closes in on 4500 this fall? The economy sputtering? A recession documented and not speculated? Housing market down? Blah, blah, blah.
I’ll tell you what will happen to McCain, he’ll lag in the polls by at least 10% points by Oct 15th. Put this one in your cache, trolls. See if you have the balls to pull it out after the elections next November.
Dem’s will win the White House.
Dem’s will win have at least 55 – 57 seats in the Senate comfortably. Possibly a filibuster proof majority at 60.
Dem’s will win at least 12 new seats in the House.
It is, in a nutshell, gong to be a shitty year for Republicans. I guarantee you Sean Hannity and the followers will be chastising the Republicans come November. Hannity will say he’s “always been an independent conservative.” They’ll be grousing about how the Republican Party has to rebuild from the ground up.
David Aquarius,
I am glad you have disclosed yourself as nothing more than the partisan hack that Dick Cheney and Karl Rove are. You can’t recognize that the party who fought the civil war and ended slavery along with instituting the 14th Amendment has never done anything worthwhile, that shows along of intellectual honesty. You can gloat all you want, but focusing on the problems of certain individuals instead of the very important issues at hand in our state is a waste of time.
Interesting scenario – Sheriff Dave loses to Burner, comes back home. Does he run for the state legisltature? If so, for what district?
Nope. I think he runs for KC Executive, US Senator or Governor. Whether Smilin’ Dave WINS is another story, but I think it’s unlikely he goes into the minor leagues after being in Congress and getting elected in King County.
Personally, I think he or Rob McKenna would be scarier people to go up against Gregoire this cycle than Rossi. I think Rossi’s going to have a harder time making a souffle rise twice against the same opponent than a newer, fresher face. If I had to pick the guy on the R bench who’s the next big threat (a conservative masquerading as a moderate), it’s McKenna. He’s the next Slade “Skeletor” Gorton (and as I recall, an acolyte of his, as well), with a somewhat similar career path (working his way up from local office to WA Attorney General).
So, is Pammy going to have Mike Hewitt disciplined for creating a hostile work environment?
Oh, the irony!
Also, Jesus H. Christ, the R’s have TWO challengers to incumbent Dems in the State Senate? My God, they really ARE banking it all on Rossi, aren’t they? Hell, the D’s may have a veto-proof majority if they knock off a few more Republicans (though the problem is that with a line-item veto and the fact that usually the Legistlature’s out of town when the budget’s on the Governor’s desk, there might not be an opportunity to override a lot of vetos).
@ 16
You can’t recognize that the party who fought the civil war and ended slavery along with instituting the 14th Amendment has never done anything worthwhile, that shows along of intellectual honesty.
You have to reach back about 140 years in order to find something positive from the Republican party, and then have the testicles to talk about someone else’s intellectual honesty?
There was a time when the Republican party had both liberal and conservative arms. That time has long since passed, and, with nothing left but the most conservatives, the party is dying a horrible death. If this disturbs you, then start kicking some ass within the Republican party. Shove the neo-cons aside, and then we can all get down to the business of running this country.
I think John McKay would be a formidable Republican challenger in this state. When he first “resigned”, I thought that was what they had in mind for him, especially the reference to going into “private industry”. But then came the revelations about the mass firings. When McCain stood up to the national Republican heirarchy and defending himself and the concept of an independent U.S. Attorney system, free from political influence, he found himself in an admirable position with respect to independent-minded voters in this state. He could run for office as a “reform Republican” – everything you want from the party, minus the scandal.
But it’s very debatable whether he could ever win the nomination as a Republican. The Bush & Co. neo-cons have him and his brother targeted as being unreliable & not sufficiently enthusiastic about drinking the neo-con kool-aid. They still have an impressive control over the party apparatus, and he would be branded as a “traitor” for not “lying down and taking it”, after being stabbed in the back by Bush & Co. Which says a lot for him, if it is indeed true that you are best known by the nature of your enemies. I think any candadicy by him would die for lack of fundraising ability.
You have to reach back about 140 years in order to find something positive from the Republican party, and then have the testicles to talk about someone else’s intellectual honesty?
Well, the Republicans were also (at least in part) responsible for the Food and Drug Administration, antitrust law, the interstate highway system, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Earned Income Tax Credit. In this state, they were part of founding the Evergreen State College, the State Department of Ecology, and even went to the voters to ask for an income tax.
The thing is that generally speaking, the liberal/moderate Republicans in the Midwest, Pacific West and East have swapped places with conservative Democrats in the South or in other states, so there’s increased party polarization than there was 150, 50 or even 20 years ago. This hasn’t worked well in Washington State because trading liberal and moderate Republicans for conservatives and evangelicals (which is basically what gradually happened after the Reaganauts like Jennifer Dunn took over) is a career-limiting move in the long run- even Slade Gorton, who used to get elected by basically telling the state they should go “F_ you, liberal Seattle”, and making the occasional maverick vote in the Senate, finally couldn’t win statewide elections any more by 2000. Washington is very much a non-churchgoing state with a long working-class, populist history, and once the GOP traded in their good-government/social liberal/fiscal conservative/environmentally conscious appeal for the Linda Smith/Ellen Craswell/Ken Hutcherson holy rollers, they signed their death warrant as a majority party in this state. For instance, a 1970’s “Dan Evans” Republican in this state is likely now a moderate Democrat, like Fred Jarrett or Ross Hunter. (Dan Evans was elected to the State Legislature in the 1950’s as a REPUBLICAN from Seattle, to give you an idea how things have shifted over time.)
Basically, the only way Republicans are relevant is to the extent they hide being conservatives and hacks implementing backwards GOP policies under the guise of being a moderate (see: Rossi). Reichert ALMOST makes the cut, in that he’s done some things that are meant to burnish his green credentials, except he’s never tried to take a stand on anything that really means a damn and would show the Bush administration he’s not a stooge, like Iraq or taxes. The points he’s picked are pretty minor and pretty calculated.
McKenna’s been fairly competent at being an attorney general, from what I can see, much like Gorton (except for Slade’s anti-Native American fetish), but it’s hard to be extremely political in that office, outside of stuffing it with Republican cronies like Luke Esser, and McKenna’s just not an Alberto Gonzales-level complete hack. That’s probably going to help a lot if he decides to run for Governor in 2012, or the US Senate in 2010/2012, as well as boost his re-election campaign.
Basically, Washington is well on the way to having a Massachusetts-style majority party in the Legislature, with the occasional GOP governor acting as the speed bump, and the Republican caucus reduced to irrelevancy. If that’s what the state GOP is aiming for, they are making a bad choice, in my judgment. What they SHOULD be doing is telling the holy rollers to STFU, strip the links to Reagan-era social issues out of the state party platform and as litmus tests, and make a play for social liberal/fiscal conservative Dems and Republicans. I don’t see them doing that, though, because they love Saint Ronald Reagan too much- even though Reagan was hardly the movement conservative he is memorialized as.
Hubris? Here’s a defining example:
Launching an unwarranted invasion of a foreign country, expecting the children to throw flowers at our soldiers’ feet.
17 If that were to come to pass, it certainly wouldn’t be the first case of “upward failure” in politics.
The biggest problem the “R’s” have is they use the word conservative like some sort of shield, but they are not conservative in any way. All they do is complain.
When the corporatists, war mongerers, neo-cons, and jesus freeks took total control of the GOP, it’s days were numbered.
Regular Americans don’t fit in their party of insane bloodthirsty, zombie like fools, and every thing they say they stand for is a fraud.
To call yourself a Republicon these days would be the same as admitting you were guilty of some sort of crime. Same thing.
There’s been a significant realignment in the last half-century or so in terms of who’s who and what’s what in both dominant political parties, not at all unlike what happened after the Whigs faded away in the early 19th Century. This time, it appears that the presently constituted Republican Party has managed to incorporate all that was bad about either party as they existed at the end of World War II. Not that the Democrats are by any means perfect, in ideals or organization…but the Grand Old Party has morphed into a surreal cadre of crooks, liars and lunatics. What’s left may be old, but it sure ain’t grand.
You all see me trashing the Republiconvicts. I will tell you why. All the people I know that call themselves Republicans have no clue about what is really going on in our country. Our lawless president, corrupt justice department, lies about threats to our security, fraud, secrecy, ignoring pre 9-11 warnings, and the list goes on. They don’t care one bit. They just vote -R without asking any questions.
Zombies
Lemmings
More like traitors.
They all deserve to be insulted. There are not good Republiconvicts. Just an organized crime family.
I just can’t wait till they are extinct.
@27
But tell us how you really feel, eh?
Seriously, I am myself wondering when the GOP gets tried under RICO.
I’ll admit it was low humor but well deserved. As Don Joe said, you have to go back many years to find something positive about Republicans. It’s your party, if you don’t want to fix it then you must accept what it currently represents – hence, my laughter at its decay.
That aside, how can you compare the post-WWII GOP to anything Lincoln stood for? And as for the EPA and other decent gov’t agencies that eponymous@22 mentioned, well, all one has to do is look at the current state of these agencies and ask yourself which administration is responsible for this?
Yes, just as you can may be able to find a daisy growing in a pile of manure, you may find a decent Republican in today’s lot. But they are well-hidden.
I do take exception to being compared to Rove and Cheney. I haven’t eaten a baby seal nor killed any kittens in a long time. I also believe in the Constitution, habeas corpus, presumption of innocence and labor unions. Any one of those disqualifies me, not to mention that I am and always have been a proud member of the human race.
George Bush and Dick Cheney are, in my view, admitted war criminals and, if there is any justice in this world, should be brought before the World Court on capital charges.
@27 You need to take your anger at daddy to a therapist. Gonna eat you up, otherwise… What did he beat your ass, or you got something Oedipal going on?
Hey I-Burn. My daddy is dying from Parkisons. My anger at the GOP is 1,000,000% justified. Bush vetoed embrionic stem cell research to impress a bunch of jesus freaks that think the world is only 6,000 years old. Wait till they break their fuc*ing backs the bastards. The Dems have serious problems, but compared to the Organized Criminal Enterprise the Republiconvicts have become the Dems are gods.
I dare you. Name one Republiconvict that is not a piece of sh*t that votes for the top 1% over the good of the country every chance. I dare you.
Republicans are lemmings, and it is my job to point them to the nearest cliff….. sorry if I offended any “real” lemmings. I sure wouldn’t want to be compared to a Republiconvict.
From the original letter:
“Anyone that has raised large sums for any organization knows, or should know, major donors are where the greatest potential for growth lies.”
The GOP was once (rightfully) proud of having received more donations of smaller amounts, and openly sneered at how the Democrats needed rich Hollywood types to compete. Wow.
“…his style is to tightly control all facets of the operation, avoid caucus meetings, disseminate little to no information and to punish anyone who attempts to criticize or disagree with him.”
Keep on criticizing him like that, and not only will he shoot you in the face, he’ll blame you for it, too!
“…Senator Hewitt has launched a personal attack against Senator Roach…”
He claims she once declined to kick a puppy.
“Rest assured Senator Roach will not sit back and be attacked by Senator Hewitt without a very public response.”
She’ll release video of her spitting on homosexuals.
“We elected Senator Parlette Caucus Chair in part to help fix things and she has unfortunately been shut out of every major decision.”
G.W. Bush feels her pain.
“Even the lobbying community is openly criticizing our lack of decisive, effective leadership.”
If you can’t please your core constituency, you can’t be effective in a demoplutocracy.
“Just what will the rest of you do? I have a serious race to run and I need your help as well as the caucus.”
He finally admits it’s all about him.
“Only a fool continues to do the same thing over and over and expects a different outcome.”
Really, Sen. Benton, it’s Goldy’s job to trash Dino Rossi.
“I strongly suggest serious change if we are to be effective in the future.”
Or, as they say in downtown Seattle, “Spare change?!”
“…we are doomed and unfortunately so are the people of Washington due to our lack of will to make the difficult changes necessary to save us all.”
Starting with the effective use of commas.
Eponymous coward, your postings are quite thoughtful. Might you try your hand at postings?
So much is going on in state government that never gets covered by either the MSM or blogs like HA. That’s too bad, particularly when you consider all of the folks out there working in the trenches who would dearly love to share information if they could protect their privacy.
We need an Olympia insider’s blog that has more depth and independence than those written by mainstream reporters (Postman, et al.) but is a bit more “serious” than HA.
As I said over a year ago, Democrats don’t need to do anything in 2008, except pull up a chair and watch the Republicans self-destruct.
@3 I-Burn lecturing Democrats about hubris is like Ted Bundy lecturing the police about crime.
@35 Since I wasn’t lecturing, the cases are hardly parallel.
The only I’d say for y’all to keep in mind, is that after the ’04 elections, the very same things your side is saying now, were being said by the Right-wing blogs and sites, then…
Undoubtedly, you’re going to claim that this isn’t the same and that it’ll be different now. Maybe you’re right about that. But just maybe you aren’t. A big enough fuck up by the Democrats over the next couple of years, and the Republicans are right back in the game.
I-Burn the Republicon Party is finished. There are not enough fossils living in caves to vote for them, and retardation, compounded by hypocrisy does not appeal much to young people. Stick a pitch fork in the GOP. They are done.
@37 I suspect that “the reports of the death of the Republican Party, have been greatly exaggerated”. However, time will tell the tale, I suppose.
Personally, if the Libertarians end up stronger for it, no problem. Once the Reps are gone, we just have to get rid of you Dems and we’ll be set.
GBS: We’ll talk about this today. “John McCain come through the primaries relatively quickly and unscathed. He’s not getting any real negative press while the Democrats are getting nasty. McCain should be soaring in the polls ~ running away with it right now.”
Pastor John Hagee. His “bad temper”. His war injuries. His age. Newsweek article attack of the conservatives.
He’s being attacked left and right.
Don Joe: Go back 140 years.
Really: http://stoprepublicans.blogspo.....-evil.html
Facts and Positions: Sorry about your father and his parkinsons. But you haven’t been paying attention to the stem cell debate:
http://www.lifeissues.org/clon.....ticle.html
“Past supporters of this controversial research are now speaking out about the false hype surrounding the results. The San Francisco Chronicle recently reported that doubters are coming out of the woodwork. Paul Billings, who studied stem cells’ effects and co-founded a stem cell bank, said that hopes for major new medical treatments based on embryonic stem cells are “very remote”. “The problems are so complex that we’re not likely to be able to tackle them with the stem cell gambit in the foreseeable future.””