HorsesAss.Org

I don’t expect any candidates to be trumpeting their HorsesAss.org endorsement in their TV ads, but for what it’s worth, here they are.

Governor

For governor, an overwhelming, unqualified endorsement of Ron Sims. You listen to Dino Rossi and Christine Gregoire speak about what they want to achieve as governor, and it’s hard to disagree with them. And then Ron gets up there and tells you how he’s going to achieve it. What this state has sorely lacked for the last eight years is leadership, and for that quality alone Ron gets my vote.

I can forgive Gregoire for her office’s humorless and selective persecution of my “horse’s ass” initiative last year. What I can’t forgive her for is her timid and dishonest reaction to Ron’s bold tax reform proposal. Gregoire called the Sims’ plan “dead on arrival” and said that “leadership is about getting things done.” In my opinion, that’s not leading, that’s following.

And to all you scaredy-cat big D’s who prefer Sims but are voting for Gregoire because you think she’ll be the stronger candidate against Rossi, I say, you get the candidate you deserve.

Attorney General

Up until last week I wasn’t entirely decided on this one. I like Mark Sidran. He’s smart, funny, competent, experienced… exactly the sort of Republican I could see myself voting for. But in a Democratic primary, the edge goes to Deborah Senn, who is equally competent — if not quite so funny — and, well… a real Democrat.

I’d always been leaning towards Senn because I want an attorney general who is more concerned with defending the rights of citizens than corporations. And the million dollar smear campaign engineered by the GOP and the Seattle Chamber of Commerce (figure it out for yourself) was the clincher.

I’m voting for Senn because I think she’ll make the best attorney general. But I’m also voting for her because I want to give the finger to the powerful business interests who tried to buy this election.

(Oh… and in the unlikely case that a Republican is looking to me for electoral guidance, absolutely go for Mike Vaska. Not only is he incredibly more qualified than Rob McKenna, if he wins the nomination it will be a nice “up your’s” to state Republican Party dictator chair Chris Vance.)

Seattle Families and Education Levy

The purpose of this levy is to close the achievement gap between different income and racial groups by providing “readiness for school” programs. Things like preschool, health clinics at high schools and middle schools, social workers to help families deal with truancy and other problems.

Let’s not sugar coat it. If you are narrow-minded, short-sighted and mean-spirited enough to vote against this levy, I’m going to go to your house and grab the money out of your wallet myself, you sick, selfish bastard.

Um… that means, vote Yes.

8th Congressional District

In the Democratic primary, the choice is clear: Dave Ross. Or maybe Alex Alben. They are both strong candidates who I trust to make the right decisions in Congress. Fortunately, I don’t vote in the 8th District, so I don’t have to make up my mind. (And I have nothing against Heidi Behrens-Benedict, except her name is too long, and she’s an incredibly awful public speaker.)

If I was voting on the Republican side, Conrad Lee would be my hands down pick. And that my friends is why I don’t mourn the passing of our ridiculous “open primary.”

Judges

I say, write in Beavis & Butthead creator “Mike Judge” for every position. Like 99.99% of voters, I am totally unqualified to elect judges, so who am I to endorse any?

That said, under no circumstances are you to vote for BIAW-stooge Jim Johnson for Supreme Court. No, really. If you do fill in the little circle next to his name, your ballot will burst into flames, and you’re likely to get a nasty burn.

So that’s it. My hands are cramping so that’s all the endorsements you’ll see from me tonight. Follow them… don’t follow them… it’s a secret ballot, so what will I know.

Just whatever you do, ignore all the “this isn’t the primary we want” whining and get out there and vote. Unless of course, you plan to vote for that nutcase, Jim Johnson, in which case, I suggest you just stay at home.

The truth is, we’ll probably never know who ponied up the $1.5 million to pay for the attack ads on Democratic AG candidate Deborah Senn. The Voters Education Committee… the US Chamber of Commerce… it’s all just part of a shell game designed to misdirect and confuse.

What you can be sure of is that this wasn’t some plan hatched in D.C. to knock out an AG candidate in Washington state. This was a plot conceived and executed here, by prominent Republicans, who then went looking for the money to finance the scheme.

VEC director Bruce Boram — a longtime GOP consultant — is laughably disingenuous when he claims the ads aren’t political. And the state GOP is equally laughable when they claim they had nothing to do with it, despite the fact that their lawyers, officers, consultants, and major donors have their fingerprints all over it.

I’ll be posting a few endorsements later today. It shouldn’t be hard to guess who I’m endorsing for attorney-general.

The reports are in, and the Voters Education Committee’s sole financial backer turns out to be the United States Chamber of Commerce… to the tune of $1.5 million!

Washington state is losing control of its electoral process. First we have Canadian and Nevadan gambling conglomerates buying Initiative 892 onto the ballot, and now we have a DC based organization secretly spending $1.5 million to influence the Democratic primary for Attorney General.

This is both frightening and sad.

I’ll have more on this later after I do a little research.

Supposedly we’ll know tomorrow who paid for the anti-Senn attack ads, but for now at least, they’re off the air. [Group relents; anti-Senn ad to be pulled]

In response to a law suit filed by the Attorney General at the request of the Public Disclosure Commission, the shadowy Voters Education Committee has agreed to disclose contributions by 5PM Sunday, and has voluntarily pulled the ads off the air. Of course, the ads have already run hundreds of times, and in a close primary race, the damage may already have been done. If Mark Sidran beats Deborah Senn by a few percentage points, the VEC will have been well rewarded for their efforts, whatever fines are eventually levied.

The GOP continues to cynically deny that it has anything to do with the unprecedented $1.2 million smear campaign, but if it walks like an elephant, and it talks like an elephant… it’s an elephant. The VEC is run by prominent Republicans. It is clearly just an arm of the pro-business, GOP-backed United for Washington, whose board is filled with prominent Republicans. And the candidate who gains the most from knocking off the Democratic frontrunner is Republican AG candidate Rob McKenna.

Indeed, of UfW’s 21 directors, at least 18 have contributed to McKenna’s campaign.

I’ll say it again: this is an important race, and the fact that powerful business interests are willing to go to such lengths to influence the outcome, shows you just how important. I hope voters send a message on Tuesday that they won’t tolerate such dishonest and illegal tactics… by electing Deborah Senn.

The lawsuits will continue, but the Voters Education Committee has agreed to reveal its anonymous backers by 5PM Sunday. [Group running Senn attack ads agrees to register]

Yeah… we’ll see.

Hades, September 8 — Richard Butler, the late leader of Aryan Nations, was greeted in Hell by angry mobs protesting his white-supremacist teachings. Butler’s long awaited march through Hades was delayed several times when Satan refused to issue a permit, but proceeded late Wednesday after the racist reverend defiantly died, at age 86.

Furious protesters hurled fire, brimstone and obscenities at the newly damned Butler, who appeared less concerned with his heated reception than with the swastika-tipped pitchfork lodged firmly up his ass.

Chanting slogans like “Evil is Colorblind” and “Hades isn’t Hayden”, the inflamed throng raucously jeered the man whose white-hate preaching led to a string of racist murders and assaults. However some in the crowd were more philosophical about their new neighbor.

One protester smiled bemusedly as the condemned hate-monger burst into flames without being consumed, predicting that in addition to eternal torment, Butler was in for a shock: “Once his skin is flayed from his boney white ass, he’ll learn that his soul is as black as the rest of ours.”

(The Associated Press contributed to this report)

The political poop is starting to hit the fan in the wake of the unprecedented $1.2 million GOP smear campaign aimed at defeating Deborah Senn in the Democratic attorney-general primary.

The Public Disclosure Commission met in a special session yesterday after the attack-ads’ sponsor, the Voters Education Committee (VEC) refused to obey state disclosure laws and reveal the source of its funding. At the PDC’s request, the attorney general is asking a court to force the group to disclose its contributors before the Tuesday election.

In response to the PDC ruling and subsequent suit, KING-5 Seattle and KREM-2 Spokane (both owned by the Belos Corp.) have pulled the ads from their TV broadcasts. Unfortunately, none of the other TV stations have been as responsible with the public airwaves.

And today we learn that the VEC’s director, Bruce Boram, has been fired from his role as the political architect of Dave Reichert’s campaign for the vacant 8th district congressional seat. (Sure, Boram says he quit, but political consultants don’t leave paying jobs unless they have to.)

So here’s the question: what the hell is the VEC trying to hide?

When this whole affair started I just assumed it was some wealthy Republican backers playing games with the system, but once they got caught they would obey the state disclosure laws like everybody else. (Well… everybody but Tim Eyman.) I thought the likely culprit was the insurance industry.

But the more the VEC resists revealing its financiers, the more I’m beginning to suspect that there’s something more devious going on here.

The circumstances surrounding the anti-Senn ads have started taking on a life of their own, and unlike the infamous “Swift Boat” ads, the free media is working towards Senn’s favor. Clearly, some very wealthy and powerful special interests want to knock Senn out of the race… proving Senn’s campaign slogan: “Deborah Senn, the people’s Attorney General.”

Responding to a ruling today by the Public Disclosure Commission, KING-5 TV has voluntarily pulled attack ads aimed at Democratic attorney-general candidate Deborah Senn. The ads sponsors have refused to disclose the identity of contributors, as required by law. [PDC calls ads against AG candidate illegal]

Now let’s see if the the other TV stations are as responsible with the public airwaves as KING-5.

After a special meeting today, the Public Disclosure Commission asked the attorney general to seek a court order forcing the Voters Education Committee to reveal the source of its funding.

KOMO News got it online first: “Anti-Senn Ads Break The Rules“

It is time for Republican attorney-general candidate Rob McKenna to tell his party to stop its dirty tricks.

A group of well-connected GOP operatives have launched an unprecedented smear campaign against Democratic favorite Deborah Senn in the final days before the primary. While their $1.2 million budget dwarfs that of the candidates, they have refused to meet a Public Disclosure Commission deadline to reveal their financial backers.

McKenna’s campaign vociferously denies any involvement, but nobody has more to gain from knocking the frontrunner out of the race. A two-time insurance commissioner, Senn is the only AG candidate with statewide name recognition, a huge advantage in what is normally a low-profile race.

If McKenna truly has nothing to hide, then his should be the loudest voice demanding full accountability, because absent evidence to the contrary, the faint money trail is starting to point in his direction.

The state Republican Party has its fingerprints all over the Voters Education Committee (VEC), the organization sponsoring the ads, with a party lawyer, a party officer, and a Republican consultant all at the helm. In fact, the VEC is clearly a creation of the pro-business, GOP-backed United for Washington (UfW).

The VEC was incorporated by UfW chairman William Conner, who has donated $44,000 to Republican campaigns in 2004. Its “Director” is UfW Executive Director Bruce Boram, a longtime Republican consultant. And its IRS forms were filed by UfW Associate Director, Valerie Huntsberry, who also serves as Secretary of the King County Republican Party, and an Executive Board member of the WA State GOP.

While it’s no surprise that Republican operatives and moneymen would do what they can to elect a Republican candidate, the UfW is clearly backing McKenna in more than just spirit. Of the twenty-one directors listed on the UfW website, at least eighteen have contributed money to McKenna, either directly or through their respective company or organization.

Rob McKenna may have had nothing to do with the VEC attack ads, but his backers certainly have.

If McKenna wants to prove he has the character to serve as our state’s top attorney, he needs to demand that his UfW sponsors pull the ads and fully comply with the state’s public disclosure laws.

Anybody catch the gubernatorial debate last night on KING-5?

As intended, Dino Rossi came across as not particularly scary or unreasonable. But he was equally lacking in specifics, preferring to talk about what he wanted instead of how he was going to get there.

Ron Sims on the other hand was his usual mix of passionate wonkishness. There wasn’t a single question tossed his way that he didn’t answer directly. I’ve always liked that about Ron. And for the most part, I also liked the specifics of his answers.

But of the three candidates, Christine Gregoire made by far the biggest impression last night… by her absence.

What the hell was her campaign thinking?

As the putative frontrunner I can see why she might refuse to debate Sims or Rossi one-on-one… why give her opponent any extra exposure? But by ceding the stage to Sims and Rossi, she merely came across as arrogant and aloof. This was a lose-lose situation, and both her opponents gained in her absence.

I assume that she assumes the primary will be a cakewalk, but my guess is that Sims is going to make this race a lot closer than Gregoire thinks. If she does manage to pull out a close victory, I hope the near-death experience scares her into taking her remaining opponent seriously.

Ideology aside, Rossi is clearly the least qualified, least prepared, and least impressive of the three candidates. But voters have repeatedly proven their willingness to elect unqualified, unprepared, unimpressive leaders.

Washington voters are not going to elect a governor based on name recognition alone. If Gregoire wants to win by comparison, she’s going to have to show up.

Also in the P-I: “Anti-candidate ad backers must be named“.

It’s great to see the PDC acting so quickly. (To something.)

The article also goes into greater, connecting the anti-Senn attack ads to the state GOP. Tsk, tsk.

Perhaps I was premature. (Or maybe I helped nudge them into it?)

But after I admonished editorial boards this morning for their silence on the unprecedented $1.2 million smear campaign launched against AG candidate Deborah Senn, the Seattle P-I has shut me up with a strongly worded editorial: “Cowardly campaigning.”

Yet another strike in favor of keeping Seattle a two-newspaper town.

Where is the outrage?

A handful of well-connected GOP operatives are running $1.2 million worth of attack ads to knock Democratic AG frontrunner Deborah Senn out of the race. This unprecedented “independent expenditure” has changed the whole nature of Washington politics overnight, with nary a word from our solemn editorialists.

Suddenly, any powerful special interest with an axe to grind and money to burn can determine the outcome of a statewide election simply by drowning the candidates in a torrent of paid media. To put this in perspective, more money is being spent on a 10-day TV smear campaign than by all four AG candidates combined.

And thanks to the state GOP’s cynical manipulation of public disclosure laws, voters will have no idea where the money came from until well after the primary election.

Of course, we expect this from Republicans and their wealthy allies, so maybe that’s why the media doesn’t consider this big news — I suspect a similar campaign by Democratic operatives against Rob McKenna or Dino Rossi might attract more criticism. And of course, many editorial boards have endorsed her opponent, so why come to Senn’s defense?

But if this naked attempt to throw an election with unregulated money is allowed to stand unchallenged, it sets a terrible precedent for future elections for other statewide offices.

Perhaps timber and building interests will install an industry friendly Lands Commissioner by blowing a wad of cash on that low-profile office? Or maybe conservatives will pony up the bucks for a pro-voucher, pro-charter schools Superintendent of Public Instruction?

But the best value for smart special interest shoppers might just be packing our courts with partisan judges… races that traditionally can afford little if any paid media. A million dollars, strategically spent, could change the entire makeup of our State Supreme Court.

The editorial boards have apparently chosen to stay quiet, perhaps out of sympathy for the attack ads’ goals. But next time around, when they start screaming because one of their favorite candidates is getting gored, it will be too late.

Later this week I fully expect the Public Disclosure Commission to announce that they are launching an investigation into Tim Eyman and his various PACs, based on a complaint that we filed last week. How thorough an investigation remains to be seen, but I just don’t see how Tim can explain away the facts.

One of the interesting details of our complaint was the request that the investigation include Data Resources, Inc., the firm Eyman uses to produce his bulk mailings. We contend that a $26,000 expenditure from the I-864 campaign paid for a fundraising letter on behalf of Tim’s personal compensation PAC. The only way to truly prove or disprove this allegation is to subpoena the company’s records to learn the details of the June 18 expenditure, so we can learn what was actually mailed out, who it was sent to, and when the copy was received from Eyman.

But once the PDC starts investigating Data Resources, Inc., it may be hard to stop. The company seems to be involved in a number of other unreported or late-reported in-kind expenditures from one committee on behalf of another. And the incestuous ties between Data Resources, Inc., Tim Eyman and the gambling industry raise even more suspicions.

Data Resources, Inc. is owned by Vito Chiechi, one of the state’s most powerful and influential lobbyists. He and his daughters, Dolores and Maria, have made a career representing “sin” industries — such as alcohol and gambling — through their firm, Chiechi Associates.

Indeed, the lobbying arms of the gambling industry are little more than appendages of Chiechi Associates. Delores Chiechi succeeded her father as executive director of the Recreational Gaming Association, the gambling industry’s most vocal representative in Olympia. Maria Chiechi is on the staff of the Entertainment Industry Association (EIC) the organization that has for years been pushing the slot machine bill that became Initiative 892. The EIC’s executive director is Linda Matson, who is also a principal of Chiechi Associates. In fact, in public documents Matson’s email address often appears as “eic@chiechi.com”.

As you can see, the two powerful lobbying arms of the gambling industry are run out of Chiechi Associates, whose principals also own and operate Data Resources, Inc., a firm that over the years has consistently been one of the top vendors benefiting from Tim Eyman’s various campaigns… over $215,000 worth of business in the last two years alone!

So when the Chiechi’s instructed their clients in the gambling industry to funnel their money to Eyman in support of I-892, how much of this was a shrewd political calculation, and how much of this was payback for Tim’s steady business? Tim earned $50,000 in salary from I-892, and who knows how much more through his various other shenanigans.

And while I don’t have any hard evidence, I suspect there are other shenanigans. I’ve always been suspicious of the high price Tim’s committees pay Data Resources, Inc. for his mailings. He’s either supplementing his own list with a huge rented list (80,000?), or he is dramatically overpaying.

So, I’m curious… does Data Resources, Inc. or Chiechi Associates ever hire Tim as a “consultant”? Apart from dropping I-892 in his lap, what other favors have the Chiechi’s done for one of their best clients?

It’s a tangled web, I admit. Hopefully, the PDC can serve as a balance on the Chiechis.