HorsesAss.Org

Am I a great dad, or what? I mean, really… how many dads manage to get a picture of their daughter’s beloved teddy bear into the local paper? Sure, I’m somewhere in the picture too, but well… been there, done that.

Of course, the accompanying story isn’t about my daughter’s teddy bear at all… it’s about how us local bloggers are beginning to impact local politics.

Democratic congressional candidate Darcy Burner can’t match the public-service record of her Republican opponent, Rep. Dave Reichert, but she can make one claim in their contest that’s hers alone: She used to be a blogger.

That experience, and the Internet savvy that goes along with it, has led Burner to reach out actively to the regional left-leaning blogger network — a connection that may have played a key role in helping her meet a crucial fund-raising target. The Burner-blogger relationship could point the way to the political future, in which Web-based activism exercises a growing influence over regional, statewide and even national elections.

The Seattle P-I‘s Gregory Roberts describes how WA state’s emerging local blogosphere is beginning to inch from advocacy to full blown activism, and I remain convinced that if the “netroots” are going to have a major impact on local politics, it’s going to happen here first.

The Burner fund-raising drive could signal a change in the blogs’ role, Goldstein said.

“We’ve been doing advocacy; now we’re finally going to see some sort of impact in terms of activism,” he said.

“The blogosphere is just maturing to the point where we can get people out there moving, and digging into their pockets.”

Man, that David Goldstein guy really knows what he’s talking about.

No doubt Burner deserves most of the credit for her strong fundraising and growing buzz, but it’s clear we’ve contributed something to her early success. And while I don’t want to over-hype the impact of bloggers in the current election cycle, I do think that some critics are missing the larger picture:

To Clay Shirky, an adjunct professor in the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University, the larger question is whether blogs can change voting patterns.

Their rabid partisanship attracts mostly true believers, and they end up screeching to the choir.

“Blogs are good for motivating the base,” Shirky said. “They’re not good for convincing swing voters.”

Yeah, well… maybe so. But motivating the base is exactly what Burner needed in the early going. Her task was to convince Democrats that she could excite people… that she could raise money… that she could win. And with our help, Burner did exactly that.

Convincing the swing voters, well, that’s Burner’s job. But at least now she’ll have a chance to do it on a more equal footing.

UPDATE:
I just saw a PDF of the P-I‘s front page, and all I can say to Stefan is: mine’s bigger than yours. (Also, both Apple Computer and the fisherman glove industry owe me a promotional fee.)

Stream courtesy of Crooks and Liars.

Not much of a surprise at this point, but TruthOut reports that Karl Rove has been indicted. Oh… and get a load of this: a copy of Joe Wilson’s column in the NY Times, personally marked up by Dick Cheney. Could the VP be next?

Way back during the heat of the 2004 election contest controversy, evidence of duplicate registrations, felon voters and dead people still on the rolls were used to fling charges of incompetence, negligence and corruption at King County Elections. Evergreen Freedom Foundation president Bob Williams even publicly called for elections director Dean Logan to be jailed.

What an asshole. (Williams, that is.)

What these vicious, partisan blowhards conveniently ignored was the fact that for all the duplicate registrations and such, there was very little evidence of double voters, and that these registration irregularities did not just occur in King County, but were endemic across the state and throughout the nation. That’s why as part of the Help America Vote Act, the US Congress had required states to develop statewide voter registration databases… a database WA was in the process of creating in November of 2004.

Well, WA’s database went online this past January — as long scheduled — and yesterday Secretary of State Sam Reed announced that they had culled 55,000 duplicate registrations and dead people from the rolls.

Good.

That’s one of the reasons why we spent all this time and money building this database. As for its actual impact on actual voter fraud….

But investigations of the records found very few cases of potential voter fraud. About 30 cases of possible double voting were forwarded to county officials for investigation, Reed said.

In most cases, he said, people moved and forgot to notify their local election offices — a common problem for voting regulators.

“They’ll change their magazine subscriptions and they’ll change a lot of other things, but they don’t bother to contact their elections officials and say, ‘Cancel my registration,’ ” Reed said.

Officials also aren’t aware of any cases of votes cast under the names of deceased people, Reed spokeswoman Trova Heffernan said. Election officials simply had not been notified of the deaths.

Of course, all this comes as a big disappointment to elections conspiracy theorists like our good friend Stefan and the folks at the EFF, where Jonathan Bechtle, director of their Orwellian-named “Voter Integrity Project” used Reed’s announcement as an opportunity to once again slam him and other elections officials:

“It’s an indicator of the systematic problems, and it’s not going to be solved by a couple of months of checking. It has to have some real leadership to change how the system works,”

What an asshole.

Putting aside for a moment the question of how big a problem these “systematic problems” really are, of course it’s not going to be solved in a couple of months… it takes years. Development of the statewide database was initiated well before the 2004 election, and the full benefits won’t be realized until well after its go-live date. Similarly, Dean Logan had only been running KCRE for a little more than year before the infamous gubernatorial statistical-tie put his office under the microscope, at which time he had only begun to implement a series of planned reforms.

To critics like Stefan and the assholes at EFF, every flaw or error is an opportunity for a personal attack. Dean Logan, a quiet, mild-mannered, (dare I say “nebishy”) apolitical technocrat is vilified as the evil mastermind of a corrupt Democratic machine. And we’re told we must put “real leadership” as SOS, because Sam Reed largely chose to honor the obligations of his office over the partisan demands of his Republican Party. (Florida’s Katherine Harris and Ohio’s Kenneth Blackwell represent the GOP model of “real leadership” in an elections official.)

Reed says his office is investigating another 900 registrations that might be from felons who haven’t had their voting rights restored, and while I strongly disagree with our voter disenfranchisement laws, I suppose this is another example of the statewide database doing its job.

And another example of our elections officials doing their jobs as well.

So, the number three man at the CIA has both his home and his Langley office searched today. This is the FBI getting warrants to search CIA offices as part of a criminal investigation. How fucked up are the Bush cronies?

Imagine the howls of scorn from the media if this kind of scandal had unfolded during the Clinton administration.

Apparently, Nordstroms strongly supports gay-bashing John Birchers who shoot retarded people in the back. At least that’s what I conclude from the fact that John N. Nordstrom, the department store heir, director, and former co-chairman, has given yet another $25,000 to Dennis Falk and his Initiative 920 campaign to repeal the estate tax.

Joining Nordstrom ($50,000) in selfishly bankrolling the political career of a hateful, right-wing nutcase, are Careage Development founder Gene Lynn ($20,000), Seattle developer Martin Selig ($17,500), Alaska National Insurance Chairman George Suddock ($16,000), and the Vander Pol family, owners of Oak Harbor Freight Lines ($12,000).

Over 82 percent of I-920’s funds come from principals at these five companies… companies I personally would avoid patronizing.

And what are these rich folk getting in return for their money?

Bupkes.

After paying himself, Falk has foolishly frittered away the bulk of the $140,000 raised thus far, by paying to insert petitions into various local newspapers and business journals… a signature gathering strategy that most experts will agree has virtually no chance of succeeding.

Sure, I-920 could easily qualify for the ballot with a paid canvassing campaign ($400,000 minimum investment), but the committee does not report a single dime expended on signature gathering thus far. Nor does it have anything resembling an organized volunteer campaign. So Falk is not only a gay-bashing, murdering Bircher… he’s also a goddamn amateur.

If the Nordstroms have this kind of money to throw away bankrolling a violent, right-wing extremist like Falk and his futile, incompetently run signature drive… it doesn’t say much for how responsibly their heirs will spend their money, should they inherit it 100% tax free.

So, hypothetically… if you were a former insurance industry super-lobbyist running for the US Senate, and you wanted to downplay your lucrative past to voters, would you…

A) Have the American Insurance Association throw you a big fundraiser in Washington D.C.?
B) Rake in over $275,000 in campaign contributions from the insurance industry (more than any other industry)? or
C) Invite AIA President Marc Racicot to fundraise for you in your home state?

Well, if you’re Mike McGavick, you apparently do all of the above, with Option C having been accomplished just yesterday.

According to the Spokesman Review, Racicot, the former RNC chair and current AIA president, was out in Spokane raising money for McGavick, who himself was a top AIA lobbyist back in the 90s, and until recently, its vice-chairman.

Hmm. Funny way to distance yourself from your lobbying days. But then, McGavick and Racicot have a lot in common.

Both cashed in on their political connections to earn big bucks lobbying for wealthy corporations and against the public interest… Racicot as “the star of Enron’s Western states ‘advocacy team,” in which role he once lobbied Gov. John Kitzhaber of OR without revealing his connections to Enron… and McGavick as the AIA’s top lobbyist on Superfund cleanup legislation.

And both have well deserved reputations for running political smear campaigns. As RNC chair, Racicot was intimately involved with misleading, negative attack ads nationwide, and earned a reputation for sharply partisan rhetoric during the Florida recount in 2000. And McGavick’s reputation for political shrewdness is large based on running Slade Gorton’s 1988 campaign, which according to the Seattle Times is “still remembered for negative TV ads.”

One Gorton ad suggested opponent Mike Lowry wanted to legalize marijuana, and others compared his appearance with that of Yasser Arafat.

Yikes. And this from the guy who says he wants to restore “civility” to the Senate.

You’d think McGavick would want to keep as far away as possible from characters like Racicot, who might remind voters of his history as a political hatchet man and lobbyist. But I guess it’s kind of hard to run from your past when it’s financing your campaign.

Democratic challenger Richard Wright wants Rep. Doc Hastings to step down from the chairmanship of the House Ethics Committees. Of course, Hastings won’t step down, but then what do you expect from a man who ran for office in 1994, pledging to limit himself to six terms, but is now, oops… running for his seventh.

MoveOn.org co-founder Joan Blades and environmental activist and feminist author Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner will be at Town Hall tonight plugging their new book, The Motherhood Manifesto, and kicking off MomsRising.org, a grassroots movement to get women more active in changing legislative and workplace policies regarding women and families. (Lynn has some more info over at Evergreen Politics.)

Tickets are $5 at the door, Town Hall, 8th & Seneca, 7:30 PM. Kids are both welcome and free, so bring the whole family.

I intend to be there, and hope to bump into Mr. Rowe-Finkbeiner to wish him the best of luck in his new endeavors, and to thank him for supporting his wife in hers.

Live by the shield, die by the shield, that’s what I say.

Rep. Dave Reichert has fashioned a comfy political career out of flashing his badge and campaigning as the “the Sheriff”… the man who took all the credit for tracking down the Green River Killer. But if he’s going to claim his experience running the King County Sheriff’s Office as his primary qualification for representing Washington’s 8th District in Congress, then he owes it to voters to answer questions about his tenure as the county’s top cop.

The Seattle P-I continues its series today, “Conduct Unbecoming”, exposing a history of mismanagement in the Sheriff’s Office, and once again, Reichert refused to cooperate:

Although two lower commanders recommended Saulet be fired, then-Sheriff Dave Reichert decided to suspend him for eight days.

Reichert, now a U.S. congressman, declined to comment.

Throughout the P-I‘s months-long series of investigative reports, Sheriff Reichert has refused to answer questions from reporters, even though he was the man in charge during much of the time covered. It was Reichert who ultimately failed to properly discipline or fire deputies who had committed serious crimes and conduct violations… and as the latest P-I installment reveals today, his lax attitude towards bad cops has cost taxpayers millions. And yet still, Reichert refuses to talk to reporters.

This is totally unacceptable, and our local media should be ashamed of themselves for continuing to let Reichert get away with his shrewd silence.

I don’t blame the P-I reporters covering this growing scandal; the most they can do is continue to badger him and then report his intransigence… and that they have done. But their colleagues at other local media outlets, and the editorialists on their own Op/Ed pages have fallen down on the job.

This is a major story in which Reichert played a major role, and he can’t be allowed to simply escape comment because it is politically inconvenient.

That reporters, columnists and editorialists continue to puff him up by touting Reichert’s experience as Sheriff — and yet refuse to hold him accountable for the job he did in that office — is a disgrace.

If Reichert has nothing to hide he should talk to the press, for voters have a right to know what kind of job he really did as Sheriff. But if he continues to suspiciously maintain his silence, voters have a right to know that too.

It was two years ago today that I transformed my old initiative campaign website into a political blog… and 1624 posts later I’m still not exactly sure where I’m going.

Re-reading my first blog entry, “Comedy is easy, politics is hard,” I’m a bit embarrassed by my naivete, yet proud of how firmly I’ve clung to my original vision. It is also clear that I underestimated the willingness of my friends in the media and the political establishment to see through my sarcasm and irreverence to the serious political dialog at HA’s core… not that it didn’t take some hard work.

It was easy, I suppose, for our friend Stefan to initially imply a certain degree of credibility by naming his blog “ClearSkies.com” (or whatever he calls his Orwellian-named hokum,) but turning “HorseAss.org” into a respectable brand… well that took some doing.

Of course, nothing I write would have any impact whatsoever if nobody read it, and so I didn’t want my “blogoversary” to pass without thanking all my readers for giving me a reason to write every day. Except for the handful of right-wing pricks who litter my comment threads; you can go fuck yourselves. But the rest of you… thanks.

Apparently, Florida Republicans have a Katherine Harris problem: she’s so divisive and hateful that she can’t possibly win the general election for US Senate… yet the GOP faithful are still so thankful to her for helping to steal the 2000 presidential election for George Bush, she’s nearly impossible to beat in the primary.

At least, that’s the analysis of the folk at The New Republic, who also reveal this breath-taking fit of honesty on the subject from a member of WA state’s GOP royalty:

Meanwhile, a Fox News analysis of the race this morning delivered a real gem. Former Republican Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn of Washington was sticking up for Harris, whom she described as a friend. Among her talking points was that Harris had done “yeoman’s service for president Bush”* during the 2000 recount. Of course, the official GOP talking point has always been that Harris served no one but the law. “I was just doing my job,” Harris likes to say. Nice to hear someone finally say what we know they’re thinking.

Oops. That’s the sort of thing you’re allowed to think, but not say. And Dunn used to be so shrewd.

Let that be a warning to other elected officials looking forward to a cushy, lazy semi-retirement as a high-priced lobbyist — it addles the mind.

In a tremendous show of support for a congressman who has risked his personal finances to defend the First Amendment, former President Bill Clinton will join Rep. Jim McDermott on stage, for a town hall style, grassroots discussion, on June 3, from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm.

Unlikely the ritzy, high-priced events former presidents usually headline, general admission seating is only $50.00, while a limited number of VIP seats will be available for $100.00. All proceeds will benefit Rep. McDermott’s campaign committee, Friends for Jim McDermott Committee.

Why is President Clinton going out of his way to raise money for a popular congressman who would likely win 80 percent of the vote this November without spending a dime? Because Rep. McDermott is in the midst of a multi-year legal battle that will cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees if he wins, and well over a $1 million if he loses.

McDermott could have settled with little more than an apology years ago, but that would have meant selling out the Constitution. Unlike some congressman, McDermott has never been one to use his office to enrich himself, and now he stands to lose his own house, even if he ultimately prevails in court.

But however you feel about Seattle’s congressman, this event is a rare opportunity for average folk to interact with a President… especially one who reminds of us of an era when we actually liked our President.

Wow. Things got a little wild at Drinking Liberally last night. 43rd LD candidate Dick Kelly showed up with a marching band, and The General stopped by to party righteously. And Dave Neiwert — perhaps the nation’s leading authority on right-wing extremists — actually lost his virginity.

Of course, I’m talking about his Podcasting Liberally virginity, as Dave joined me, Will, Mollie, Carl, and Lynn for our usual mix of inside politics, witty banter, and tedious, technical legislative deconstruction sage analysis. Topics of discussion included Net Neutrality Internet Freedom, Sen. Maria Cantwell’s problems with anti-war Democrats, Joni Balter’s boner for allegedly moderate Republicans, Porter Goss’s boner for hookers, plus hate crimes, the Sonics’ bluff, and of course, right-wing bloggers.

The show is 56:23, and is available here as a 36.2 MB MP3. Please visit PodcastingLiberally.com for complete archives and RSS feeds.

[Recorded live at the Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally. Special thanks to Confab creators Gavin and Richard for producing the show.]

What a putz.