HorsesAss.Org

Sometimes, the Seattle Times makes it too easy to criticize their endorsements. Really, Frank, what were you thinking??

• Jim Kastama for Secretary of State?
• Steve Hobbs in WA-01? They even suggest writing him in for the special election in the old WA-01.
• Dual endorsements for the US Senate (Maria and Whatshisface from Spokane), WA-02 (Larsen and some random Republican), and WA-06 (Derek Kilmer and the richie-rich 1%er from Weyerhauser)?

Even when they get one right, they often get something wrong. Consider state Supreme Court Position 8. In that particular race, with only two candidates on the ballot, the primary will decide who earns a full term on the Court. Like everyone who actually examines the candidates, the Times is endorsing the appointed incumbent, Justice Steven Gonzalez. His opponent is a little-known “strict construction” type, whose sole attribute is that he bears an Anglo-Saxon name. It’s well known, of course, that odd results may ensue in low-turnout, low-information elections. It’s also well known that in such races higher ballot position is a distinct advantage (the other guy’s name is above Justice Gonzalez’s on the ballot), and unfortunately it’s also known that in a state with Washington’s demographics a non-“ethnic” surname is a big edge in low-turnout, low-information races.

That’s why I find it rather disingenuous of the Seattle Times to have chosen the photo of Justice Gonzalez displayed here when they published their endorsement on July 5. Mr. Gonzalez certainly looks, well, ethnic in this image.

But that’s not at all the way he looks these days. For that matter, it’s not what he has looked like for quite a long time. For example, video of the news story broadcast on KING-5 when Justice Gonzalez was sworn in is shown below. That video was shot on January 9, 2012, fully six months ago:

As further evidence, I offer several additional recent photos. The first one shown below is from his page on the Supreme Court website. Presumably, it’s his current official portrait. Also displayed here is a shot from his campaign’s photo page. Now, I could have chosen one of the three pictures showing him with a beard, but I instead picked one of the 48 clean-shaven photos. Incidentally, all of the with-beard photos on the campaign site show his facial hair in a much softer, much gentler, less “bandito” light than the one attached to the Times endorsement. (Yes, that’s Edgar Martinez with him.)

How difficult would it have been for the Seattle Times to locate a current photograph of the candidate they were endorsing for a vital spot on the state’s highest court? Is it presumptuous of me to ask whether anyone of the editorial board of the Times noticed that Justice Gonzalez was clean-shaven when they interviewed him in preparation for making their endorsement decision? Yet they still chose to accompany their endorsement of the Justice with a picture that could easily play into the worst preconceptions held by voters in the low-turnout, low-information primary election for Supreme Court Position 8.

Please join us tonight for an evening of politics and conversation over a pint at the Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally.

Also, if your name is Barack, and you happen to be in Seattle for the night, don’t be shy about an unscheduled visit…. I mean, dude, it wouldn’t be the first time a (former) presidential candidate dropped in on us unannounced (Gen. Welsey Clark).

We meet every Tuesday at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. Starting time is 8:00pm. Some people show up earlier for Dinner.

Can’t make it to Seattle tonight? Check out one of the other DL meetings over the next week. The Tri-Cities chapter meets tonight, the Burien chapter meets on Wednesday, and the Woodinville chapter meets on Thursday.

With 230 chapters of Living Liberally, including twelve in Washington state and four in both Oregon and Idaho, chances are excellent there’s a chapter near you.

– Rick Warren is a real piece of work.

– Fuse’s progressive voters guide.

– Rob McKenna running away from Essex Porter is pretty great.

– I assume Darryl will have more analysis of this Elway Poll, but without wanting to get too excited over one poll, Inslee up 43-36 is good news.

– Jean Godden has a great remembrance of J.P. Patches.

– Mitt Romney just made:

That was so strange to type. I don’t know what to think of it. Still, fuck the Yankees and all, but fuck them a little less on days when he’s playing.

Yes, he’s past his prime. And yes, this will give him a chance to play in the post season, and maybe the World Series, while freeing his position in the lineup and salary for the Mariners. He hasn’t played as well this season as he has in the past. He’s pushing 40, and those infield hits don’t come around like they used to. Management didn’t really know where to put him in the lineup, and maybe there was nowhere to put him in the lineup.

Still, so much of the Mariners’ recent past revolves around him. It’ll be tough to see him in a Yankee uniform.

My questions in Bold, Shelly Crocker’s as they were sent.

1) The state’s paramount duty is education. Do you feel the state is living up to that duty? If not, what needs to happen to live up to it?

In a recent publication, Washington was given a “C” rating for our public schools overall, and is 42nd out of 50 in per-pupil spending. If that is the best we can do in achieving our paramount duty, we aren’t trying hard enough. How to approach K-12 education is a highly contentious issue, however. Voters have rejected charter schools time and again, and it is time to realize that there is no magic fix, but there are things we can do right away to get closer to meet our duty to the state. We need to make sure teachers are adequately paid with cost of living increases, but still held accountable for their performance. Increasing teacher’s attention to each student by reversing the size of our growing class is as simple as re-hiring some of the thousands of qualified teachers who have been laid off in the past few years.

Additionally, the massive cuts in higher education (50% in three years) must be reversed. Our universities are a public good: we cannot make cost a prohibitive factor for students, and burdening students with debt is just another regressive tax.

2) Washington State voters recently rejected an income tax. Most of the revenue that the legislature might be able to pass is quite regressive. Will you push for revenue, and if so, how will you make sure the burdens don’t fall on the poorest Washingtonians?

Washington has the most regressive tax structure in the country, and if we want to give more than just lip service to the different worthwhile services that have been fighting in a zero-sum game down in Olympia, we need to create a fairer and more sustainable revenue stream. However, the reality in Olympia makes it extremely difficult to create substantial tax reform. It is the nickel and dime regressive taxes and fees that have made people so disillusioned with government, and I will do everything I can to avoid creating more of them. Whoever is elected to represent the 46th will have the privilege of being a strong voice for tax reform, including advocating for an equitable income tax, as our District strongly supports increasing revenues.

3) There is a good chance that the State Senate and/or the Governor’s Mansion will be controlled by Republicans after the next election, and certainly most legislators will be more conservative than people who would be elected in a Seattle district. Given that how will you get your agenda passed?

Frankly, to faithfully represent my District, there are many issues I will not be able to compromise on with Republicans. However, the obstructionist politics we’ve seen from Republicans at the federal level lead to dysfunctional government. Washingtonians do share many values, whatever their political persuasion, and I will work to find areas of common ground. Very few bills fit as cleanly along the ideological spectrum as we’d like to believe, and a high majority of bills that pass through the Legislature receive some level of bipartisan support. If Republicans gain a majority in the Senate, I will look across the aisle to find areas of agreement, and I will keep an open mind toward any bill that comes before me in the Legislature, no matter where it came from.

4) You’re running in a race with many Democrats who share similar positions. What separates you from the rest of the field?

All of my fellow Democratic candidates are competent individuals and share similar progressive values, but what sets me apart is the breadth of my life experience. If you name any walk of life, I’ve probably been there. I’m a high school dropout. I came out as a lesbian and left home when I was 15. I came to Seattle, and with the help of Pell grants, financial aid, and other government services I was able to work my way through Seattle Central Community College and the University of Washington. I understand the value of these services, and I can appreciate the situations of the less fortunate among us because I’ve experienced it firsthand.

Now I own a successful law firm, and I see a whole other side of our community. In my work as an insolvency and bankruptcy attorney, along with my continuing work in my community, I work hard every day to make sure people get a second chance. I’m not afraid to stand up against big banks and mortgage companies, and I’ve been taking on those fights in the courts, one family at a time. As a volunteer, I have also worked hard to end homelessness, travelling to Olympia as a citizen advocate to speak with legislators about preserving our social safety net. These experiences have taught me that working together, we can make our world better. It won’t be easy, but I’ve faced up to some of life’s toughest challenges and come through them stronger, and I am ready to take on the challenges of representing our District in Olympia.

5) Seattle and King County give more to the state than they get back. Part of this is reasonable things like the cost of providing education and social services in rural and suburban areas, but part of it is a lack of respect for Seattle and King County with the legislature that treats us as an ATM. How will you make sure your district gets its fair share of revenue without harming education or social services throughout the state?

We are lucky to live in an area of the state with so many successful companies and economic potential, and a part of being so successful means being a tax exporter: the taxes we pay are going to the places that need it most. What is needed is complete tax reform to bring about a more equitable tax system overall. The residents of the 46th District are generally not adverse to paying taxes when they trust that the money is being used fairly and effectively. However, there are also social and infrastructure needs right here in the 46th, and I will not let my constituents be neglected.

– RIP J.P. Patches.

– Bad polling news for the same sex marriage referendum .

– Washington NARAL’s endorsements.

– The Romney campaign buying pornbot followers for his Twitter.

– An absolute ban on torture preceded the Constitution. It was considered to have been a part of the English Bill of Rights. The Founding Fathers were aware of this. Scalia, of course, would prefer that this not be the case, so he can resort to facile textualism as a substitute for originalism.

– The NRA can go to hell.

– Flags will not be flown at half-mast, and the residence of North Philadelphia, East St. Louis, or the city of Detroit will not be getting a visit from the president. [h/t]

– Federalism is great and all, but why let states ban animal cruelty?

– No one messes with the Death Star!!

Last week’s contest was won by Darryl. It was on Whidbey Island.

This week’s contest is related to something in the news from July, good luck!

1 Kings 1:1-4
King David was now an old man, and he always felt cold, even under a lot of blankets. His officials said, “Your Majesty, we will look for a young woman to take care of you. She can lie down beside you and keep you warm.” They looked everywhere in Israel until they found a very beautiful young woman named Abishag, who lived in the town of Shunem. They brought her to David, and she took care of him.

Discuss.

Thom: Some Good, Bad, and Very, Very Ugly.

Sam Seder: Rush Limbaugh’s Batman The Dark Knight Rises Villain is a Liberal conspiracy!!!!!

Lawrence: Anti-tax lobbyist Grover Norquist’s worst nightmare….

Young Turks: Darcy Burner–the aggressive progressive.

Kimmel: This week in unnecessary censorship.

Sam Seder: Nutcase IA Republican appoints herself Senator of Alt. USA.

Thom: How to marry a corporation.

ONN: Week in review.

Susie Sampson does The Young Turks.

Sam Seder: Shrub on his time as President: “8 years was awesome!”.

Thom and Pap: Bain connection to death squads.

Jon on Egyptian tomato throwers.

Mitt’s World:

• Ed: Desperate Romney camp to unleash kitchen sink attacks at Obama.
• Mitt dancing around the issues, Volume I.
• Mitt dancing around the issues, Volume II.
• Ann Telnaes: Caught on kiss-off cam.
• Olbermann: Ann Romney defends decision to not release more tax returns.
• Roy Zimmerman: Vote Republican, the New Hampshire verse:
• Alyona: Mitt’s refusal to give tax returns.
• Young Turks: Tricky Mitt…you’re not a crook, right?
• Mark Fiore: Myttlympics.
• Maddow: Burden of tax return question exceeds Romney’s political skill.
• CNN: Romney’s charges of “cronyism” are false.
• SlateTV: Mitt fails to invite Sarah Palin!
• Even Republicans think Mitt is hiding something.
• Sam Seder: What is the secret behind Mitt’s Magical IRA?
• Obama campaign apologizes to Mitt Romney:
• Maddow: Romney campaign in distress.
• Vetting Mitt’s Veeps: Marco Rubio.
• Young Turks: Mitt Romney’s new Latino ad starring Craig Romney
• Maddow: Racism and the “Southern Strategy” is Mitt Romney’s new political tactic!
• Lawrence’s Day in News: Romney’s campaign desperation.
• Ann Telnaes: Romney will only release two years of tax returns.
• What does retroactively retired mean?
• Roy Zimmerman: Vote Republican, Arizona edition:

Thom: Why would anyone proudly call themselves a Conservative?

Sam Seder with Matt Taibbi: You should be freaking out over LIBOR scandal!.

ONN: This week in history.

Thom: Justice Scalia tells America to, “Get over it”.

Michele Bachmann Investigates:

• SlateTV: Michele Bachmann still pushing Muslim Brotherhood conspiracy despite GOP disaproval.
• Sam Seder: Michele Bachmann suggests Huma Abedin, is a secret undercover Muslim agent!
• Jon: Michele Bachmann and Huma Abedin’s Muslim brotherhood membership.
• Young Turks: John McCain defends Huma Abedin from Senate floor.

Young Turks: Oregon man strip for TSA.

Alyona: Texas Voter ID IS like a poll tax.

Ed and Pap: Gov. Rick Scott’s criminal history will doom voter purge.

White House: West Wing Week.

FAUX Lies:

• Young Turks: FAUX News latest attack on Obama.
• Sam Seder: The FAUX News / GOP lie & the perfect truth behind Obama’s “You didn’t build that”.
• Mitt Romney will say anything to get elected.
• Newsy: Bachmann claims Muslim group is infiltrating U.S. government.
• Alyona’s Tool Time Award: Bill-O Calls Obama A “social justice anti-capitalist”.

Newsy: Nutcase Sheriff Arpaio claims Obama’s birth certificate is fake.

Thom with some Good, Bad, and Very, Very Ugly.

Maddow: House GOP targets defenseless D.C. with anti-abortion agenda.

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

This morning, The Stranger’s Dominic Holden wrote (my emphasis):

As Attorney General Rob McKenna explains this morning, “The national political debate sometimes oversimplifies and narrowly defines ‘women’s issues.'” That’s according to a press release that he didn’t send to The Stranger (but he did send to other media outlets) as part of his campaign to be Washington’s Republican governor.

So…McKenna is still singling out at least one media source and being an asshole to them.

But, since other media got the press release, The Stranger’s Cienna Madrid showed up as press. After all, it is in the public’s interest to understand the “nuance” of McKenna’s position on “women’s issues” like the Reproductive Parity Act. (Explaining his positions was the purpose of the event.) Here’s what happened:

And I’m sure I stood out in my Pretty-Woman-business-casual attire. Nevertheless, his staff greeted me with polite acceptance when I identified myself as press, so I’d bet other reporters were allowed in the Statewide Women’s Leadership Luncheon, where McKenna was enthusiastically unveiling the “key role” women would play in implementing his “New Direction for Washington State,” should he become our next governor.

But his staff became politely unhelpful as soon as I identified myself as a Stranger reporter.

“This is private event and not for press,” one staffer told me. “You’ll have to move elsewhere.”

Holy fuck! McKenna is either astonishingly petty, bizarrely paranoid, or is just fucking frightened of The Stranger!

That’s just Not Very Gubernatorial.

What would he do as Governor? How would a cowering, frightened Rob McKenna be able to hold a press conference where Cienna, or Eli, or Dominic, or (OH MY GAWD!) GOLDY was present.

He might just pee his pants. And in front of all the “good” press, too!

Mark my words. If Rob McKenna is elected Governor, he will institute a new press credentialing process that will exclude any and all access to his office by sources on his media enemies list. This is why all the media should be outraged and all over McKenna for selectively excluding the press.

For the rest of us, here is some homework: Go to twitter and make the #NotGubernatorial a local trending hash tag. Other tags you might include: #wagov #waelex @robmckenna

Update: In which they “forget” to invite The Stranger again, but Goldy goes anyway.

My questions in bold, Jessyn Farrell’s answers as they were sent.

1) The state’s paramount duty is education. Do you feel the state is living up to that duty? If not, what needs to happen to live up to it?

I am the mother of two small children. I went to public schools (in Lake Forest Park and the Shoreline District) and so will they. I want to reinvigorate our state commitment to public schools. I believe we need to provide adequate resources for all our schools and ensure that every child is healthy, safe, and prepared when he or she comes to school. The good news is that with the State Supreme Court McCleary decision there is a mandate in place to develop solutions. But a significant question is how do we build the political will to fully fund our paramount duty to our students without gutting the social safety net that helps our most vulnerable kids?

We will do this by building broad coalitions that support child-centered education and social safety-net policies, organizing community members across the state, and talking to voters about what their tax dollars pay for. My experience at the forefront of the transportation debate for nearly a decade, as an advocate at WashPIRG and as the Executive Director of Transportation Choices Coalition, gives me optimism that we can forge a path forward to comprehensive changes to how we fund education. A decade ago, the transportation discussion was characterized by big, seemingly intractable problems, but a decade later, we have made great progress, and are now doing things like building a light rail system across the region. We did this by working in coalition, organizing, and winning with the voters and I want to apply these same skills to the challenge of making sure we provide all kids in the state with a great education.

2) Washington State voters recently rejected an income tax. Most of the revenue that the legislature might be able to pass is quite regressive. Will you push for revenue, and if so, how will you make sure the burdens don’t fall on the poorest Washingtonians?

I have worked for almost a decade to reform transportation funding, which is regressive and constrains much of our investments to car-centric policies. In the last several years we have had some successes in finding more revenue sources to support transit and bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure but the majority of transit funding still comes from local sales tax, which is volatile and regressive.

Similarly, the state sales tax is unfairly regressive, and we must find alternative ways to fund public services. I want to participate in that discussion and am willing to pursue alternatives, such as closing tax loopholes. What I am NOT open to is the status quo. In my experience with passing eight transportation initiatives across the state is that voters do support taxes when they know what they are paying for and believe that government is accountable, transparent, and efficient in the delivery of programs.

3) There is a good chance that the State Senate and/or the Governor’s Mansion will be controlled by Republicans after the next election, and certainly most legislators will be more conservative than people who would be elected in a Seattle district. Given that how will you get your agenda passed?

Part of being able to win on behalf of King County and Seattle is being able to build strong relationships with legislators across the state. If elected, I would like to develop an “Urban Caucus” with colleagues from Spokane, Tacoma, Bellevue, and Vancouver to develop a joint agenda around education, transportation and social services. We simply need to make the pie bigger and end the zero-sum game that funding for important programs has become. We can do that by building broad coalitions, developing compelling messages for voters, and organizing communities across the state.

4) You’re running in a race with many Democrats who share similar positions. What separates you from the rest of the field?

There are three qualities that make me different: perseverance, the ability to build consensus, and optimism. I know that social change, especially in the legislative framework, can be agonizingly slow. It takes time to build and sustain coalitions, community support, and political will. The effectiveness of these characteristics is proven in my track record of getting things done.

As the Executive Director of the Transportation Choices Coalition and an advocate at WashPIRG, I led efforts to build broad coalitions of business, labor, public health and environmental leaders to advocate for major policy and funding victories including:
– over $25 billion in new funding for bus and rail transit, trip reduction incentives, and walking and bicycle infrastructure.
– Reforming state transportation goals to be people-focused instead of car-focused

5) Seattle and King County give more to the state than they get back. Part of this is reasonable things like the cost of providing education and social services in rural and suburban areas, but part of it is a lack of respect for Seattle and King County with the legislature that treats us as an ATM. How will you make sure your district gets its fair share of revenue without harming education or social services throughout the state?

As mentioned above, the key thing Seattle legislators can do is build relationships with other urban legislators across the state to build a consensus agenda for the unique needs of urban areas.

Two polls in one day! And another one supposedly on the way.

The second WA-1 poll today comes from PPP on behalf of Democracy For America, a group that backs Darcy Burner, but is “independent”. Take that as you wish.

The poll surveyed 521 likely primary voters (about a 4.3% MOE) on the 16th and 17th of July.

Results:

• Koster (R) 48%
• Burner (D) 17%
• DelBene (D) 13%
• Hobbs (D) 5%
• Ruderman (D) 4%
• Rauniyar (D) 1%
• Ishmael (I) 1%
• Undecided 11%

This poll is consistent with the previous poll in showing Darcy Burner with a small lead over Susan DelBene. It also shows Rudderman in 4th place among the Democrats. It is pretty clear that, of the Democrats, Hobbs, Ruderman, and Rauniyar are not much of a factor.

This poll differs from the previous one in showing a more difficult general election for Democrats, since Republican John Koster is at 48% with 11% undecided. While Republicans are more likely to be be decided in this particular race, it doesn’t take many to push Koster over 50%.

Given this poll and the previous on, I’d say the general election is a dead heat.

Update: More poll details here.

Here are some notes:

The survey found 34% Democrats, 39% Republicans and 28% Independent/Other. A weighted average of the earlier Strategies 360 poll and this poll gives:

• Democrats 38.4%
• Republicans 39.0%
• Other 22.6%

Close, huh?

Interestingly, in this poll Darcy Burner gets the lion’s share of Democratic voters at 40% compared to 23% for DelBene. But DelBene gets 14% of the Independent/Other vote compared to Burner’s 9%.

Koster has 88% of Republicans locked-up; only 5% are undecided. Some 15% of Democrats and 16% of Independent/Others are undecided.

The oddest finding is that Koster received 50% of the (~68) non-White “votes”, but only 48% of the White “vote”. Huh?!? This is likely just sampling “error.”

Strategies 360 has released a new poll for the new Washington first congressional district. The poll of 500 likely voters (4.4 MOE) was conducted from 15 to 17 July.

Here are the results (with “leaners”):

• Koster (R) 36%
• Burner (D) 12%
• DelBene (D) 11%
• Hobbs (D) 7%
• Ruderman (D) 3%
• Rauniyar (D) 1%
• Ishmael (I) 2%
• Other candidate 2%
• DK/NA/Refused 26%

A couple of points. Susan DelBene has certainly moved up since the previous poll, but Darcy Burner still maintains a small edge.

Laura Ruderman, who seems to generate as much “buzz”—even before MotherGate—as Burner and DelBene, is surprisingly weak at 3%.

John Koster has dropped 10% since the previous poll.

With the ballots in the mail this week and voting starting, it sure looks like a November contest between Koster and Burner or Koster and DelBene.

But we should have some more evidence soon…at Drinking Liberally this Tuesday, Goldy mentioned two other (non-candidate) polls that were in the field.

What does this poll say about the general election? The above table shows that Hobbs has a very slight edge over the sum of votes for Democratic voters. Furthermore, Larry Ishmael, the independent, is a past Republican challenger to Rep. Jay Inslee in the first, so we can probably “re-purpose” his 2% to the Koster column. (This isn’t quite true…the the crosstabs show Ishmael has about twice as many progressive supporters as conservative supporters!) These numbers make the new 1st CD a split district with a slight Republican lean.

On the other hand, the self-reported partisan make-up in the sample favors Democrats by 43% to 39%:

• Democrat 27%
• Leans D 16%
• Republican 26%
• Leans R 13%
• Independent 13%
• Other/DK/NA/Refused 5%

The evidence in the crosstabs looks somewhat favorable for a future Democratic Representative in the 1st CD. Of that 26% who didn’t know or didn’t answer who they support, the numbers split almost identically between conservative and progressive (about 6.6% of the total sample for each group). Moderates who didn’t offer a preference make up just under 8% of the total sample, whereas moderates who did have a preference, prefer a Democrat to a Republican 3 to 1.

So…until we have more evidence, this general election looks like a tight race with a slight edge for the Democratic candidate.