Letter from Cheryl Crist to PCOs (nominate me, please)

As referenced here, Cheryl Crist is asking PCOs in Washington's 3rd CD to nominate her.

Cheryl Crist letter to 3rd CD PCOs - Upload a doc

Read this doc on Scribd: Cheryl Crist letter to 3rd CD PCOs

Yeah! Ken Balsley's on the internet!

Sweet.

Ken is awesome, and not because I agree with him. Actually, he's about as opposite as I get. But, in addition to his KGY commentaries (which I never hear anymore because I'm never in the car when they're on), he's doing a blog.

Great stuff like this:

To really understand the answer to that question we have to go back to World War II and the Olympia Airport. During WW2 army military pilots used to train at the Olympia Airport and flew scouting missions out over the Pacific looking for Japanese sumarines and planes.

Across the street from the Olympia Airport sat the Airport Inn, a typical Northwest tavern. It was here that pilots, when off duty, would hang out and it was at the Airport Inn where local boys also found time to lift a beer or two.

One evening the two groups met, exchanged words (no one is certain over what but is was suggested a girl was involved) and a fight broke out. Nearly two dozen people were involved.

After investigating the incident, the military commander at Ft. Lewis put Thurston County off-limits. And it remained off limits for decades.

Soliders arriving at Ft. Lewis were told to look in Pierce County for housing and to stay away from Thurston County. And they did. For all of the 1950’s and most of the 1960’s it was rare, extremely rare, to see military uniforms anywhere in Thurston County.

And stupid stuff like this:

Why do we need to allow “Tent Cities” in Lacey anyway? There seem to be plenty of churches and organizations in Tumwater and Olympia which want to provide this service. I don’t think it’s necessary that Lacey join the fray. It also seems to me that the recent Lacey City Council’s 4-3 vote on requiring churches to keep homeless populations inside was just an excuse for banning homeless encampments. A good one, if you ask me.

(Answer: because freedom of religion is for everyone, everywhere).

But, he's blogging, so: Freakin' Yeah!

Did Jon Halvorson scrub Judy Wilson from his website?

Before Judy Wilson decided she was going to run for Thurston County Commission again Jon Halvorson had her endorsement listed proudly on his website. Makes sense, right? Former Republican county commissioner, she brings both experience and cross-party cred to his endorsment list.

One of Halvorson's selling points is that he's endorsed by a lot of county level pols, including at one point (more later) Judy Wilson, a former county commissioner. The question was, now that Judy is running, would he endorse her back, pitting himself against sitting Democratic commissioner Cathy Wolfe?

Looks like that problem has cleaned itself up as Halvorson has scrubbed Wilson from his website.

Check out his new endorsement list here and check out the old list, archived here and screen shot below:

Cheryl Crist making a run at Rep. Brian Baird at 3rd CD nominating convention

Can you imagine a world where a sitting six term Congressman doesn't get the nomination of his party without shooting someone? Rep. Brian Baird could lose his party's official nod if he doesn't turn out the troops to Napavine High School on Saturday, May 17.

His opponent, peace candidate Cheryl Crist wrote letters to the Precinct Committee Officers (I'll scan the letter I got tomorrow) in the 3rd CD asking for their support during the upcoming nominating convention. The letters came a day before the state party's official notification

These nominating conventions are a new addition to the state's political scene and are part of the state party's reaction to a legal battle over the state primary election system. They don't like being told who is going to end up on the general election ballot, so are holding conventions to express the will of the party.

The problem (or from Crist's point of view, the benefit) of the nominating conventions is that they express the will of a handful of PCOs, not the Democratic voting public in general. I expect Crist to get a good portion of the vote next Saturday, if not win the nomination all-together.

Recently, Baird has had a good track record of turning large anti-war crowds that are against his decision to support the Surge:






If the PCOs that can turnout to a rural high school on short notice are still anti-Baird, its likely that he won't get the official party nod this time around.

What's with the quote marks comrade?

I was going to post this on Olyblog, but Sarah beat me to it.

Skelly over at the local public defender blog points to the apparent disrespect in the anarchist-activist-rock-thrower community to public defenders:

danny might be able to get a 'public defender', but there will still be major costs associated with the trial...

If he qualifies for the p.d., what major costs would those be? And what's with the quotation marks, 'comrades'?

Well, as ramblini points out over at OB, Anarchists and Socialists (statists) don't really like each other. I guess as public defenders are an extension of the state, an anarchist wouldn't really like them.

Dave Reichert doesn't like your mom

Dave Reichert, along with the rest of the Washington Republican congressional delegation, voted against Mothers Day.

Orting News in the Seattle Times

Jerry Large:

The Orting News had attracted more than 14,000 subscribers by its third week. Subscribers get an e-mail of its headlines, which reminds them to look at the site and the ads it carries. Subscribers don't pay, but advertisers do.

The biggest story so far was an attempted abduction. Two strangers offered a fourth-grader candy to get into their car, but she didn't do it.

Without the News, Carr says, the local school would have had no way to get word to the community quickly.

The problem with Large's analysis of the Orting News is that it "isn't journalism" and that a similar model, built on trust between neighbors, wouldn't work in a big city setting.

Isn't journalism? Apparently, only a group of poorly paid professionals can do journalism. If citizens try to ask the same questions that journalists would ask, they aren't journalists, but journalers. Large should worry less about professionalism and more about being earnest. Unpros can do journalism, its just harder to conceive that they would.

Also, a set-up like the Orting News would very much work in a big city setting, it would need to be boiled down to a neighborhood level. And, the email back type accountability at the Orting News would actually help build the small town type connections that the Orting News is thriving on.

Living and writing on the east coast? Don't bother with salmon

Gene Mueller in the Washington Times:

All this began when the National Marine Fishery Service (NMFS) agreed chinook salmon off the California and Oregon coast were available only in small fractions of their former number. A population crash was occurring, and the NMFS closed the commercial and recreational fishing for chinooks. Then the Pacific Fishery Management Council, realizing something similar had happened to king salmon, recommended the same for the famous pink fish.

(emphasis mine)

If you're wondering what I'm trying to point out, chinook and king are the same fish.

"You would think moonies would know their salmon," said a co-worker.

LDs rebel and another party thought

Amen brothers:

The 36th District Executive board met last Thursday and decided that the use of a handful of PCOs, some of whom were appointed, was too undemocratic a way to choose a party nominee when there were so many thousands of people interested in the political process this cycle.

Interesting note on the role of parties:

And state law does not allow nominations or endorsements by interest groups, political action committees, political parties, labor unions, editorial boards or other private organizations to be printed on the ballot.

Up until now, political parties have served a quasi-public role in elections. While they were private organizations with free association rights, the nominees that they chose appeared on the general election ballot. But, now the secretary of state has put them with other private organizations that are involved in elections.

Washington State DOT does not use forced labor

I wonder whyyyyyyy Washington State can't get such a good deal on construction projects as the People's Republic of China?? It is simply baffling.

At least to Michael Ennis at the Washington Policy Center:

Can someone explain why China can build a 6-lane, 22 mile bridge for $1.7 billion, but Washington leaders can't build a 6-lane 520 span between 405 and I-5 for less than $4 billion?

I'm just going to assume that a Chinese concrete guy doesn't make nearly as much, or enjoy the same labor protections, as a union concrete guy from Burien.

From “One Year of My Blood” Exploitation of Migrant Construction Workers in Beijing:

Once hired, the lives of migrant construction workers, like those of most migrant workers in Beijing, become closely tied to their employer. Employers generally house construction workers in dormitory-style dwellings on the construction site or nearby and provide meals for the workers at food canteens in exchange for a daily wage deduction of seven to 10 Yuan (US$0.93 to US$1.33). The majority of the workers we interviewed complained that the quantity and quality of the food provided by their employers was inadequate to sustain them for their daily long hours of hard physical labor.

And a press release on the report:

“[We] workers ended up with less than 20 Yuan (US$2.67) per day, and on top of that we’d be deducted eight Yuan (US$1.07) per day for living costs; how are workers supposed to survive [on such low wages]?”

That's the ticket to our state's transportation problem!

Sandra Romero nominated by Thurston County Democrats

Sandra Romero was nominated earlier tonight by a vote of 77 to 63. Its a sham and a shame, but its something we do now.

I got there late, but here are my notes from tonight. I'll hopefully get some time tomorrow to distill my thoughts down. Ignore the typos please:

Turns out I wasn't too late, walked in about 7:30 and John Cusick was still getting through the "why exactly we're doing this again?"

Guy Hoyle Dobson made a valient effort. Weird, I usually disagree with anything Guy has to say, but he made the point of the weird difference between a nomination and an endorsment.

Another lady named Virginia, a PCO, made the point that the state party shouldn't be telling us what to do. We made a resolution from the floor that we wouldn't endorse before the primary during the convention and now it looks like we're going the other way.

Commissioner district 1, Cathy Wolfe nominated by acclimation. I tried to vote no, but it went quicker than I expected.

A few minutes of clearing up everyone in District 2 had the right colored cards. That's how we do credentials in Thurston County, you lift up a different colored card depending on whether you're a PCO, member (and for tonight) where you live. Second district PCOs have blue cards, District 1, pink and PCOs, smaller green cards. So, to keep that straight, I have a pink and green card. The people seeing the real action tonight have blue (district 2) and green (PCOs).

One of the things we didn't really talk about tonight is that someone else could have (theoretically speaking) stood up and stolen the nomination from Cathy, Sandra and John.

John Halvorson talks first. "Who's ready to vote Democrat!?!?" Yeaaaah says everyone. Then he goes into a pretty basic schpeal:

He's experienced, he's been elected before, he's lived here a long time. Almost every county official in this courthouse has endorsed me.

Sandra and I like each other today, we'll like each other tomorrow and tomorrow we'll still be Democrats.

Romero speaks second.

Legislative experience, working in the joint Transportation committee. We need more than roads, we need alternatives.

We need to make sure we don't become everywhere else USA. This is why I support Sandra, she worked so hard with the livable Thurston Campaign. She isn't just running on experience or who she knows, but rather what exactly she's going to do.

Circle name and sign on the back. Not a secret ballot.

Ironically, Fred Finn got the real endorsement/nomination whatever of the Thurston County Democrats by getting campaign services.

Sandra wins the nomination. What was the vote?

I want to thank both candidates for putting up with this rushed and unanticipated thing we had to do tonight.

We voted not to report the vote.

What's likely going to happen tonight (Thurston County Dems nominating mess/sham)

Olympian, PolitickerWA, and Politics is a blood sport are all writing about this incredibly cynical mess.

Though PIABS says the Olympian does a good job explaining things, Brad Shannon actually trips up at a few places:

Halvorson and Romero both say they’ll abide by the results and do the best they can. And later, if both survive the primary to meet in the general election, both can seek the formal endorsement of the local party. If I understand this right, both could be endorsed.

Thurston County Democrats don't endorse. Though we do nominate (for some reason) we don't endorse anyone. We do offer campaign services, and often times (even in non-partisan races) we offer campaign services (which could mean money) to more than one candidate in the same race, but we don't endorse.

He did get this part right:

Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court let that primary become the law — while allowing for future challenges of the runoff primary system if political parties can show voters are confused or parties are damaged.

And that’s what this crazy nomination process is all about: preserving party standing to sue if they don’t like the results after the Aug. 19 primary.

We're doing this tonight not for the sake of democracy, but to sue. We could have done the right thing, but we're not.

So, what we're going to end up doing is nominating either Halvorson or Romero. And that candidate will not actually gain much in the nomination. Probably, though, the public reaction to the nomination will damage the winner more than the loser.

I'll be voting in the District 1 nominating election and will vote no (though we only have one choice) simply because I don't like what's going on.