From the "Since you asked..." file.

Jonathan Golub wonders, in a slightly less than family friendly - and hence slightly bowdlerized - fashion...

Are State politics in Washington really this f***ed up—where ire against Seattle overrides basic public safety?

Since you asked, yeah, pretty much.

Good question...

...from Washington State Democratic Chair Dwight Pelz...

"Dennis Kucinich has to decide what his legacy is going to be. Will he be remembered as a principled member of Congress or the narcissist who lost two Congressional races in two states the same year?" 

Of course, Dwight's made it pretty clear what he thinks all along.  I think he's right. Dennis, though, wants to know what you think.  I encourage you to discourage him.

Lock up your daughters.

Gingrich plans stop in Washington this week

From the "Hooray for us!" file.

Our little outpost in the upper left corner of the map has been, erm, tapped as TAPPED's State Of The Week.

Hooray for us!

Marriage equality?

Not just a good idea, it's about to be the law…

7:58 p.m. "Mr. President, 28 yeas, 21 nays." (That's 24 Democrats and 4 Republicans voting yea, and 3 Democrats and 18 Republicans voting nay.) THE BILL PASSES. It now goes on to the state house, where it's assured passage, and then to the governor's desk, where it's assured her signature.

The good guys win again. The fundies are going to drag this to the ballot, but that's a fight we can win, too.

It's not the first time I've been proud to be a native Washingtonian, but it's one of the most satisfying. Hooray for us.

From the "Credit where it's due" file.

At least Arizona Governor Jan Brewer makes me feel better about Washington Governor Christine Gregoire.

Not great, mind you, but better.

Try as I might...

...it's hard to give Chris Gregoire much more than a half-hearted cheer for her lame duck conversion to support for marriage rights. I guess I should acknowledge that it's something more than a political caluculation, since it's pretty hard to imagine any political future for the Governor. Her apparent sincerity notwithstanding, though, and as important as the issue is to me, the move comes to late, I'm afraid, to rehabilitate a reputation marred by years of compromise and capitulation on a range of progressive concerns.

So yay, I guess, for knowing that a bill will get signed if it gets passed, but with Gregoire's political capital ledger now being recorded in red ink, I'm not sure what else her tardy support will do for the cause.

I'm biased…

…because it grants my wish and lets me keep my own personal Congressman, but the Gorton/Ceis Congressional redistricting map looks pretty good to me.

From the "Why not Washington?" file.

Good news from the lower upper left...

Calling the system "compromised and inequitable," Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber has stopped executions in the state during his tenure.

Our governor's a lame duck already, so there's no political cost and great human gain to be had following Kitzhaber's example, which begs the question, why not Washington?

What if they had an election…

…and our side won? Won a bunch. All over the place.

Like I said, yesterday was a good one for the good guys.

Key Republican issues and political strategies took hits from coast to coast. Voter suppression? Maine offered the first blow for liberty of the day, restoring the same-day voter registration that Republican legislators had taken from them. Mississippi, of all places, scored a hat trick of sorts, setting back the Republican anti-science, anti-choice and anti-woman agendas when they rejected Amendment 26, which would have granted "personhood" to embryos.

Republican ant-unionism was dealt a critical blow by Ohio voters, with 82 of 88 counties rejecting Gov. John Kasich's attack on public-sector workers right to organize and bargain collectively. Republican anti-immigrant champion Russell Pearse, President of the State Senate, was removed in a recall election after sponsoring legislation that provided a blueprint for devastation of agriculture in several states. (Another noteworthy Arizona outcome - both Tucson and Phoenix have Democratic Mayors for the first time in decades.)

Here in the upper left, voters approved stronger training and regulation requirements for home health care workers, took the state out of the retail liquor business (a probably good thing accomplished in a highly dubious fashion) and, so far, are rejecting Tim Eyman's effort to cripple our transportation infrastructure.

Our local elections have turned out to be a pretty status quo affair. Where the results are clear, they're clearly in favor of incumbents for the most part.

Sherril Huff will continue as King County Director of Elections with over 75% of the vote against a patently unqualified challenger. Port Commissioner Gael Tarleton has a margin of 33,000 votes over her opponent, but apparently won't be joined by fellow reformer Dean Willard, who trails incumbent Bill Bryant by a margin of 37% to 62%.

Here in Shoreline, that pro-incumbency trend holds, with City Councilmembers Chris Eggen and Doris McConnell having margins of over 60% after the second day of ballot counting. I'm afraid that means my friend Janet Way won't be returning to the Council, but the Janet I know is indefatigable, and it won't be long before she sets her eyes on a new target for her effective activism.

In the open seat for Shoreline City Council, Jesse Salomon is less than 500 votes behind former Planning Commissioner Robin McClelland, still too close to call in my view.

Our School Board incumbents, Mike Jacobs and Richard Potter, appear safe at this point.

After the Huff/Greene and Willard/Bryant races, the campaign that brought generated the most search engine interest according to my logs was for our local sewer service, the Ronald Wastewater District. Bob Ransom, a fixture in local politics for decades and a former School Board member and City Councilmember, took on longtime sewer commissioner Arne Lind, largely over the question of whether and how the city should absorb the district. Ransom says it's time, and that it can be done administratively. Lind is not so sure, and favors a public vote before any change is made. Ransom, with an overwhelming advantage in name recognition, is leading by a scant 311 votes in another race I won't be ready to call for a while.

So what happened where you are?

From the "Don't let the door hit ya'" file.

Occasional Democrat Brian Sonntag is giving up his 20 year tenure as State Auditor.

There's only one, so we'll have to look for more Democrats elsewhere, but this is a fine opportunity to work on the better Democrats part of the equation.

The line forms to the left, hopefully...

From the "Goofus & Gallant" file.

Representative Gallant and his cousin Senator Gallant are members of the bi-partisan group of legislators who, in a spirit of shared sacrifice, have voluntarily taken the 3% pay cut the budget has imposed on most state workers.

Representative Goofus? That would be Spokane Republican John Ahern, who says...

...he doesn’t plan to ask for a pay cut, but he is donating 3 percent or more to charities, ranging from his church and the Boy Scouts to organizations that oppose abortion like Teen-Aid.

“This way I know exactly where the money is going,” Ahern said. If he took a pay cut, the money would stay in the state’s general fund, and go to state programs or agencies he doesn’t support....

It's hard to catalog how many things are wrong with this. The lack of civic spirit and responsibility in a public official is distressing. Ahern clearly doesn't grasp what it means to be a part of a community in a democratic system, let alone a member of the government.

It's his choice, of course, whether or not to participate in the pay cut. Legislators aren't among the highest paid state employees, and a 3% cut would represent a varying level of hardship, since some are less dependent on their state salaries than others. That doesn't appear to be an issue for Rep. Ahern, though, if he sincerely intends to give away his 3% to the charities of his choice.

The state workers have no such options, of course. Their cut goes to the general fund, to be spent on the general welfare. In Washington, the greatest part of the budget is our K-12 schools system. Is that the program doesn't support? Some part goes to our colleges and universities. Is that where Rep. Ahern balks?

Or is it medical care for poor children? Food support for hungry families? Job training? Care for the elderly and disabled? Disaster relief and emergency response? Cops? Courts? Jails?

Maybe it's legislative staff and pay? No, I think that's a program Ahern's just fine with.

Rather than let his 3% go to the priorities that have been determined by a democratic process by representatives elected by a vote of the people, Ahern chooses to invest in his private priorities, priorities which, coincidentally, would largely be unlawful recipients of the state money he's spending - money that includes my taxes and that 3% contribution from all of those state employees - if the cash weren't first laundered through his payroll account before being spent on programs and agencies I don't support.

If he wants to keep the cash, fine. It's his business. So is how he spends it.

If he thinks taking the money out of the budget to invest in his own pet projects offers cover for his hypocrisy and civic irresponsibility, or that there's some equivalence with the sacrifice demanded of state workers, though, he's wrong. A public official with so little regard for the public interest would be better off keeping his mouth shut about it.

From the "Bring it on!" file.

Via Brad Shannon at The Olympian...

State Republican Party chairman Kirby Wilbur spoke to reporters this morning in Washington about a new Republican-paid ad airing in 50 states that attacks President Obama’s record on the economy.

The Republican National Committee held press briefings with 13 states, including Washington. It and state Republican chairman Kirby Wilbur suggested the Evergreen State could be among the dozen or so battleground states for president in 2012 – despite Obama winning here by double-digits in 2008 over John McCain.

Among reasons for optimism: The governor’s race is expected to be close here with Republican Rob McKenna and Democrat Jay Inslee the top candidates already announced. Republicans also hope to field a strong challenger to Democratic U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell.

If the Republican National Committee's presidential strategy is to commit resources to my fair state, well, good on 'em. Republican dollars spent have as much stimulus effect as any dollars spent, and we can use the help, even if the money's ultimately wasted in the effort.

We will have an exceptional statewide ticket on the 2012 undercard. Senator Cantwell will be on the ballot, with Rep. Jay Inslee looking for a move back to this Washington and the Governor's mansion and my own personal King County Councilmember Bob Ferguson vying to become Attorney General. They're all organized and active more than a year out from the primary to the degree that their nominations are assumed by every observer I'm aware of as credible, if less impressive, challengers have opted out of the contests.

The retirement of Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed represents the end of an era of Republicanism in this state. He's really the last serving member of the generation of young reformists who followed Governor Daniel Evans (yeah, he served in the US Senate too, but he'll always be Governor Evans up here) into public life. One of Evans' most historically significant achievements was driving the John Birch Society out of the Washington State Republican Party. If today's Republicans were interested in a template for expunging its radical elements and reasserting it’s role in America's political mainstream, Dan Evans' success a half a century or so ago still merits study.

They aren't interested in any such a thing, of course, and therein lies the rub. Evans himself eventually found himself lost in a Republican Party that found itself increasingly in the thrall extremist ideologues and religious fundamentalists. Of course, the candidates that emerged from as they moved further and further to the fringe lost consistently and sometimes catastrophically. Republicans who actually cared about electoral success gathered under the banner of Mainstream Republicans, which apparently means Republicans who aren't necessarily (or even probably) "moderate," but who aren't completely bat guano crazy, either. Exhibit A in the 2012 field is Attorney General Rob McKenna, who will face Inslee for Governor.

The problem is that the current crop of Republican presidential aspirants looks a lot more like the parade of ideologues and fundies that have been such losers with the Washington electorate than it does like Rob Mckenna or his protégé, Reagan Dunn, who will be Ferguson's likely opponent. There's nobody in the Presidential crop likely to seek or deserve the mantle "mainstream." They aren't going to move for McKenna's benefit. It could be disastrous if he moved for theirs, but their supporters will be his base. It's a horny dilemma. Either McKenna runs without, if not against, his party's national ticket or he embraces the radicalism at the root of Republicanism and takes his place on the political scrap pile with the likes of Linda Smith and Ellen Craswell, not simply defeated, but discredited.

In either event, there's no value added there for Republican presidential prospects hereabouts, which are dismal even without one of the most impressive statewide Democratic fields in many years.

But, hey, RNC, bring it on! Spend, baby, spend!

And the painted ponies go up and down…

When Governor Chris Gregoire made her anticipated retirement announcement, political ears were tuned to Jay Inslee, who had put off announcing his own plans before Gregoire's statement. Before Jay acted, though, word came from D.C. that former King County Exec Ron Sims, who has sought statewide office before, was coming home. Ron, though, quickly quashed talk of a gubernatorial campaign, endorsing Jay as he announced his retirement from H.U.D.

Meanwhile, occasional Democrat and frequent grandstander Brian Sonntag said he's considering leaving the State Auditor's office for a run at the Governor's mansion, with a decision to come within a couple of weeks. That's another wrinkle for Inslee, who has said he won't run if there's Democratic opposition in the primary. If Sonntag runs and Inslee demurs, there's an opening for someone to champion the Democratic voters of King County, whose memories hopefully aren't as short as Sonntag must hope. His disputes with the Democratic leadership in Olympia can be explained, if not always excused, as the rigorous defense of his office and its work. His endorsement of Republican Susan Hutchison for King County Executive is another matter altogether.

So, if Brian says yes and Jay says no, what's Ron gonna say then?

Signs of the times.

Thousands of 'em in Olympia…




My peeps!

More photos at the P.I.

Hat tip to Carl.

Chart of the day.

The state budget breakdown, via Publicola...





There's nothing to do, they say, but cut, and there's no place to cut that won't hurt.

Sure don't envy the leg this year.

Map of the day.

I thought I got the maps out of my system last week, but this one from Goldy's first print piece as a Stranger columnist got picked up by Slog and I couldn't resist...



As usual, this one will click a bit bigger, but there's an even larger version here.

Speaking of Truth Surfer…

…that's the source for our latest Map of the Day entry for Map of the Day Week, and another difference between the upper left and Minnestota…



I'm kind of surprised, and considerably disappointed. What's wrong with us, anyway? We have a woman Governor, two women as Senators, scads of woman legislators and we're behind Mississippi in pay equity? Jeebus.

If we can't get rid of 'em…

…at least we can get control of 'em. It's my conviction that whatever value the initiative process had as a populist reform has been lost in the era of full time initiative shops and paid signature gatherers. The impulse behind modern initiatives is often more profit than populism.

Repeal of the process would require an amendment to the state constitution and would involve a risky and expensive election if it could clear the legislative barriers to the ballot in the first place. The best immediate path forward isn't repeal, but reform through regulation. This sounds like a good start...

State Sen. Sharon Nelson, D-West Seattle, is sponsoring a bill this session that would place new requirements on the ballot-initiative process aimed at reducing the chances of fraud in paid signature-gathering.

Some highlights of the Senate Bill 5297 include:

· Paid signature gatherers would need to register with the Secretary of State; failure to register would incur a fine.
· Those convicted of fraud, forgery or ID theft would be prohibited from gathering signatures in Washington for five years.
· The initiative filing fee would increase from the current $5 to $500, with a $450 refund if the measure qualifies for the ballot. The $500 fee would be waived if the initiative was filed with 1,000 valid signatures.
· The affidavit on the back of petitions must be signed by the signature gatherer, attesting that the signatures were collected in accordance with state law. If not, the initiative sponsor would have to pay the cost of checking the validity of every signature.

Tim Eyman, predictably, hates SB 5297. That might be the best reason to support it.

Fair to middling?

Is that the best we can do? Because that's what a #24 ranking on the Daily Beast's list of the most and least tolerant states would make us.

24. Washington

Tolerance score: 56 out of 100
Hate crime score: 22 out of 40
Discrimination score: 22 out of 40
Gay rights score: 6 out of 10
Religious Tolerance score: 6 out of 10
Hate crime incidents per 100,000 residents:: 3.1 (32 out of 50 states)
Discrimination cases filed per 100,000 residents:: 20.6 (36 out of 50 states)
Population in support of same-sex marriage:: 54%
Population that believes many religions lead to eternal life:: 68%

24.

A little better than Oregon.

A little worse than Alaska.

No where near good enough.

Much of the score is based on the scope of legal protection. At a time when most of the budget news from Olympia is relentlessly negative, this might be the time for the civil rights and civil liberties constituencies in Washington to organize around a legislative agenda they can sell to the Democratic caucus as the best hope for good news in this session.

There's obviously work to be done.

Hat tip to Skippy.