No Loss for Words

I attended the Tea Party rally in Everett yesterday. I was pleased to be able to speak. I was disappointed that my comments were cut short; the other speakers didn’t appear to be restrained by the timer to complete their remarks. On the whole, I think Kelly and her volunteers did a great job organizing the event. I know it took a lot of effort and there couldn’t be a more worthy cause. I suspect I will survive.

The event appeared to have 500 to 600 attendees. Even though Tea Partiers are not organized around a specific structure, they are united in the sentiment that they are fed up.

Most will tell you that they aren’t card carrying members of either the Democratic Party or the Republican Party; but as a Republican, their message is more than just a little bit similar to my own; smaller government, lower taxes, accountability and transparency were consistent themes.

We both believe that private sector job growth is a great goal and more likely benchmark for measuring economic recovery. We cannot spend our way to recovery with tax dollars or buy recovery with more federal debt. We will have to work our way out by creating those jobs in the ranks of our small businesses.

Congressional candidates James Watkins running against Jay Inslee in the 1st District and John Koster running against Rick Larsen in the 2nd District rallied the crowd with their comments. Both candidates convey the feeling that there is blood in the water and their opposition knows it. Winning those two seats would be great wins for the R’s.

Pollsters say Republicans are still likely short of regaining the majority by a few seats, but momentum is gathering for our team. Time will tell. In spite of the polls, the crowd was excited by the prospects for the House candidates.

Every candidate speaking yesterday suggested that they were different Republicans than those of years gone by that ended up being “free spenders”. Traditional Republicans were known first and foremost as fiscal conservatives. Getting the Republican candidates back on that track was a consistent theme.

For a Tax Day event, the mood of the crowd was strangely quiet about taxation. My gut tells me that in spite of our feelings about taxes, we are also very concerned about the national debt. The dilemma we all face is deciding which is more important. Spending is the lightening rod issue. Every level of government is spending beyond their means and Tea Partiers are peeved. I suspect that many Democrats are concerned as well.

For the legislative candidates in attendance, the 44th District had the most candidates. There are two Republicans filed for the Steve Hobbs Senate seat; Dave Schmidt and new comer Ryan Ferrie. There are also two Republicans filed to run against Hans Dunshee in the House; Shahram Hadian and myself. Both of these races will be tough battles. In spite of the fact that Dunshee is arguably the most liberal member of the House, he is a tough campaigner.

Mike Hope reported to the crowd about how the just completed session unfolded at the end. He gave the crowd highlights to cheer about and some low lights to moan about. There is no doubt that Mike is the “darling” of the House. He was able to be involved in two law enforcement related bills that made it through to see the light of day in his two sessions. Veteran lawmakers are envious. And Mike is a member of the minority party. That fact makes his accomplishments even more remarkable.

Voters will get a chance to amend the state constitution in the fall in large part because of the efforts of Mike Hope. Good Job Mike.

Oh, and by the way, congratulations to Mike and his wife Sarai on the birth of their new baby boy Noah.