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.
No Loss for Words 
Roanoke Conference
by Steve DanaI spent the weekend of January 29-31 at the Ocean Shores Convention Center attending the first annual Roanoke Conference; A gathering of Republicans. For a first time event, I was favorable impressed with every aspect of the proceedings.
There is no doubt that Republicans are motivated following the surprising success of candidates in New Jersey, Virginia and most notably in the Massachusetts Senatorial election with the victory of Scott Brown. Whether the enthusiasm is attributed to dissatisfaction of voters from the entrenched Democratic non-leadership or the quality of the Republican candidates is yet to be determined. The important thing is that local Republicans now have something to be excited about. The Roanoke Conference is a good tool to bring together valuable election campaign resources with enthusiastic candidates and supporters with the common purpose of winning elections in the fall.
The Roanoke Conference is modeled after the Dorchester Conference held in Oregon for the past eight or nine years. We have to give those Oregonians credit for continuously holding their gatherings during some pretty dark years for Republicans in that state.
Widening the expanse of the party tent to include people of many persuasions that do have differences but similar core principles is critical to the party establishing credibility with Conservatives and moderates to elect capable candidates that can govern well if given the opportunity.
Dino Rossi’s presence made the event credible. Former Senator Slade Gorton was frosting on the cake. Having both of them in attendance put a shine on a great event.
I came home from this conference excited about the prospects for Republicans. Not just because of the move away from the Democrats, but because the attendees agreed that when the Republicans had their chance they blew it. The attendees seemed determined to elect candidates with a different agenda this time around.
I remember when Republicans took over the Congress following the ’94 elections, I speculated then about whether our long years in the minority had taught us how to be better leaders. Sadly, it became clear early on that “pay back” was a high priority for many Republicans rather than leading with humility. If we are lucky enough to have another chance, I hope we can do better than we did then.
I was also encouraged by the Tea Party activists. Even though they were critical of leadership on both sides of the aisle, they formed up with Republicans because we share core values. It is unfortunate that it took such devastation to our country to arouse the sleeping giant, but now that it is, we need to harness the enthusiasm for a positive outcome.
When I ran for Snohomish County Council in 2009, my campaign focused on creating private sector jobs, supporting small businesses, protecting property rights, limiting the growth of government, balancing the interests of the people with the environment and responsibly managing tax dollars. Even though I lost that election by a slim margin, I correctly identified what the issues in the election should have been. I suspect that if that election were to take place in 2010, the outcome might be different.
The mood of the country was changing in the last half of 2009. If I were to challenge Hans Dunshee in the House of Representatives campaigning on the same issues, could I compete favorably?
As our country struggles to get through this recession, everyone agrees that without jobs there is no recovery. The Democrats cling to the idea that government jobs are the same as private sector jobs. We all know that couldn’t be further from the truth. Public jobs may be cushy, but they don’t produce a value. Private sector businesses that manufacture a product create the family wage jobs that are the backbone of our economy. Incentives for those jobs are key!
What is holding back the creation of private sector jobs? A lack of credit! If the President really wants to get the economy moving again, he just needs to make credit available to businesses again. Not off the wall risky credit, but business lines of credit that will allow existing businesses to get back to work.
A tax credit for a job created doesn’t compare to jobs created from a line of credit.
Posted in Partisan Politics, Political commentary, Snohomish County Political Commentary, Washington | Leave a Comment »