Most people know that I have been politically active for a long time, but not everyone. For those of you who don’t know, I am a registered Republican if we have an official labeling process in the state of Washington. I ran for County Council in 2009 and explored my options regarding a run for the legislature in 2010. I was elected to my first term as a PCO in 2008 from the Snohomish 7 precinct. I was elected to the city council in 1989 as a non-partisan.
Yesterday, December 13, 2014 was the day we swore in the new Precinct Committee Officers (PCOs) that were elected earlier this year and then the new group elected the leadership team for the next two years. There was competition for every position available and the outcomes were not at all predictable.
Before any of the action got started, we got to hear a few words from newly elected House member from the 44th LD, Mark Harmsworth a current city council member from Mill Creek. He’s a very capable leader so I’m sure he will represent well in Olympia.
We also heard from County Councilmember Ken Klein from Arlington regarding the happenings in County Government followed by a very upbeat message from Susan Hutchison, Chairwoman of the Washington State Republicans. Both of them were encouraged by the outcomes of the fall elections and suggested that we had momentum if we were smart enough to get behind it. I think our party is well served by both of them.
Somewhere in the middle of the day, we let Tim Eyeman talk about the Initiative Process and how the Democrats in the legislature are trying to strangle the citizen based method of legislation out of existence through regulations. I, for one, admire Eyeman for his efforts on behalf of the people in our state. He has become a bit of a celebrity for his cause, but without his string of initiatives, we would all be paying higher taxes. We endorsed a Resolution to limit regulations on Initiatives.
So, back to the action…
Billy Brooks-Sebastiani was re-elected to serve as Republican Party Chairwoman for another term which was no surprise. Olga Farnum was re-elected to her third term as State Committee Woman. That is where the predictability went out the window.
Our rules require that if we elect a woman to chair the party, the vice-chair must be a man. The candidates for vice-chair were two relative unknowns to many in the group. Robert Sutherland, a Granite Falls resident who ran for Congress in the First Congressional District ended up running against Jeff Scherrer, an Edmonds guy who ran for a Legislative seat in the 21st District. Neither of these guys had been players in the party previously so it was a bit unusual. The outcome of the election was Scherrer winning in a close vote. I don’t know Jeff Scherrer personally so I can’t say how well he will do.
I do know Robert Sutherland and I am very impressed with him. I’ve met him for coffee on numerous occasions to talk about how we make our party more effective in supporting financially and electing candidates. He’s got some great ideas. If I told you he was a delegate for Rick Santorum in the last Presidential cycle at the County Convention you should have an idea where he stands. In addition to his politics, Robert is willing to actively work to achieve success. When he lived in the Cathcart area, he actively worked his precinct and several others surrounding it to (GOTV) Get Out The Vote during several election cycles and produced phenomenal results. I would have been very happy if Robert had been elected Vice-Chair. We’ll have to see what Mr. Scherrer is willing to do.
The other position that was up for grabs was the position of State Committee Man from Snohomish County. Jim Donner has held that position for the past couple years and by all measures I’m aware of, he did a great job. In my view, the expectation for both the State Committee people is to communicate up and down from the local County Party to the State Republican Party and back again. In addition, I’m looking for people who can network effectively to promote local candidates and bring campaign money back to their campaigns. Jim Donner has done a great job.
Jim was a candidate for re-election yesterday along with three other guys who aspired to the position. Dan Matthews from the 21st legislative district, Bob Williams from the 39th district and Randy Hayden from the fighting 32nd district were the other candidates. The good news was that all of them were very capable; regardless of which one was elected we would have a good man in the job.
As it turned out, the winner was Randy Hayden. All I can say is Randy has some big shoes to fill following Jim. I wish him well. I also wish Jim well and thank him for his continued contributions.
As a former candidate and current PCO, I challenge our County Republican Party to embrace the candidates who did not win and find ways for them to be contributors. All up and down the ballot, there were great people who have so much to offer. Keeping everyone working toward a common goal is vital.
A Final Note.
If we have any hope as a party to become a winning organization, we have to get over our petty differences that threaten to tear us apart or keep us apart. Whether you are a GOP person or a Libertarian or a Tea Party Republican, you should have a seat at our table and an opportunity to be heard. We didn’t experience a coming together yesterday. I hope our newly elected leaders can get our act together so we can spend the next two years whipping the hell out of Democrats rather than each other. If we can’t work out our differences within our own party, how can we ever hope to win important elections?
No Loss for Words 
Trump: My candidate for America!
by Steve DanaWhere do I begin?
I’m getting tired of the right wing pundits pounding Trump as hard as the predictable left wingers will. Folks I know who have been good Republicans for many years are now crazy NEVER TRUMPERS. They suddenly become voters with a conscience with Trump when they were silent before with Romney and McCain before him. Talk about do nothing candidates.
Last year before the primaries started, there were sixteen other candidates running for president ranging from private sector smart guys Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina to very experienced politicians with leanings from fairly middle of the road to very conservative; governors, senators and representatives in the congress. There has never been a more experienced and highly regarded gang of presidential wannabees.
So when the Republican primaries are over and Donald Trump is the winner of the election process, some of these pundits and party insiders are outraged because the voters chose a guy they don’t like. A guy whose persona offends them. A guy who is characterized as unqualified to serve because he lacks political experience. A guy they didn’t pick.
Let me tell you, the current president was elected enthusiastically twice without a lick of experience at anything besides “smooth talking”. Frankly, the candidates MY PARTY put out there mostly had a very common characteristic, that of being a lawyer. Remind me what lawyer you can remember who has a résumé with any accomplishments of note. Being a professional elected official with a lawyer background is not a case for accomplishment or qualification.
If you listen to some of our most respected inventors and innovators and they will tell you that their success was not the product of a single try, but a lengthy list of failures leading up to a winner. Jeff Bezos is a champion of trying and failing. Then we get a look at the characterization of Trump and he’s branded a loser because of his failures. Remember the smart guys tell you the only people not making mistakes are people not trying.
The right wing pundits are not happy with Trump even though he was the last man standing after a very lengthy, bloody primary process. Even after a campaign lacking decorum and a seeming lack of reverence and respect for the job he aspires to, the voters still chose Trump and rejected the field.
Now the never Trumpers are willing to vote for Clinton so there is a clear path for a “REAL REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE” to run in 2020. Talk about major stupid! What about what happens during the next four years? How about those SCOTUS appointments? How about border security? How about family wage jobs fleeing our country to the beneficiaries of NAFTA, WTO and now TPP?
Let’s be clear, I was not a Trump supporter when this process started. I would love to have a Constitutional Conservative in the White House to help restore the Constitution in it’s original form as the guiding document for our government. I believe in States Rights. The corruption of the Constitution through crazy Supreme Court rulings that justify ignoring the words clearly outlined in the Bill of Rights and the Amendments distresses me to no end.
I have no illusions about Trumps conservativism. He’s not a conservative. But, he is an American patriot who recognizes the perils of GLOBALISM. The movement trying to diminish the sovereignty of countries in an effort to improve international trade to the benefit of who? Clearly not American workers. Where I would like to see opportunities for farmers and manufacturers in my state to sell their products overseas, it cannot be after we sell our working class down the river. The boardroom characters who see international borders as an impediment to profits can take a flying leap. If the folks running for office don’t put America and American interests first, then where will that leave Ameria? We are being reduced down to a supposed educated elite segment, public employee unions and a service sector economy riding roughshod over the remaining small business owners and middle American taxpayers. None of these groups contributes a thing to GDP. The measure of our economic health is GDP and growth of GDP.
Which of those reliable Republican candidates who lost to Trump were the ones the pundits and conservatives thought should have been the nominee? My first choice candidate was Ted Cruz since he was a Constitutional Conservative, but like Trump, those party elitists couldn’t stand Ted because he actually had principles and honored his promise to the voters in his state to fight for better government. Absolutely vilified by his colleagues in the Senate, by the members of the Republican caucus in the House and by the right wing media. Ted had balls and stood up for principles and he was torched.
Yet, the two candidates who were standing at the end of the election process were Trump and Ted. The darlings of the party were dispatched one after the other. What does that tell you about the sense of the traditional party insiders in measuring their voters?
It had to be very painful to the party insiders to have to hold their noses when they tried to get on the Ted Train to derail the Trump Train. They had to support one guy they hated to hopefully squash a guy they hated more. And, where are the darlings of the Party? Up the trail, whining in their beer!
What I hope to see from Trump is the side his family members tell us exists that will give me confidence that he can be a level headed leader who can appeal to American unity more than Obama. If he is a champion of women and minorities in his business empire, he needs to bring those folks out for the rest of us to see and hear from. I know that if I ask Clinton or Sanders or even Obama how many jobs they have personally created they won’t have an answer for me. Or, how many contracts or treaties they have negotiated personally that might demonstrate their negotiating skills and they won’t have any examples. How about listing any accomplishments in their working life that might suggest they have the skills or life experiences remotely qualifying them to run for anything, let alone President of the United States.
If the only qualification for the job based upon the pundits and the elitists is years in government and nothing else, we are in serious trouble. That is why the people are rising up today. The people are sick of the party elite picking lawyers and Goldman Sachs finance guys as the leadership since they will reliably kiss the ring of the industrialists. Surprise, surprise!
Donald Trump is the candidate that reflects the will of the Republican Party voters so the party elite better get used to the idea. What is troubling to me is the failure of our elected official to honor their voters in favor of the lobbyists and contributors. They need our votes but sell out for the money. A Donald Trump sends the message that our votes are not for sale and where we would have liked to support a traditional Republican candidate, there weren’t any out there we could trust. I’ll take my chances with Trump. He may not be a proper politician, but proper politicians are proven losers.
Vote for America this November by voting for Donald Trump!
Posted in Political commentary, Presidential Politics, Republicans | Comments Off on Trump: My candidate for America!