July 29, 2012

The Voters’ Pamphlet for the Primary Election is out and, as usual, it provides much in the way of comic relief.

Each candidate’s column follows a set format, and apparently the candidates are given a questionnaire which asks for information under each heading. The first entry is "elected experience." Of course, those who have held offices list them; the fun comes in the ways those without such a background respond.

Many apparently ignored the question; their entries show "no information submitted." Others simply and frankly answered "none" or "never elected to public office."

"Elected experience" probably is bureaucratic shorthand for "experience in elective office," but some who have run unsuccessfully consider that to be elected experience, producing "Democratic Nominee for Congress," or "ran for legislature" or "finished second among Republicans in the [2010] primary."

Some turn inexperience into a virtue, as in "proud to have no political experience - we need servant leaders, not professional politicians," or "the only candidate in the race who is not a professional politician" or "this is a job [Auditor] for a professional, not a politician" or "I have no experience collecting a government paycheck." The most artful is "Like some of the most renowned and respected political leaders upon taking office, none."

Others finesse: "I would appreciate the opportunity to serve the public in first elected office," or referring to oneself in the third person, "This is Karen’s first campaign for office." Some reach: "Church Treasurer and Council Member" or "Elected Treasurer of The Moose Lodge."

The most mysterious response was "Yes."

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One of the premier races is for the U.S. Senate. Maria Cantwell is running for reelection. She has only token Democratic ⁶⁸ opposition, but there are five Republican candidates.

Michael Baumgartner includes this in his statement (italics in the original):

Now, America is struggling. In the past 12 years, reckless spending and poorly planned wars have helped double the national debt and millions don’t have jobs. Too many politicians care more about special interests than finding solutions. The US Senate hasn't passed a budget in more than three years. DC is broken.

However, for eight of those twelve years, a president of his party occupied the White House, started those wars, and pushed the tax cuts that, with the wars and the recession which began on his watch, ran up most of that debt. It has, indeed, more than doubled in twelve years, but it increased by about 86% under Mr. Bush. DC certainly could be described as broken, but that’s primarily the work of the Republicans.⁶⁹ The special interest most catered to, again by his party, is the 1%. How does any of this translate into "replace a Democratic Senator with a Republican?"

He does have one position which is positive, and consistent with his reference to "poorly planned wars:" it’s time to bring [our troops] home . . . ."

Chuck Jackson emphasizes the national debt, but is too eager to blame its rise on Senator Cantwell.

The kids and grandkids inheritance $15,700,000,000,000 ($15.7 trillion)DEBT. When the incumbent first went to Washington D.C. the National Debt was $4,188,092,106,183 . . . . (The oddities of the first sentence are in the original)

Actually, the present debt is a bit worse than he states, about 15.8 trillion at the end of June, and it will be still worse, presumably, when inherited by another generation, so he’s right to identify it as a problem. When Senator Cantwell assumed her present office in January, 2001, the debt was about 5.716 trillion. However, she also served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives, from 1993 to 1995, and then was out of office from 1995 until 2001. In order to make her "contribution" to the debt worse, Mr. Jackson uses the amount from January 20, 1993, inauguration day, which is his 4.188 figure. In all of this manipulation, he fails to tell us why the increase is the Senator’s fault.

Art Coday is concerned about "the catastrophic loss of prosperity and American jobs sustained throughout my opponent’s 12-year tenure." He, too, neglects to state what she has done to bring that about. These candidates, like Mr. Romney, hope that bad conditions will lead to throwing out the incumbents regardless of blame and regardless of whether the challengers offer any remedies. On that score, Mr. Coday’s prescription is the usual conservative formula:

Cutting spending, balancing the budget, reducing debt, and ending inflation will repair our national credit and stabilize the economy. As a small business owner, I know that easing regulatory burdens and mandates, enacting favorable trade policies, and lowering energy costs will stimulate the economy.

It’s anyone’s guess where he is finding significant inflation or regulatory burdens. Our national credit is strong enough that the government can borrow at virtually no interest. Cutting spending won’t stimulate the economy. He adds that we "must maintain the world’s finest military," which of course will have no effect on spending or debt. He also wants to preserve traditional family values, such as the right to bear arms.

Glen Stockwell is running on a platform entirely devoted to a project having to do with the Columbia Basin. Perhaps it has merit.

Mike the Mover’s page is blank, except to state that he prefers the Republican Party. Two years ago, when he ran for our other Senate seat, he preferred the Democrats.

There is one minor-party candidate, Will Baker, who is nothing if not consistent. Two years ago he ran for the other Senate seat under the banner of the Reform Party and identified two entirely unrelated matters as "the number one issue in the 2010 Senate election." One of them was a complaint about the "illegal and unethical election practices used by Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed," relating to voters’ pamphlets. This year, again preferring the Reform Party, he presents two widely different matters as "the number one issue in the 2012 U.S. Senate election," and again one of them is the alleged "illegal and unethical election practices used by Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed" relating to voters’ pamphlets. What that has to do with electing him to the Senate remains mysterious.

Two years ago the other number one issue was "the illegal and unethical election practices used by President Barack Obama" (in his 1996 campaign for the Illinois State Legislature). This year it is "impeaching President Barack Obama specifically for Obama’s decision to give America’s state of art military spy drone technology to Iran (and through Iran to China and Russia)." The charge is based on this recital:

Fact : Obama’s administration has been flying stealth spy drones over Iran to monitor Iran’s nuclear program. Fact : One of the drones crashed in Iran. Fact : Obama didn’t send military personnel into Iran to retrieve the drone, and didn’t blow-up the drone by remote before Iran grabbed it. Fact : Now Iran has our stealth spy drone and they are not giving it back.

That apparently adds up to a decision to hand over secrets.

Perhaps his emphasis on stealth technology is appropriate, as the Reform Party remains something of a stealth organization. The state party has no platform at this point, and that of the national party is an exercise in blandness. 

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68. I’ll ignore the legally-mandated form "prefer ______ party" and simply identify people by their party (preference).
69. If Mr. Baumgartner or any voters doubt that, they should consult Mann and Ornstein’s latest book, It’s Even Worst than It Looks.