Dead heat in WA-08! (King County)

The King County Elections website just posted some updated numbers from yesterday's primary election. The most exciting result - unofficial though it is so far - is that Darcy Burner is running just a few hundred votes behind the incumbent Dave Reichert in King County. Here are the results so far.

Note that since this is the primary, there are several other names on the ballot:

James E. Vaughn (Prefers Democratic Party) 2152 3.16%
Dave Reichert (Prefers Republican Party) 31966 46.88%
Keith Arnold (Prefers Democratic Party) 886 1.30%
Darcy Burner (Prefers Democratic Party) 31566 46.29%

UPDATE: See the raw results yourself.

Reichert is still favored in Pierce, which means his overall lead across the district is larger than what it is in King County.

There are several stunning and exciting things about the King County numbers. First, it's remarkable that Darcy is in a statistical dead-heat with the incumbent, in the primary. All too often, primaries are low turnout affairs, with civic-minded conservatives turning out in larger numbers than progressives.

This year's primary in particular has seen pretty disappointing turnout considering what's at stake in November.

We knew she could (and would) make a strong showing, but still major kudos are in order for Darcy, her campaign team, and every volunteer who called voters, knocked on doors, or helped people to the polls yesterday.

Second, Reichert is garnering comfortably less than fifty percent of the vote. Historically speaking, election cycles in which a sitting congressman can't break fifty percent in the primary nearly always result in that member of Congress losing their office in the general election.

Third, since this is a top-two system, it is clear that Darcy will be the standard-bearer for the Democratic Party. No great surprise.

But look at those percentage numbers again. It is a reasonably safe bet that many, (if not most) of the voters for those other "Prefers Democratic" candidates will come home for Darcy in the general, giving her a shade over 50% to Reichert's 47%. Being as there are no other "Prefers Republican" candidates on the primary ballot, Reichert's potential for improvement in November seems limited at best.

And lastly, one comment about the top-two format.

Much as I think it's a poor excuse for the election reform we really need, it does do one thing for us: it pits Darcy and Dave head-to-head on the same ballot, like they will be in November.

This is pretty unique, and it means that Darcy's strong showing sends a clear signal to the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee: don't waste your precious dollars in WA-08 again. It's no secret that the Republicans are defending an awful lot of really weak seats this November, and they'll be lucky if they can keep the bleeding to less than a dozen or so seats.

To do so, they'll be looking long and hard at where to put the comparatively few dollars they have at their disposal.

If the certified results at the end of this primary verify what we're seeing with today's interim results, the message to the RNC will be unmistakable: their six million dollars of 2006 cycle funding bought them two years of rubber-stamp votes for Bush's policies, but they'd be fools to waste another dollar here in 2008.

Fairhurst, Johnson, and Stephens easily cruise to reelection again token opposition

Washington State's three incumbent Supreme Court justices appear headed to victory in tonight's primary with Justices Fairhurst and Johnson easily winning more than a plurality of total votes cast so far.

Justice Debra Stephens, who was unopposed, was assured of victory weeks ago when her only opponent withdrew. In tonight's competition, Mary Fairhurst had no trouble defeating Michael Bond (she's currently at 61%), and Charles Johnson was almost equally successful against Frank Vulliet and James Beecher (he has 58%).

Because judicial elections are decided in the primary if a candidate receives a majority, Fairhurst and Johnson can rest easy knowing they'll be back on the Supreme Court for the next six years. Their races are over.

In King County Superior Court races, however, there's been more action, as there are several races in which one candidate will be eliminated.

• In the Position #37 race, Jean Rietschel and Barbara Mack appear likely to move on to November, leaving behind Nic Corning.
• In the Position #1 race, Tim Bradshaw and Suzanne Parisien appear likely to move on to November, leaving behind Susan Amini.
• In the Position #10 race, Regina S. Cahan and Les Ponomarchuk are set to move forward, leaving behind Jean Bouffard.
• In the Position #22 race, Holly Hill and Julia Garratt are set to move forward, leaving behind Rebeccah Graham.

And there's good news in the Court of Appeals race on the Olympic Peninsula, where Robin Hunt is easily beating right winger Tim Ford, 64% to 35%.

Dino Rossi losing in all the key swing counties

For months, Dino Rossi's campaign has been banking on a strong showing in today's primary election, with the hope of building momentum to use against Governor Chris Gregoire in the fall. Because primary elections tend to be low-turnout affairs with conservative voters comprising a higher percentage of the participating electorate, they tend to favor Republican candidates.

But if tonight's county-by-county results are any indication, Dino Rossi is in trouble...big trouble. Not only is Rossi losing big in King County, the state's most powerful Democratic stronghold, he's behind in key swing counties like Pierce, Snohomish, Spokane, Clark, Whatcom, Kitsap, Island, Thurston, and Skagit.

Those swing counties - many of them in the Interstate 5 corridor - are where the people are (see map below), and Gregoire currently has the edge in all of them. And with more Democratic voters expected to participate in the November general election, Gregoire should be able to rack up an even more impressive victory.



In addition, Rossi is losing Jefferson, Asotin, Mason, Pacific, San Juan, and Grays Harbor - a lengthy list of rural counties that he should be winning.

Congressional Roundup

Here are some of the early numbers for Congressional races in Washington state. There are no real surprises here. Only those candidates who are currently in the top 2 are listed. And the numbers I’m using are from the Secretary of State’s website.

Also, we're still waiting on additional numbers in the 8th Congressional district

WA-01

Jay Inslee(D) 51,641 67.63%

Larry Ishmael(R) 24,714 32.37%

WA-02

Rick Larsen(D) 54,598 55.59%

Rick Bart (R) 35,806 36.45%

WA-03

Brian Baird(D) 55,606 51.75%

Michael Delavar(R) 20,380 18.97%

WA-04

Doc Hastings(R) 54,712 60.64%

George Fearing(D) 31,286 34.68%

WA-05

Cathy McMorris Rodgers(R) 58,357 54.70%

Mark Mays(D) 21,522 20.17%

WA-06

Norm Dicks(D) 51,953 58.11%

Doug Cloud(R) 25,925 29.00%

WA-07

Jim McDermott(D) 29,375 71.35%

Steve Beren(R) 6,576 15.97%

WA-08

Dave Reichert(R) 27,186 47.27%

Darcy Burner(D) 25,460 44.27%

WA-09

Adam Smith(D) 38,847 67.07%

James Postma(R) 19,075 32.93%

WA 08 - Early Results

It's still early in the evening, but after a first look at the numbers, Congressman Dave Reichert holds a slim lead over Darcy Burner. Reichert leads with 27,186 votes for 47.27% of the vote to 25,460 votes for 44.27% of the vote for Darcy.

Thus far King County is a tight battleground, with Reichert's advantage only 216 votes. In Pierce County, Reichert's lead is 1510 votes.

However, this being the primary and all, it's important to note that turnout is much smaller than what is expected for the general election.

The general election is bound to bring out more Democrats, with Barack Obama on the ballot, and it's well known that primaries have lower turnout that general elections with a Presidency at stake. So look for the Obama effect to bring more votes to our Democratic challengers in the fall.

Stay tuned for more updates as the Northwest Progressive Institute brings you our election night coverage.

First look at Washington primary returns

The first election returns for the night have been posted...here's an overview of how things are shaping up:

• Supreme Court races look really good. Justices Fairhurst and Johnson are cruising to reelection (Justice Stephens is unopposed).
• Initiative 26, the Republican-backed scheme to make King County elections nonpartisan, is unfortunately passing as we feared it would.
• Chris Gregoire and Dino Rossi are running a close contest. Gregoire currently has the edge, 48% to 45%.
• Brad Owen, Sam Reed, and Brian Sonntag are easily winning big majorities in their races (Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, State Auditor, respectively).
• Peter Goldmark is closely trailing Doug Sutherland in the race for Lands Commissioner. He's at 48%, Sutherland is at 51%.
• Randy Dorn is running second behind Terry Bergeson for Superintendent of Public Instruction. Bergeson is at 41% to his 30% with several other candidates splitting the remainder of the vote. If Dorn can pick up the other candidates' supporters he could beat Bergeson in November.

In NPI's home legislative district, the 45th, State Representative Roger Goodman is making a good showing against Republican Toby Nixon, who Roger replaced in the state House two years ago (when Toby ran for state Senate). Toby is running against Roger in the hopes of getting his old seat back.

Congratulations, Rachel!

Terrific news this afternoon, courtesy of Keith Olbermann:

Happy Now?

The network will be formally announcing this tomorrow, but I am pleased to inform you in this fully authorized leak, that as of Monday, September 8, our mutual friend Ms. Maddow will become host of her own show, on MSNBC, at 9 PM Eastern Time.

And, yes, we will be making another unofficial announcement of this on tonight's edition of Countdown. My guest to analyze the Rachel Maddow news will be Rachel Maddow.

All of us at the Northwest Progressive Institute extend our warmest congratulations to Rachel, who truly deserves this opportunity. To say we're thrilled is an understatement - this is simply wonderful.

Rachel was just in Seattle over the weekend for AM 1090's "We the People" forum, and received perhaps the loudest accolades of all of the hosts when she was introduced by Lee Callahan, for good reason: she is a beacon of hope in an otherwise dreary cable TV news landscape.

She's been a guest, then a star analyst and fill in host for Keith Olbermann...but now she's a network anchor. She's got her own show after only five months of drawing a paycheck from MSNBC.

How'd that happen? Any ideas, Keith?

4) Yes, I had something to do with it.
5) Yes, you had something to do with it.
6) Yes, this is why I never really responded to any of the 41,754 comments that all pretty much read "And get Rachel her own show, nitwit."

By supporting Rachel, we've helped convince one of the biggest media conglomerates in the United States to give a young progressive woman her own primetime newscast. What a victory!

Words cannot express our happiness at this moment. Hurrah for Rachel Maddow! And hurrah for greater diversity at MSNBC!

NPI releases 2008 primary endorsements

Primary Election Day has arrived in Washington State, and that means it's time for all of us to exercise our civic duty and vote.

If you vote at the polls, remember you have until 8 PM to weigh in. If you vote by mail, your ballot must be postmarked by today, or it won't count.

Not sure who to vote for? Our endorsements for the primary election are as follows:

Partisan races
Thanks to the implementation of the lousy "Top Two" primary, Democratic and Republican voters have lost the right to nominate one standard bearer who will represent their party on the November ballot.

Since Democratic voters no longer have the power to nominate candidates, the party's grassroots (who represent the Democratic electorate) have done so in most jurisdictions. Our recommendation is to vote for the Democratic nominee in partisan races where there's more than one candidate running.

In federal races, we endorse our incumbent Democratic representatives as well as challengers Darcy Burner, Mark Mays, and George Fearing.

For Governor, we endorse Chris Gregoire, whose record as our state's chief executive is unmatched by any of her recent predecessors. Gregoire has worked diligently to better our quality of life by investing in public services and infrastructure, including our transportation system and public schools. She's led the way on environmental protection and bolstered healthcare for thousands of children. We need to keep her in the governor's mansion working for us.

For Lieutenant Governor, we endorse Brad Owen.

Although we don't like his taking of Building Industry Association of Washington money, he does an admirable job presiding over the State Senate, and he is a loyal deputy to Governor Chris Gregoire.

For Secretary of State, we endorse Jason Osgood, who will work to protect our right to a secret ballot, ensure our elections system is open and transparent, decertify unreliable vote-counting machines, and end the use of the Secretary of State's office as a bully pulpit. Jason will also introduce accountability measures to ensure that purges of the voter rolls are legitimate and accurate.

For Commissioner of Public Lands, we endorse Peter Goldmark, who will bring competent leadership back to the Department of Natural Resources. There's no one better qualified than Peter for the job.

An Okanogan rancher, former Washington State University regent, and scientist, Peter knows how to wisely manage our public lands. Incumbent Republican Doug Sutherland is a tool of mining and timber interests who couldn't care less about environmental protection. It's time we replaced him.

For Insurance Commissioner, we endorse Mike Kreidler, who has done of outstanding job of looking out for the people of the Evergreen State. Kreidler helped defeat the insurance industry's attempt to repeal a law last year that allows consumers who are mistreated to get fair compensation from their insurer. Notably, during his current term he also stood firm in rejecting Premera Blue Cross' application to become a for profit company - a decision which was upheld by the Court of Appeals. Kreider is a champion for Washington's good health and its future.

For State Treasurer, we endorse Jim McIntire, whose strong grasp of finance makes him the best candidate to succeed incumbent Mike Murphy. McIntire has served in the state House of Representatives for years, where he worked to strengthen fiscal responsibility, restore the estate tax, and create a Constitutionally-protected rainy day fund. In addition to his private economic consulting practice, he teaches economics and government at the University of Washington. He has the public and private sector experience needed to wisely manage the state's treasury.

For State Auditor, we make no recommendation. Regretfully, we cannot endorse incumbent Brian Sonntag as we did four years ago. Besides taking money from the BIAW, Sonntag has spent too much time listening to Tim Eyman and not enough time listening to the public. The state auditor's office recently announced it would begin yet another performance audit of Sound Transit, its second in as many years. At a time when so many other local and sate agencies are deserving of his scrutiny, we are disappointed to see Sonntag wasting state resources doing the bidding of conservatives desperate for fodder to use against Sound Transit.

For Superintendent of Public Instruction, we endorse Randy Dorn. Incumbent Terry Bergeson has done a terrible job administering our schools system. From mismanaging money to obsessively focusing on standardized testing, Bergeson has let teachers, students, and parents down. And her political pandering this year is plain evidence that she cares more about getting reelected than providing sound leadership. Someone needs to clean up the mess she's made and get us back on track. There's no candidate in this race better qualified to take on this tough job than Randy Dorn, who has served as a teacher, school administrator, legislator, and union leader.

For Supreme Court, we endorse incumbent Justices Mary Fairhurst, Charles W. Johnson, and Debra Stephens. All are extraordinary public servants (rated Exceptionally Well Qualified by the King County Bar) who have excellent legal experience and a record of impartiality and fairness. None of their challengers have made the case that change is needed at the State Supreme Court.

Justice Stephens is unopposed. Justice Fairhurst has only one opponent, which means the outcome of her race will be decided tonight. Don't forget to vote for Justice Fairhurst - it really counts.

For King County Superior Court, we endorse:

• Position 1: Tim Bradshaw
• Position 10: Regina Cahan
• Position 22: Rebeccah Graham
• Position 26: Laura Gene Middaugh
• Position 37: Nic Corning
• Position 53: Mariane Spearman

For state legislature, we again urge you to vote for the Democratic nominee, except in the 36th and 46th Districts, where the local party organization has not clearly chosen a standard bearer.

NPI interviews Governor Gregoire

This morning, the Northwest Progressive Institute is pleased to announce the return of our podcast, which we originally launched in January 2006.

Our first episode of the year (with more to come in the weeks ahead!) is an interview with Governor Gregoire, who stopped by the Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally last week for a conversation with the local netroots.

The governor talked to NPI about her momentum heading into the primary, what she wants to accomplish in her second term, Initiative 985, the Homeowner's Bill of Rights, and providing aid to returning veterans.

In this episode you'll also hear Chris' remarks at Drinking Liberally and the sixty second radio ad recorded by Barack Obama urging Washingtonians to vote for her in the August 19th primary election.

To subscribe to our podcast, plug our multimedia feed into your favorite aggregator - or click the below button to do so if you are an iTunes user.



We're doing our best to get the interview transcribed and we'll update this post when we've got a transcript finished.

Gordon Smith's company still polluting Oregon waterway

Beth Slovic at Willamette Week is reporting that Gordon Smith's frozen food company has once again leaked pollutants into Pine Creek:

According to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, an employee of Smith Frozen Foods contacted the state agency on July 29 (while the plant was processing corn) to report an overflow from the company's wastewater lagoon that "resulted in a milky discharge to Pine Creek." The plant — located in tiny Weston, Ore. — responded by placing portable pumps in the creek to remove the contaminated water, the DEQ says. On Aug. 4, the company submitted a "corrective action" plan to the DEQ, listing its efforts to clean the spill, prevent future ones and investigate the cause of the July 29 overflow.

According to Slovic's piece, the DEQ considers the incident a "Class 1" violation, which means it can "harm aquatic life, contaminate drinking waters, and impair recreational, commercial and agricultural uses of water." This would be considered a serious violation by the DEQ.

Smith's company has been cited over a handful of times, according to Slovic, for these types of environmental violations. A total of about $28,000 in fines have been levied so far, with more sure to come for this latest infraction.

It's ridiculous that Smith's company can't get its act together on this one. After having multiple violations over the years...why can't Smith get this company, which he's been in charge of years, to stop fouling the water in Oregon?

Michael Phelps makes Olympic history

Stunning. Incredible. Astounding. Remarkable.

The news that U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps had captured his eighth gold medal and turned in his seventh record-breaking performance in the 2008 Olympiad was not unexpected when it flashed across my BlackBerry's screen earlier this evening... but it was delightfully thrilling all the same.

Phelps' accomplishments at these Games will surely rank as one of the finest achievements in Olympics history for decades, possibly even centuries, to come.

While "greatest Olympian ever" may not necessarily be an appropriate honor for Phelps (we have to pay our respects to the many other outstanding competitors in years past who set many world records at consecutive Games, after all) Phelps is undoubtedly one of the world's greatest athletes.

And not just because he's a fast swimmer, either. As Seattle P-I columnist Art Thiel writes, Phelps is a man of integrity:

The cynics are certain that Phelps had to be crooked to so dominate an increasingly competitive swim world.

Of course, I don't have proof that he hasn't used performance-enhancing drugs. But many know, yet don't often explain, that he volunteered to be part of Project Believe, an initiative this year from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that recruited Phelps and 11 other elite athletes for intensive blood and urine testing leading up to the Olympics.

The idea was to help regain public confidence in Olympics sports by having premier athletes go through far more rigorous testing than the industry standard.

Only once in Phelps' many press conferences this week did the subject come up, and it was the only time Phelps expressed a little defiance.

"They can say what they want -- I am clean," he said. "I did Project Believe with USADA, where I purposely wanted to do more tests to prove that. People can question all they want, but the facts are facts and I have the results to prove it."

As Phelps drew closer in his pursuit of the gold medal record, he captivated the United States. Millions of Americans not familiar with his hopes and dreams tuned in and became excited:

Thousands of miles and oceans away, his country was watching. Word trickled back to him that his races were leading the news, that 70,000 people had watched his race inside M&T Bank Stadium after the Ravens' exhibition loss to the Minnesota Vikings. That may have been the greatest reward of all.

"My big goal is to change the sport of swimming," Phelps said. "For the kids coming up in the sport and also for of the sport in America. So my goal is starting to happen, but there is still a long way to go with that. I'm sure Bob and I can think of something in the next four years."

And fellow athletes are deeply impressed:

Leisel Jones, a gold medalist from Australia, said her biggest thrill here was not her own victories, but watching Phelps.

"What do you really say to that other than shake their hand and shake your head, and wonder will anybody come close to that again?" said Ian Crocker, one of so many swimmers Phelps beat here. "Probably not. Not in my lifetime."

The pride of an entire nation is perhaps best summarized by U.S. Olympic Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth, who declared in a statement:

An extraordinary chapter in Olympic history has been written here in Beijing by one of the greatest athletes of all time.

We could not be more proud of Michael, in the manner by which he competed, represented our country, and represented the Olympic Movement. The fact that his eighth medal was won in a team relay signifies Michael's commitment not only to his own quest, but to the importance of teamwork and representing his country.

Extraordinary is a fine adjective, but Michael Phelps makes that word sound like an understatement. Even magnificent doesn't seem to quite accurately describe the breadth of his accomplishment. It's simply unprecedented. Skeptics thought Phelps' goals were lofty and unreachable.

He proved them wrong.

And along the way, he took the United States of America (and the world) on a thrilling ride that will not be forgotten. We have just witnessed one of the most spectacular moments in the history of sports. We ought to savor it - who knows when, or even if, a feat like this will ever be repeated?

Michael Phelps is a champion who is truly in his own league.

LIVE from Seattle Center: Concluding thoughts

We're in the final minutes of AM 1090's "We the People" forum here at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall, and the conversation is getting lighthearted, with the hosts cracking jokes around the recent Bigfoot/Sasquath "discovery".

The final (serious) question, or theme, is about biconceptualism - specifically, are most biconceptuals closer to progressive America or conservative America?

(The panel unanimously agreed yes.)

So why does the right wing agenda dominate our national conversation? The answer is naturally multifaceted - we have a corporate traditional media that is more interested in ratings, sales, and profits than quality journalism.

Then we've got a Republican Noise Machine in this country that unceasingly repeats the same message, influencing (or polluting) the focus of the traditional media.

And finally, we progressives have an idea deficit, and cognitive difficulties to boot. Our fellow Americans don't know what we stand for because we just haven't done a good job of defining ourselves and communicating our true values.

The town hall is now wrapping up; and all the hosts are in agreement - it's time we went out and took advantage of the great August nightlife. Maybe we'll have an impromptu Drinking Liberally - who knows.

Anyway, the NPI team is signing off for tonight. We'll add a few photos for you here before we power down our computers for the evening.

So long from Seattle Center!

LIVE from Seattle Center: We're back

After a break to chat with the crowd and renew their energy, the panel is back onstage and contemplating who Obama will choose to be his running mate. Crowd opinion is leaning towards Joe Biden, while Evan Bayh and Hillary Clinton are not receiving much positive crowd response. The panel seems to agree with the audience; they think Biden would bring more experience to the ticket.

Russ Feingold's name brought a strong roar from the audience and Wesley Clark also has a lot of support (more than Biden).

Moderator Ron Reagan jokes that McCain should consider Joe Lieberman, while Mike Malloy suggests that Mitt Romney would be a great choice and has the added advantage of keeping the evangelicals at home on election day. Thom Hartman thinks that Romney could bring a lot to the McCain ticket: money and "cleanness".

Moving on to the subject of religion, Randi Rhodes emphasizes that Barack Obama can comfortably talk about religion and about the compassionate side of religion: helping those in poverty, providing healthcare to everyone.

The panel thinks that people aren't paying attention to what the Bush administration is doing except for the vigilant, "wonky" progressives. (Yay us!) According to Randi Rhodes, "We are the front line of democracy."

The panel is bouncing great ideas back and forth like the U.S. Olympic volleyball team with a volley ball. A constant theme of the evening is that Republicans are trying to destroy and shrink government by privatizing it, while progressives know that government can be "good." The success of the social security program is one good example of successful government.

The Republicans have tried to chip away at this old-age insurance by privatizing it but Americans wouldn't have it. And we need to be reminded which party supports one of our most important government safety nets and who wants to destroy it.

UPDATE: Race is on the table now. Whether people discuss it or not, race will play a part in the presidential campaign. Malloy and Rhodes see a lot of racism in the country and its effects on the election will be complex. Whites and blacks might vote with race in mind, which could either give Obama votes or take them from him. We'll have to see how it plays out in November.

Blame for the September 11th attacks is being assigned to the "Bush Crime Family." Have we heard the true story? There were too many clues that something was in the works with Osama bin Ladin. Seder sees signs of a conspiracy: July meetings with the Taliban in Afghanistan, flight schools, the presidential daily briefing.

The issues tackled tonight have been thought provoking and the panel has been articulate and insightful. I think they enjoyed the opportunity to have this conversation together and even ham it up a bit. Hopefully they take their show on the road again so more Americans can have the pleasure of listening.

LIVE from Seattle Center: It's time for the Democratic Party to define what it stands for

Here at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall, AM 1090's "We the People" panel is in the midst of a stimulating and intriguing conversation about rebuilding the Democratic Party's identity and articulating our values.

"The way we change the Democratic Party is to change the way we win," Rachel Maddow said, adding that the party truly needs to decide what it stands for so the party can have enforceable standards.

Currently, the party lacks a real standard, which leaves room for corporate suck-ups like Steny Hoyer (the Democratic majority leader).

So what does the Democratic Party stand for? Suggestions from hosts on the panel included good government, peace, broad prosperity, and populism.

UPDATE: Returning to the topic of FISA, Sam Seder predicted that Republicans will come out in mid-2009 (assuming Barack Obama moves into the White House in January) and complain that America is being spied upon.

And once again, the panel reflected on the Democrats' weaknesses: the party's inability to go on offense, reframe, or master political theater.

"We need to use their own video against them," Stephanie Miller suggested.

UPDATE II: On the topic of George Bush's legacy, the hosts agree that George W. Bush will answer at some point for his crimes at The Hague - maybe even within fifteen years, as Thom Hartmann predicted.

D.C. Democratic leaders are somewhat complicit in the administration's lawbreaking, the panel agreed, because Congress has done such a bad job of exercising oversight of the executive branch.

Stephanie Miller observed that the scope of the Bush administration's misconduct is so broad that the American people are actually numb with outrage.

UPDATE IV: We're taking a fifteen minute break.

LIVE from Seattle Center: "We the People" all star panel kicks off

AM 1090's annual town hall forum has just kicked off here at Seattle Center's Exhibition Hall, where a packed house of progressive activists have gathered to listen to a panel of nationally syndicated talk show hosts talk about the 2008 presidential campaign and American politics.

Five of us from NPI are here, liveblogging and taking pictures.

The panel includes Mike Malloy, Randi Rhodes, Sam Seder, Rachel Maddow, Thom Hartmann, and Stephanie Miller, with Ron Reagan moderating.

Each host was introduced individually by AM 1090's Lee Callahan to deafening applause (the cheering and clapping really echoes around in this auditorium!).

The leadoff topic for discussion is Barack Obama's recent positioning on offshore drilling and energy. "It's a scam issue," declared Mike Malloy, referring to the Republicans' more drilling good posturing. The hosts are all pretty much in agreement: Obama should stake out a clear, unequivocal position against wasting money digging up more fossil fuels and favoring investment in renewable energy.

"The point is, you say no more giveaways to Big Oil," Sam Seder added. "You turn it around and put them on the defensive."

UPDATE: The panel has moved on to media culpability, and the media's coverage of the presidential candidates.

"I feel like right now what's happening in cable news is that they're absolutely, positively focused on Barack Obama," Rachel Maddow said. (Rachel, of course, broke into television not long ago, becoming a star analyst for MSNBC during the nominating season). She added that Barack Obama is guaranteed to win in November if the election is about Bush and McCain, but stands a fair chance of losing if the Republicans succeed in making the election a "yes or no" vote on him.

Sam Seder agreed, saying "The Obama campaign has been late to recognize that [McCain's strategy of turning the election into a referendum on Obama]."

"In my opinion, the Obama/Clinton campaign got dragged on a lot farther by the media than it otherwise would have," Thom Hartmann reflected.

Randi Rhodes thinks that Obama is capable of taking control of this race.

"I have a feeling that Obama...is a sophisticated guy who knows exactly what he's doing," she said. Thom Hartmann suggested that Obama's campaign would not have supported having Hillary Clinton's name entered into nomination if it wasn't the best way to heal the rift within the Democratic Party.

UPDATE II: The panel briefly touched on the conflict between Russia and Georgia. ""We're the ones who encouraged them [Georgia] to punch the bully," Stephanie Miller said, slamming the Bush administration's foreign policy. The hosts all agreed that the American public doesn't really understand the full extent of the United States' involvement in the conflict.

Ron Reagan just introduced a new topic for the panel to discuss: election integrity. The biggest problem with our elections, the panel concurred, is that we have outsourced our voting apparatus to unaccountable corporations.

"I think Americans are disgusted with a lot of the privatization of our core government functions," Rachel Maddow said. Ron Reagan pointed out that the Republicans have been deliberately sabotaging the government so that they can then claim government is ineffective and inefficient compared to the private sector. Thomas Frank's new book The Wrecking Crew was mentioned as an excellent primer on the Republicans' strategy of sabotage.

UPDATE III: The panel just touched on Social Security (continuing the conversation about privatization) with Sam Seder noting that the system is not in a crisis and needs only minor adjustment to remain solvent well into the future. But Republican propaganda about Social Security persists because the media doesn't do a good job of cutting through right wing spin.

And Democrats in Congress, who are terrible at reframing and strategy, aren't making things any better. "The Democrats are absolutely incompetent at doing political theater," Thom Hartmann declared to roaring applause.

Sam Seder added that the party isn't as unified as it could be because there is an entire faction in bed with corporate America, and the only way to purge these corporate Democrats from the party will be to pick them off one by one.

The Washington State PTA believes I-985 will hurt kids

Here's yet another reason not to vote for Tim Eyman's deceptive traffic initiative, I-985 - Washington's children. In the interest of our state's youngsters, the Washington State PTA has taken a stand against Initiative 985. The problem is that up to $655 million in sales tax over five years could be diverted from the state's general fund, which funds education, and stashed into a special highway fund. According to the parent-teacher organization:

The Board was concerned that the diversion of general fund moneys would result in unacceptable cuts to other programs, particularly K-12 education, health care and other programs that are important to children.

Our schools have to fight for every dollar they get. Let's not further shrink the pie that funds them and other state necessities in order to pursue gimmicky traffic schemes.

I'm Voting Today - Who Will Protect Our Vote?

As I peruse my ballot and materials I've collected about the candidates, I pause to think about how critical general elections were affected by Republican Secretaries of State such as Katharine Harris in Florida and Kenneth Blackwell in Ohio. The course of history was changed - negatively.

I have a friend who has made election integrity her issue and I know that she recommends the candidate that NPI has endorsed, Jason Osgood . I can also listen to this KEXP interview.

For the past four decades, Washington’s Secretary of State has been a Republican. We have had some very close elections (Cantwell for Senate, Gregoire for Governor) and it is time for a change! The Secretary of State is Washington’s Chief Elections Officer and in this role is literally responsible for protecting our democracy. Before running for Secretary of State, Jason was an election integrity activist, who has been fighting for transparent and secure elections.

The incumbent, Sam Reed, promotes vote counting machines, like touch screens, that make it impossible to insure that votes are recorded and counted as cast. Respected organizations such as the Brennan Center, MIT, Princeton, and others have all shown that these machines are insecure, inaccurate, and do not meet the standards required by the Help America Vote Act.

As Secretary of State, the first thing Jason promises to do is a top-to-bottom review of the state’s voting machines, like the review conducted by the California Secretary of State Debra Bowen. Jason is also a software engineer who knows that the systems currently used in elections require technical knowledge so that election officials will not be at the mercy of private vendors. He has many years of project management experience and promotes transparent government as well as secure elections.

I was also involved in a group suit against Ralph Nader and Sam Reed was no help. I won't go into that right now, but I think I am ready now to cast my vote for Secretary of State.

The ugly truth about the Mouse

Apparently, Disneyland is not The Happiest Place on Earth.

Cinderella, Snow White, Tinkerbell and other fictional fixtures of modern-day childhood were handcuffed, frisked and loaded into police vans Thursday at the culmination of a labor protest that brought a touch of reality to the Happiest Place on Earth.

[...]

At the heart of the issue is a free health care plan that has been provided to Disney hotel workers through a trust fund that Disney and other unionized hotels in the area pay into.

Briceno said that in exchange for the free medical plan, union members agreed in previous contracts to a lower wage for hotel workers in the first three years of their employment.

But Disney now wants to eliminate the free health plan for new hires and wants to create a new class of workers who put in less than 30 hours a week, said Briceno. Those part-time workers would receive no sick or vacation pay and not be given holidays, she said.

The company also wants to increase the number of hours full-time employees must work before qualifying for the health plan, she said.

We're talking about an amusement park that costs the average family of four (assuming 2 adults, 2 kids under 10) $256 for one day's admission. That's not to mention all of the money that Disney makes off of films, sales of film-related toys and merchandise, revenue from retail stores (Disney Store), hotels (Disneyland Hotel and others), television (ABC & ESPN) and other sources. And they're saying they can't afford to pay their workers? This is one of the wealthiest companies in the world. But I guess as with the Republican Party, the family values that Disney preaches apply to everyone except themselves and the riches only belong to corporate fat cats and not the workers who helped make the company what it is today.

Then, to make matters worse, the cold-hearted bastards went and arrested Cinderella, Tinkerbell, Snow White and other beloved characters in front of a bunch of kids. That had to look good for the corporate image.