In the wild world of politics I have found myself in some strange places.  I’ve infiltrated a seemingly private “press” conference with Mike McGavick where I narrowly escaped the “who exactly are you” question (from a rather large mean looking dude) and was able to join in with local press as McGavick laid out his ultimately failed talking points to a few of us while Democrat’s waited outside with Cantwell signs and video cameras.  It was fun.  As I said before, riding in a limo is only fun if you don’t belong in one.  So when I received an e-mail from an ink-fingered friend to inform me of a Washington State Republican leadership conference call with bloggers I asked to join in. 

Now the e-mail I got from my ink-fingered friend said the group was interested in folks across the political spectrum.  I was suspect.  After all, I haven’t exactly been kind hearted to many republicans.  Maybe it’s a genetic thing that gives me an aversion to much of the ideology, so at first blush I wasn’t buying it.  But being me, I dropped a line to House Republican Communications Director John Rothlin.  John responded quickly and was very friendly.  After brief niceties I received an e-mail with instructions to join the call.

Before I go on, I do want to say that I fully appreciated the chance to participate.  The one thing I get concerned with myself about is becoming far too influenced by my own presumptions of how the world works and where I get my influences in blogs and media.  Living in an echo chamber isn’t healthy.  I think that is how folks like this wind up who they are.  So with that said, I hope I am invited back. While I didn’t agree with many things that were said, I was able to take something away from the discussion. 

One the agenda:  Election Reform; Tribal Gambling

The election reform I will describe as the same old, same old.  Absentee ballots not being forwarded in the mail, and paid signature gatherers for initiatives were the two main issues. 

This old argument about absentee ballots seems to go round and round.  Republicans want to make sure that voters are eligible to vote and democrats want to make sure those who are eligible can vote without hardship.  I am of the latter since I believe you should get that ballot no matter if you moved across the street, down the road, to a nursing home or are working out of state.  If you have an interest in your district and plan on voting there and only there you should be able to vote in that district… and nowhere else.  Doing anything else culls voters from the roles and as was often noted in the conversation, close elections may hang in the balance.  When you are in the minority I suppose this matters more than if not.

Paid signature gathering for initiatives is another dog chasing its tail.  We have a problem and opposition to this bill baffles me.  But both the right and the left know that the real issue isn’t about the potential for fraud in Washington’s initiative process that is at hand.  It is the money.  When you can have a single person (Michael Dunmire comes to mind) float hundreds of thousands of dollars to finance an initiative, including providing advertising and pay to signature gatherer’s it is no longer a ”Citizen’s Initiative” and easily falls into the hands of a small interest group.  What is so bad about that you ask?  Well, if people are really willing to give their time to something they believe in they will stand out in the rain and ask for those signatures.  No one is taking away the advertising dollars and opponents can still raise money to advertise on their own. Nowhere in the bill does it restrict what groups can spend to get their message out. It does get the uninterested out from in front of Safeway pestering me to repeal yet another tax or tell me the fags are going to take over.  I find paid signature gatherers personally insulting in that when I ask them about the thing they want me to sign on to they are generally misinformed or outright ignorant to the issue.  It’s all about money.  

This is getting to be a long post so I will split this up in another post, A Stranger in a Strange Place - Part II, where I will hopefully give some credit where credit is due and expand on it’s attendance.  Feel free to comment.

Part II

[note: Inserting Part II into the Part I post is for continuity for incoming links to this post] 

It’s no surprise that Republicans would raise this issue to promote their agenda.  To be honest I think it is among the most foolish of moves from Democrats.  As I started to write this I noticed Goldy has already posted on this and he is absolutely correct.  It’s a sucker bet that Washington State Republicans would not make this an issue.  And I hope there is more opposition from Democrats as well.  Aside from all the politics involved, it is really a bad idea.

Back to the conference call… in attendance: 

Bloggers - Sharkansky (soundpolitics.com), Jim Walker (Orbusmax), Mike Gallion (Mr. Completely) and myself (others may have been there but I didn’t catch their names).

R-Folks - Representatives Condotta, Chandler, Crouse, Kristiansen

Issue: Gambling Compact:  (Leg. opposition info)(more)

This issue blindsided me.  I guess it’s hard to pay total attention but I would have thought I’d pick up on this one.  But…. WTF!

Aside from what Goldy posted about the Spokane’s being the catalyst for more tribal gaming across the state, another potential was noted as a consequence.  This would be where the Tribes could buy land, put it in trust, and open a casino.  The mechanics of that I am not sure about but I am guessing that setting a new precedent under this compact would be another step closer to this becoming a reality.

I realize this would all be great news for the Tribes, but gambling has a social price tag apart from the perceived benefits of added revenues. Don’t get me wrong, I like to go down and play a little blackjack now and then, but this idea has a sour taste to it.  And the last thing we need is more politicking around this issue where so many more important things need to be addressed.