Inslee again faces 2006 challenger Ishmael for Congress

Published 11:03 pm Monday, October 6, 2008

OLYMPIA — Democratic Rep. Jay Inslee and Republican Larry Ishmael are familiar with one another on the campaign trail.

Two years ago, they faced off in a contest won easily by Inslee. They are in a rematch this year and the congressman is heavily favored to triumph again.

But Ishmael is giving him no quarter. He insisted political conditions are better suited for his bid this time around. Public approval of Congress is lower than 2006, he said, adding that since Democrats took the majority, “we haven’t seen anything out of it.”

He spoke confidently even though he’s raised little money and is getting even less help from the national Republican Party operation. As of Aug. 1, he had $4,000 in the bank to Inslee’s total of nearly $1 million.

“Everything is about timing in politics,” Ishmael said. “People, I think, are willing to take a chance on new leaders.”

Inslee is seeking a sixth term serving the 1st Congressional District that takes in parts of Snohomish, King and Kitsap counties. Lynnwood, Edmonds, Mill Creek, Mukilteo, Monroe and Bothell are included in the district.

Of Ishmael, Inslee said, “I respect all opponents and fear none.”

Inslee, 57, of Bainbridge Island, served as a state representative from 1988-92 and then won the 4th Congressional District seat in Eastern Washington. He served one term then lost re-election in 1994. He later moved west into his current district and won the congressional seat in 1998.

He is on the Energy and Commerce, and Natural Resources committees. This year he was named to the Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming.

Ishmael, 56, is founder and managing partner of Suasor Consulting Group Ltd. He was elected in 2003 to the Issaquah School Board and stepped down for his 2006 campaign.

On most matters, the two disagree. On the biggest issue in front of Congress in recent days — the $700 billion economic rescue plan for financial markets — both said they opposed it; Inslee voted against it, twice.

“Our credit challenge is real, but this plan was both inadequate and inequitable,” Inslee said following the House of Representatives vote to pass the package Oct. 3. “It protected neither the taxpayer nor the need to address the underlying reason for this credit crisis — the collapse of the housing market.”

Ishmael, speaking two days before that decisive vote, said he wanted the “toxic paper” off the books of banks and lending institutions but didn’t view the proposal as the proper means.

“I caution strongly against the government trying to run Wall Street,” he said.

It does not address a fundamental problem of the economy, he said.

“We have to live within our means,” he said, referring to overspending by the government and the citizens. “This root cause needs to be addressed. Until it is, none of this (financial turmoil) is going to be stopped.”

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are two prime issues this campaign as they were in 2006.

Inslee opposed the Iraq war and said troops should be coming home from there.

“We have to send the message to Iraq that within a year this will be yours, this will be your country,” he said.

Some troops will need to be redeployed to Afghanistan because “that is the place where there is a risk” of radical terrorism, he said.

Ishmael also said it’s time to leave Iraq and refocus on Afghanistan.

“We have met our goals in Iraq and we need to start withdrawing them immediately, province by province,” he said.

With Afghanistan, Ishmael said, “I do believe we need to win that war. We won it once then let it go,” he said.

On energy, Inslee is one of the House’s leading voices for developing technology to better produce and distribute alternative fuels. He is constantly pushing legislation supporting harnessing the power of wind, sun and waves for everyday use.

He’s opposed drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and fought an increase in oil tankers traveling through the Puget Sound.

In the final days of this year’s session, Congress passed an omnibus spending bill to keep the government operating. He voted for it though it did contain a provision that let the ban on offshore drilling expire.

“The mantra became ‘Drill, baby, drill.’ The mantra should be ‘Innovate, baby, innovate,’ ” he said.

Ishmael laid out three steps the U.S. can take to start weaning itself from dependence on foreign oil and expand its use of alternative energy.

Oil drilling should be encouraged where it can be done responsibly, coal gasification — a process of converting coal into electricity — must be pursued, and nuclear power plants should be built, he said.

Requests for 24 nuclear power plants are pending.

“We could start building them right away. It is a good clean source of energy,” he said.

Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.