It’s a crowded PAC world out there, and getting more crowded every day.
New political action committees representing every philosophical stripe pop up nearly every day. Last week was no exception.
On successive days, Republicans desiring an end to the GOP’s minority status in the state Legislature and progressives seeking to increase their ranks among the elected in Snohomish County formed PACs to bolster their causes.
GoWashington was created by a small band of Republican activists frustrated that the Grand Old Party’s lack of power left members nearly defenseless against the steamrolling Democrats in Olympia this year.
Vowing to turn the tables in 2006, PAC leaders promise financial aid, voter outreach and technical support for Republican candidates for seats in the state House of Representatives and Senate.
“We don’t have a litmus test,” said David Adams, the PAC’s executive director and one-time leader of the Snohomish County Republican Party. “We just want Republican majorities.”
GoWashington will not compete with the state Republican Party, Adams said.
That’s smart, said state GOP Chairman Chris Vance, because the state party is the primary source of dollars for such campaigns. “The world is full of PACs,” he said. “We welcome all Republican-leaning PACs.”
That’s not to say it will be a collegial relationship between GoWashington and Vance. Mark Hulst, who failed earlier this year to unseat Vance, is chairman of the 2-week-old PAC. Adams was at Hulst’s side throughout the intraparty campaign.
At the time, Hulst questioned Vance’s laserlike focus on aiding Dino Rossi’s run for governor. He expressed concern that such a narrow concentration of energy would push legislative races out of the limelight. The result: Democrats secured control of bothhouses of the Legislature and pushed through their agenda.
Some hint that GoWashington may be Hulst’s vehicle to raise his profile for a 2007 run against Vance for state party chairman. Adams said that’s not the case. The purpose is all about winning back seats in the Legislature.
“Anybody who saw what happened last session would probably agree,” he said.
On the other end of the political dial comes Democracy for Snohomish County, which hopes to elect progressives to school boards, city councils, the County Council and the Legislature.
Members of this PAC are mostly Democrats, and chiefly expatriates of the presidential campaigns of Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich and Ralph Nader.
These are people with limited experience in and little tolerance for the politics of the two-party system. Nonetheless, they are wading into the muck and will eventually endorse candidates and assist them with money and volunteers.
This PAC is a bit different in that it also wants to build membership. Members hope to do that through community conversations on political problems and the progressive approach to solving them.
Next Sunday, Democracy for Snohomish County will examine the election system in a 2 p.m. forum at the Everett Public Library.
“We are a small group with ambitions to grow and much to learn,” Jackie Minchew wrote in an e-mail this week.
Welcome to life in PAC lane.
Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@ heraldnet.com.
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