Republican Dino Rossi’s announcement last week that he would again be a candidate for governor came two weeks too early.
Why couldn’t Rossi have waited until after next week’s election to start his run for next year?
We have city council and school board elections all over the state. Let’s get them over with before we have to think about next year.
Let’s have a primary for governor
We hear that next year’s election will be a rematch between Rossi and Gov. Christine Gregoire.
That’s probably true, but don’t we have to nominate them?
State and political party officials argued before the U.S. Supreme Court a month ago over what kind of primary we’ll have. What does it matter when state Republican and Democratic officials have decided a year ahead who will be the nominees?
Let’s find someone to challenge one or both in the August primary.
Watching a King County Council race
Voters in King County’s 6th District will choose next week between two candidates who both deserve to lose.
The Republican incumbent, Jane Hague, was arrested last summer for drunk driving. She’s had to apologize for being abusive to the arresting officer. She also has had to apologize for a resumé that claims a college degree that she doesn’t have and for campaign-finance violation.
She’d be a good target for a strong Democrat. The Democratic nominee, however, is Richard Pope, a former Republican whose gadfly image has been an embarrassment to both parties. When the Democrats failed to find a candidate during the filing period, Pope saw the opening and filed at the last minute. In the primary, he easily defeated a party-backed write-in candidate. Now, neither party wants to see him win.
This would have been a good opening for a Libertarian or Green Party candidate, but those groups are more interested in getting 2 or 3 percent of the vote for governor or U.S. senator than in finding a local race in which they might have a chance to be truly competitive.
Two more constitutional amendments
While we hear a lot about proposed constitutional amendments to allow simple majorities to pass school levies and to start a constitutional rainy-day fund, we face two other proposed amendments
One, Senate Joint Resolution 8212, would amend the constitution to change the rules on inmate labor, allowing contracts, in which private employers hire inmates, giving those inmates a chance to earn money to pay restitution and a chance to prepare for a productive life after release.
The other, Substitute House Joint Resolution 4215, would give state college investments the same flexibility as other state funds.
Evan Smith is the Enterprise Forum editor. Send comments to entopinion@heraldnet.com.
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