Chair’s message

With the cicadae humming in the background, I gaze east at the vast Pacific Ocean and think fondly of all our friends in Thurston County and the USA. Trying to put my head around the political realities back home while being in such an idyllic setting is certainly a challenge, but one I am grateful for and which will likely fade quickly when we return next week!

Christi and I have been fortunate to have spent the last month in New Zealand, an indescribably beautiful country, populated by both dark and light skinned folks who are friendly, informal, and definitely value humor more than pretense. If you’ve been here, you certainly understand. If you haven’t, do make plans to come.

Although news here understandably is not focused on what the world’s hyperpower is up to, it is significant that the Prime Minister, Helen Clark, has been granted two hours of face time with George Bush next week. She’s making her first trip next week to the U.S. since 2002, leaving the same day we do on a regular commercial flight– accompanied by no significant entourage. She apparently was not well received in 2002, declining to sign up for the “coalition of the willing,” or whatever it was called. She plans to talk about trade, security in the South Pacific region and Afghanistan. According to sources here, she will also meet with Nancy Pelosi the following day, and will stop in Seattle to visit the UW and Microsoft on her return.

We did have an opportunity to attend a session of Parliament a couple of weeks ago. Similar to Britain, it was much livelier than our Congress, as it is common for opposition speakers to interrupt whoever has the floor. We also had a great tour, our guide being an expatriate American who migrated 40 some years ago. (This preceded our trip to the south island where we rented an apartment from another expatriate. Hmm...)

New Zealand is dealing with many of the same issues we are, such as managing growth and development, energy efficiency and climate change, and distribution of health care resources. I’m impressed with the resource management act that they passed in the 1970s, placing the management of all natural resources under one central agency, eliminating what was a hodgepodge of conflicting district (similar to our states or counties) level rules and regulations.

Humans didn’t arrive here until about 800 years ago and the country is making a serious effort to return as much of its land and water area as possible to rich habitat that existed before man arrived. The Department of Conservation appears to be well funded and maintains an excellent system of tracks (trails) throughout the many nature reserves. I’ve hiked a lot of trails in the U.S., but never experienced any like what’s here.

What’s most impressive to me is New Zealand’s effort to be an egalitarian, multi-cultural democracy. The U.S. (and nearby Australia) could learn a lot from what New Zealand is doing when it comes to integrating into society those who were here first. The Maori were the first to populate these islands, having migrated from throughout Polynesia. The Europeans arrived about 400 years later and, like many in the U.S., signed a treaty with those who were there before. However, in contrast to the U.S., New Zealand has taken its treaty seriously. Like Native Americans, many Maori struggle with poverty, crime, and disease, but they are not confined to reservations, own land throughout the country, and are allocated parliamentary seats. Their language is used commonly aside English throughout the country, their royalty is recognized and all members of Parliament must take classes in the Maori language and culture.

George could learn a lot from Helen when they meet next week, but somehow I don’t think he will!

Democracy Unleashed for 2007-08 Primaries and Presidential Campaigns

By Roger Erskine, TCD State Committeeman

On Sunday mornings I watch an engaging hour-long news show, featuring comment and debate on the issues of the day. Actually, in the interest of transparency I should clarify that—Really, I watch for a few minutes, then mostly I argue with the hosts and offer my comments on the issues. My poor beleaguered television and I then have a good, old-fashioned debate, complete with partisan rants and name calling, but we pretty generally end up friends by the end of things.

At any rate, at the end of this particular show, they post on the TV screen the names, ages, and hometowns of soldiers who have been killed that week in Iraq. And here’s the thing: It’s a long list. I can’t help but think that for every name on that screen there’s a casket being delivered to Dover Air Force Base, and a family—maybe a family a lot like mine!—with proud parents—like me!—who will never see their son or daughter again. And I can’t help it: I cry! I pound my fists on the table! I pray that my government will find a way, very soon, to bring our troops home! Then I think very hard about electing a Democratic President in 2008. Like many of you, I start thinking about the myriad of bad things the Bush administration has done to me, my family, my friends, and my country, and find myself playing a depressing parlor game, wondering how long it will take to reverse everything George W. Bush has done.

Enough self pity. What issues do I want my party’s candidates for President to focus on? My list includes Iraq, national security, environment and energy, jobs and the economy, healthcare, immigration, education, Social Security, etc. My list grows every day as I hear about something else that George W. has done to our citizens and our country.

Then it hits me: It’s not just George W. himself. I don’t trust the entire Bush administration. I don’t trust the people he has placed in key positions either. Scooter Libby’s convictions for lying are just the most recent ugly reminder of why this is the case. Unfortunately, you can probably add many names to the list of people in this administration who have earned our distrust. It is just plain ugly that so many people and governments around the world no longer trust George W’s version of the USA. In a time when many of our citizens are wearing Canadian flags on their clothing when traveling abroad to avoid international scorn, something has clearly gone awry.

So how can we as Democrats right the ship of state and make the changes needed to keep our people safe, our international alliances vital, our economy strong, our citizenry well educated and cared for, and our democracy thriving? I believe a fundamental key to this equation lies in the integrity and general character of the men and women we choose to represent our party and our democratic institutions.

While I am deeply engaged in a whole host of issues, I find myself caring more about our candidate’s character than about their positions on issues. A recent Associated Press/Ipsos poll seems to support my feelings: 55% consider honesty, integrity, and other values of character the “most important qualities” they look for in a presidential candidate; 33% look at candidates stances on issues; even fewer focus on leadership traits, experience, or intelligence.

This is not new information. In the Bush re-election campaign of 2004, they focused their messages and strategies on the character-first theory. They won.... because (incredibly) more voters trusted Bush! Character matters deeply to American voters. Look at Bush’s collapse on the character test for honesty today. Character matters!

So, what else matters? Competence is as vital to trust as is character. Competence is all about having the ability to inspire confidence and produce results. This requires using your talents, skills, and knowledge to get the right things done with humility.

To fully understand the important character traits, look at the opposites: arrogance, pride, ego above principles. Then look at what the Bush administration has done. They have advanced the “Unitary Executive” theory. Bush has used this theory to nullify laws passed by Congress after he has signed them. He produces “signing statements” – 800 of them! – asserting that if he thinks a law is unwise he will not enforce it!

In the last half of the 20th century, the number of democracies around the globe quadrupled, bringing the global community closer than ever to reaching consensus. We have the great fortune to live in an era when the dream of democracy has achieved real legitimacy for billions of people around the world. But now the world’s oldest democracy, the USA, is being systematically undermined by radical reactionaries – the Bush neo-cons! Evidence? In violation of the U.N. Charter, we have invaded a nation, condoned torture, refused to seek warrants before wire taping U.S. citizens, leaked classified information for partisan gain, rounded up thousands of American Muslims without evidence, incarcerated hundreds at Guantanamo without charges, and restricted Habeas Corpus.

To begin to resolve this unacceptable situation, we must first look to ourselves, Thurston County Democrats. What can we do to begin to restore our democracy? We can, and I think we must, restore trust in our governmental systems by focusing on character and competence—lending our support to candidates who have uncompromised integrity and credibility.

While we will be tempted to focus on the 2008 Presidential election activities, we must also focus on the seventy-eight 2007 local elections in our county. It is up to us to determine the attributes we expect in candidates in our local elections. The late, great Tip O’Neill was right when he pointed out that “all politics is local.” This is where we can make the greatest initial difference. To have maximum impact in 2007 and 2008, we need to recruit a precinct committee officer (PCO) for each of our 267 precincts. With a PCO in every precinct, we can personally reach out to all voters and enlist them in putting character, competence, integrity, and credibility back into our political system – thereby taking our democracy back. With our vote-by-mail system in place and an active PCO in each precinct, we should be able to help 80-90% of our registered voters exercise their right to vote in both the primary and the general elections in 2007. This will set the stage for the February 9, 2008 precinct caucuses where Democrats will register preference for President, adopt our platform, and elect delegates to county and statewide Democratic conventions. National delegates will be chosen at our state’s Democratic convention. Equally important, in 2008 we will elect state legislators, statewide officers (including Governor), congressional offices, and countywide offices.

Let me sum up our challenges. Most importantly, we must begin to restore our democracy by judging all candidates for office based on character and competence – and then issues. Next, we must fill all our PCO vacancies so that we can get voter participation of over 80% of our registered voters in the 2007 elections. Finally, we must have record voter turnout at the Democratic Precinct Caucuses in February, 2008, selecting candidates who clearly embody the character, integrity, and competence to begin restoring our democracy at home and around the world....AND bring our troops home....AND end nation building through war tactics.

I truly believe we can launch a successful effort to find, support, and elect candidates who meet our character and competency standards, fill our vacant PCO positions, and motivate our fellow democrats to come out to the polls. The choices we make today, and the leaders we elect will bear tremendous influence on our future. Luckily, we have the tools in place, and talented men and women of character and competency already among us. All that’s left is to make it happen, so let’s do it!

Special Interests: The Money Behind Ideas

By Rep. Mark Miloscia, Washington State Legislature, 30th Legislative District

Our American form of government, and our Democratic party, arose from the belief that government should grow from the people up. As Rev. Harry Emerson Fosdick put it, “democracy is based upon the conviction that there are extraordinary possibilities in ordinary people.”

It would be a tragedy if our basic beliefs and ideals were swamped by tidal waves of money pouring into election campaigns. But it’s starting to happen.

We believe in government by the people, but we see candidates with the most money winning 90 percent of the elections for the U.S. and state House of Representatives.

We believe in self-determination and community values, but we see outside money dominating ever more elections. Some legislative candidates grab 80 percent or more of their campaign cash comes from deep pockets headquartered hundreds or thousands of miles from their districts.

Let’s face it: Extremely wealthy interest groups of both parties that exert political power from K Street, Wall Street, union halls or millionaires with money to burn are like behemoth Wal-Marts in the marketplace of ideas. They drown out hometown values and voices with mass mailings, robo-calls and radio blitzes fueled by imported cash.

We need to take back our democracy with public campaign financing.

Public campaign financing not only deters influence-peddling and corruption, it also gives the voices and values of ordinary citizens a fair chance to be heard again. That’s why I’m working with Washington Public Campaigns (www.washclean.org) and Sen. Jim Kastama for public financing that puts the public first in public elections again.

Under our proposal, a candidate could qualify for public funding if he or she:

1) Collects $5 contributions from at least 200 citizens who live in the legislative district;
2) Refuses any contributions from political action committees, political parties, unions, corporations or any other entity;
3) Pledges to abide by strict campaign spending limits, and not to spend more than $500 of their own money, and to participate in public debates.

Governor Gregoire wants public financing for Supreme Court and Court of Appeals races. There are also calls for local-option public campaign financing. Why are these ideas gaining support? Because public financing is successfully energizing citizen involvement and clean campaigns in Maine and Arizona. Individuals who couldn’t possibly raise enough cash to run for office under the unreformed system are not only running but winning clean campaigns. In the 2006 elections, 84 percent of all the Republicans and Democrats in the Maine Legislature ran clean campaigns, refused special interest donations and abided by strict spending limits.

Public financing also gives candidates more time to listen to everyday citizens. As Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano has said, “I got to spend time with voters, as opposed to spending time dialing for dollars or trying to sell tickets to $250-a-plate fund-raisers.”

We can easily afford public financing of all statewide and legislative elections. Washington Public Campaigns estimates it would only cost each citizen $3.36 per year. Unfortunately, public financing will not pass this legislative session. But we’ve laid the groundwork and I believe we will ultimately succeed.

Citizens are increasingly sickened by the justified feeling that huge moneyed interests have bred scandals and hijacked our elections. They long to return to a vision of democracy that emphasizes a rich diversity of voices, community values and the extraordinary possibilities of ordinary people.

This is the vision that long ago gave rise to our American form of government and our Democratic party. With public financing we can make this vision a reality again.

Coming Soon to a Gas Pump or Electric Bill Near You: Carbon Dioxide Emissions Regulation

By Jim Lazar, Consulting Economist

I hope you’ve seen Al Gore’s Academy Award winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. There are now 300 million Americans. All but two believe that global warming and polar meltdown are very real, driven by human consumption of fossil fuels, including oil, coal, and natural gas. The two holdouts will leave office on January 20, 2009. The United States emits 6,000 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, more than 5 tons for each of us. To bring the U.S. into compliance with the Kyoto Protocol would require a 22 percent reduction from today’s emissions. Earlier this year, a group of the country’s largest corporations, including Alcoa, General Electric, and Caterpillar joined with several environmental groups to form the U.S. Climate Action Partnership. US-CAP is calling for a government-imposed national “cap” on carbon dioxide emissions.

Is this “good news” or just another corporate illusion?

It is definitely good news that major corporations recognize that carbon dioxide emission regulation is inevitable. They are seeking what is known as “Cap and Trade” regulation of carbon dioxide, similar to the regulation now in place for sulfur dioxide emissions from coal plants. Under Cap and Trade, existing energy producers would get long-term rights to continued emissions. They could use those rights, or sell them to others. Any new company wanting emission rights would have to buy them from the existing polluters. The annual emission rights would be phased down a little bit each year, until the “target” is reached. The environmental groups have signed on because they believe this is the fastest way to get carbon dioxide regulations in place. Under the US-CAP plan, if existing energy producers reduced their sales or substituted non-fossil energy sources, they could sell some pollution rights. If they added sales, they would have to buy more pollution rights from other existing energy producers. Wind farms, biodiesel makers, and solar cell owners would not need emission rights. This would give operators of marginally profitable coal plants an incentive to close their operations and sell their pollution rights. It would raise the price of electricity, natural gas, and gasoline, creating an incentive to use less. It would make renewable resource seem cheaper, compared with higher prices for fossil energy.

Why are these companies advocating this shift? Simple: the alternative is not as favorable to their profit- motivated shareholders. The alternative is called a Carbon Tax. Under a Carbon Tax, the government would sell or auction off a limited number of emission rights each year, gradually moving toward the same target. The market would bid up the price until the allowed level of emissions was assured. This is the way we now allocate radio and TV broadcast spectrum. The main difference with a Carbon Tax is that the government (the public) would receive the financial benefits. The revenues would likely be $60 billion to $120 billion per year. This money could be credited back on tax bills, used to fund energy conservation programs, pay down the deficit, fund education and health care, support the military budget, or to provide tax cuts to the rich, depending on what the House, Senate, and President choose. To an economist, these options produce similar results. Both would increase prices for all of our fossil energy purchases by about the same amount. Both would cause all of us to pay the real cost of our carbon dioxide emissions. Both would encourage more efficient cars, more efficient home appliances, and development of wind and solar power rather than building new coal plants, as customer made decisions to minimize their energy bills. The issue for you is whether the emission rights “belong” to the existing polluters, or whether this is a public resource, with the revenue going to the public or the government.

For more information from both points of view: Cap and Trade: www.us-cap.org; Carbon Tax: www.carbontax.org

Jim Lazar, an Olympia energy economist with 30 years of experience in energy industry regulation and energy conservation, will be a periodic columnist in the TCD Newsletter.

Key Bills for Service Personnel and Veterans Are Approved

By Debby Pattin, TCD State Committeewoman

With all the national attention finally being focused on the plight of veterans, as well as active duty military members and their families, it is encouraging to know that Washington state’s legislators and our Governor are proving that they really do support the troops, their families, and our veterans.

The Washington State legislature passed several bills this session that affect veterans, including creation of a long-needed military cemetery in eastern Washington (HB 1292). Furthermore, the “Rest in Peace Act” (HB 1168) passed to protect military families from harassment at funerals for fallen service members. The legislature also voted to expand the Veterans’ Conservation Corps program (SB 5164), and to expand college tuition waivers for veterans (HSB 2065 and SSB 5002). A number of other veteran and military family related bills are still under consideration, with over thirty bills introduced this session.

At the state party level, deployed military members from Washington state, who are Democrats, will finally have the chance to weigh in on whom they want as the Democratic nominee for President. At the March 3rd meeting of the Rules and the Affirmative Action committees in Ellensburg, the non-attendance clause was amended to allow an affidavit of presidential preference from service members who are deployed and unable to attend their precinct caucus. Previously, the non-attendance clause only allowed those voters who could not attend a Saturday caucus due to religious observation (observant Jews and Seventh Day Adventists) to submit by mail, or proxy, an affidavit. Additionally, the non-attendance clause was amended to also include disabled or ill voters who cannot leave their homes to attend a precinct caucus.

In states that use a presidential primary, deployed military members receive a ballot in the mail. While there have been problems with military ballots being received and returned in time, at least military members had a chance to participate in selecting the candidate who would run to serve as the next Commander in Chief. With the caucus system that Washington has used, there was no opportunity for deployed military members to participate.

At the April WSDCC meeting in Bellingham, the caucus rules will be adopted. When the caucus attendance rule change goes into affect, our deployed military members, as well as disabled and ill Democrats, and those whose religious observation prohibits them from attending a caucus on a Saturday, will have a vote for the nominee of their choice.

It will be incumbent on all of us to get this rule change to voters in our precincts, and to those whom we know to have family members or friends deployed on active duty. The critical issue will be that service member receive the affidavit and return it by the February 9, 2008, caucuses.

Further efforts on behalf of Veterans and military families are evident in the formation of the Veterans and Military Family Caucus of the Washington State Democrats Central Committee. This caucus meets at each of the quarterly WSDCC meetings, as well as at the State Convention. Between meetings the caucus advocates for legislation, and shares information and concerns with one another. A goal of the caucus is to have at least one representative from every Legislative District and County organization.

Currently Jim Cooper, Army veteran, represents the 22nd LD; Mike Rechner, Air Force veteran, represents the 20th; and Elizabeth Shepard and I, military family members, represent Thurston County. If you are a veteran or military family member from the 2nd LC, 35th LD, 20th LD, or 22nd LD, and wish to participate in this caucus, please let me know. With two wars raging, and fears looming of another war in Iran, our veterans, service members and military families need as much advocacy as we can muster.

For information, call Debby at (360) 866-8664, or contact her at debbypattin@thurstondemocrats.org.

Reclaiming Democracy With Publicly Funded Campaigns

By Mike Pelela, PCO 59

“Lets reclaim our democracy with publicly funded campaigns.” So says Washington Public Campaigns (WPC) (www.washclean.org). Clean, transparent and impartial elections are what democracies thrive on. But just what is a clean election? Simply put, clean elections are about leveling the playing field so that the average candidate can compete with the power of wealth and special interests.

Is this the time that we remove the effects large amounts of cash have had on the peoples rule? Is American politics about considering only the needs of privately funded politicians or their PACs? Should it not be about the peoples needs?

When a candidate’s campaign is bought by special interests, just whom do you think that candidate will represent? When publicly funded candidates are elected to office, their obligation should be to represent the people who supported them. If we the people regain control of our government maybe then governments will invest in the peoples concerns and not just those of special interests.

National Clean Elections (www.publiccampaign.org) is changing the face of American politics. It makes elections about voters and not about lobbyists and campaign donors or someone’s particular interest. It increases grassroots involvement of citizens and protects candidates’ from iniquitous or unfair composition.

How it works; Candidates running for a particular office sign on to the Clean Elections process and receive a specific but equal level of capital that can be spent for their respective campaigns. If one candidate selects not to participate and fund his or her campaign with personnel or private resources, the opposing public funded candidate will receive matching money, to a reasonable limit.

The states of Arizona and Maine have shown it can be done. Both have passed Clean Elections initiatives after a lot of research, coalition building and grassroots organizing. Public education campaigns spoke directly with citizens in countless forums and explained plainly how Clean Elections would strengthen their voices. Washington Public Campaigns, the organization behind the effort to bring clean elections to Washington, is currently working with State Legislature on three distinct bills in support of clean elections in Washington. These bills focus on the following areas:

• Judicial: Supreme and Appeals Courts
• Local municipalities: municipal candidates
• State executive offices and the legislative

If any of these bills should fail to become law, WPC plans to introduce a Clean Campaign initiative to the general public. Washington state merits a return to a full democracy and not limit free speech to those who are well off. The following is a list of three bills, both House and Senate:

Judicial: Supreme Court and Court of Appeals

In this state at the request of Governor Gregoire, companion bills (HB 1589/SB 5226) have been introduced in the Senate by Senator Eric Oemig and in the House by Representative Shay Schual-Berke for public financing bill for Supreme Court and Court of Appeals races.

Local Option: Public Financing of Municipals Candidates

Companion bills (HB 1551/SB 5278), are now before the legislature to give localities the option of implementing public financing programs (currently they are prohibited from doing so by Initiative 134, which passed in 1992). In 2006 the Washington State Legislature came very close to passing such a bill.

State Level: State Executive Offices and Legislative Representative

Mark Miloscia and Senator Jim Kastama have introduced companion bills (HB 1360/SB 5510) to provide for public financing of state legislative and statewide executive elections.

Contact Mike Pelela at (360) 491-5210

Joyce gillie - A Democratic Trailblazer

By Gail James, PCO 115

It’s not very often that you get to meet a trailblazer, but it was my privilege to do so when I became better acquainted with Joyce Gillie. As a longtime Democrat, precinct committee officer since 1960, involved educator and one of the first female principals in Washington state, Joyce has bravely forged a path for others to follow.

Growing up in the Bellingham area, the daughter of a couple who walked the neighborhood as a family to help FDR become triumphant over Hoover, Joyce learned early the value of connecting with people and speaking out to make a difference. Her mother was a teacher and while still a child, Joyce formed the desire to emulate her. However, after receiving her degree at Western Washington University, Joyce had many other ambitions beyond becoming a teacher.

In 1958, Joyce arrived in Olympia to teach school but her wish was to become a principal, something the “old boys” network did not quickly endorse. Facing early criticism, Joyce remembers being asked over and over, “Can you coach football?” as if that were the highest criteria for becoming a principal. Joyce persevered and overcame objections, knowing that her goal of helping children could be better served as the captain of the ship. The “guys in charge” finally gave her a chance and she was immediately successful. Joyce is still connected to many or her former students.

Locally, Joyce also became known for her innovations, such as incorporating the first face to face parent/teacher conferences, instituting inservices for teachers, starting a breakfast program for needy students, working for collective bargaining, and serving at both state and national levels in professional organizations. She had to withstand some flak to establish some of these goals, but she had her late husband, Paul Gillie, to cheer her on with his own political talents. At times Joyce did have to walk a very fine line to prevent becoming polarized and rankling the wrong persons, something many of us should do now. Knowing that we serve all the people, Joyce had to make good choices as to when and where to speak up.

Politics is in Joyce’s blood and when asked about her hobbies, she lists reading about politics and children’s issues—so even at “rest” she’s working. To this day Joyce is working for the younger generation. She currently is assisting in the effort to establish a Department of Early Learning as proposed by Governor Christine Gregoire. Among her past accomplishments, Joyce established the first Thurston County Food Bank and the Child Support Center, a testament to her outstanding and long standing activism.

Looking back over her forty-one years as a professional educator, political worker and champion of worthy causes, Joyce is not ready to give up. She chuckled about the recent “champagne-less, oyster-less” Democratic brunch and recalled how she and Bruce Reeves started that tradition. She is happy that the brunch survived albeit in modified form.

She hopes that Democrats will continue to build confidence in the citizenry and encourages everyone, “in spite of busy lives, to find time to be active on issues that appeal to you.” She also hopes to meet Barack Obama, and to ask him about his feelings on the separation of church and state.

It was entertaining and instructive to hear all of the stories Joyce had to tell. In fact, people around us became eavesdroppers and tried to listen to all the fascinating tales she told me.

Joyce Gillie is certainly a big part of the reason we take pride in Thurston County and the legacy of trailblazers in our local Democratic Party.

Calling all Union Members

By Zach Smith PCO Olympia 46, 22nd LD State Committeeman, and Washington State Democrats Labor Caucus Chairman

The Washington State Democrats Labor Caucus will support and encourage union members to participate in the Washington State 2008 Democratic Party Presidential Precinct Caucuses. Unions have a responsibility to their members, and their founders to protect labor standards. Many take basic worker rights for granted, but we remember it was previous generations of unionists who fought for and won these rights – and some paid with their lives. Unions have a responsibility to activate membership to participate in the American political system to promote and protect working families rights. We need to provide methods to ensure that working family issues are part of the discussion. At all times our attempts should be to broaden the base of the Democratic Party. It is the surest way to achieve the rest of our goals. If you are a union member or support the goals of the labor movement, you can join with the Washington State Democrats Labor Caucus and help get the word out. For more information, contact me at zachhome@comcast.net.

Young Democrats Host Convention

This past year has been an eventful one for the Young Democrats of Washington. We knocked on over 6,000 doors for candidates, lobbied our legislators in Olympia, and worked to foster youth involvement in all levels of the party. On April 13-15 the Young Democrats of Washington will gather in Wenatchee for our annual convention to celebrate the past year’s accomplishments and chart our course for 2007.

We invite all Democrats to join us for the chance to exchange ideas, learn new strategies, and strengthen our approach to democratic activism. The Awards Banquet on Saturday night will recognize the year’s best and brightest young leaders.

Tickets are $35, and our keynote speaker will be announced soon! For information, visit www.ydwa.org/convention or call (360) 561-0255.

TCDCC Approves ‘07 Budget

By Helen Wheatley TCD Treasurer

The Thurston County Democratic Central Committee passed a 2007 budget (click here to see the budget) at the February meeting. The budget is conservatively based on last year’s experience. The greatest goal is to build a strong base for 2008, while also supporting campaigns and activities where needed this year.

The Executive Board asked the Central Committee to approve of a special budget item: a database project to help campaigns. The project became possible because a very good local software developer offered a steep discount on his services. The result would be of such great utility to campaigns, it would be possible to raise enough funding to cover the cost of the project. The State Party has offered free access to another database system, however. If this works well, then our homegrown version will not be necessary.

Membership in the Thurston County Democrats is growing, so we set a high goal this year. The newsletter is a great tool for spreading the word about membership. In turn, membership helps to pay for the newsletter. The budget calls for advertising sales to serve as the main source of newsletter dollars, however.

The Burger Booth is an important fundraiser for us, but the JJ Dinner and Auction is an equally important event. It looks like there will be a very broad and appealing range of goodies on offer this year, as befits such an appealing cause. With our growing membership, it will be a great event.

Legislative Updates

Democratic Leadership Pushing for Real Change

By Representative Brian Baird, 3rd Congressional District

The new Democratic Congress has just been in office for two months now, but already we have accomplished much to be proud of. First and foremost, for the first time in history, a woman, Nancy Pelosi, was elected to be Speaker of the House, the highest elected position ever held by a woman in our nation!

Not surprisingly, when you put a woman in charge things get done. After years of a do nothing Republican Congress, in just the first one hundred hours the Democratic House passed important legislation to lower the costs of student loans, allow negotiations for lower Medicare drug prices, authorize federal funding for stem cell research, implement recommendations of the 911 commission and end special interest tax breaks for big oil – investing the money instead in renewable energy. We have also set a new standard for actually allowing members of Congress time to read legislation before we vote on it. That is something I’ve championed for years now but it has only happened since the Democrats took charge of the house.

All that happened in the first one hundred hours, and all of it was made possible because of your efforts!

Democrats are also taking the lead in demanding real debate on the Iraq war and leading the opposition to President Bush’s plans for escalating the occupation. From the start of this war, which you know I voted against, and continuing with his latest proposals, the President has never told the American people the truth about why we are there, how long it will last, how many lives will be lost, what it will cost or how we will pay for it. We all support our troops and their families and we are all committed to protecting this nation against terrorism. But President Bush’s deceptive, dangerous, ill-conceived and ill planned occupation of Iraq has made this nation less secure not more, and it is time for a real change in course. Democrats in Congress are leading that change.

On the environmental and energy fronts, Speaker Pelosi is convening a select group to recommend real and immediate measures to reduce global warming and change our energy strategy. Soon, we will turn our attention to health care and, as you may know, I am helping lead the effort to establish a nationwide mental health parity law so all Americans in need can receive the effective and economical therapy for mental illness. I am also working on innovative measures to provide comprehensive health insurance for all our citizens and to help prepare for the possibility of pandemic illnesses.

Locally, last month we opened the key bicycle and pedestrian bridge across I-5, linking the Chehalis Western trail and connecting Lacey and Olympia. This project was made possible in part through funds I secured for our area in the latest transportation bill. Also locally, in mid March I will host a coordinated education meeting bringing together people from the local, state and federal government along with business and education leaders to discuss an integrated approach to improving math and science education. This builds on work I’m doing in my new role as chair of the Science and Education subcommittee of the House Committee on Science.

All of this and more is only possible because of your hard and sustained work and support. Thank you all for all you do and I know I’ll see you very soon.

For additional information, contact Rep. Baird at brian.baird@verizon.net

Smith Focused on Responsible Plan for Redeployment of Troops in Iraq

By U.S. Representative Adam Smith, 9th Congressional District

Democrats in Congress are working to change our mission in Iraq to one that is acceptable to the American people. As a recently appointed chairman of the terrorism subcommittee on the Armed Services Committee, I’m doing what I can to push the President and our military planners to stop planning for an endless commitment in Iraq and to start planning for the redeployment of our troops there.

On March 9th, Representative Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) and I introduced a bill that would terminate the authorization for the use of force in Iraq and allow for a new vote on a different mission for our Armed Forces. In addition, it would require the President provide a plan for redeployment of our troops in Iraq and to step up political and diplomatic pressure to end the Iraq crisis and meet key Iraq Study Group recommendations.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) and I also asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates to share with Congress the Dept. of Defense’s contingency plans for responding to a failure of our troop increase in Iraq.

These efforts have behind them an underlying principle: we cannot begin to redeploy our troops and also hand Iraq over to the Iraqis until the President stops preventing his military planners from crafting a strategy to do so responsibly. I hope my efforts help pressure the Dept. of Defense to craft a redeployment strategy as soon as possible so that we can bring the Iraq crisis to the best possible outcome considering current circumstances.

Contact Rep. Smith at (202) 226-8454, or sign up for his email updates at www.house.gov/adamsmith/IMA/newsletter.shtml.

Progress In the Midst of Bills and Budgets

By Senator Karen Fraser, 22nd Legislative District

Hello Democrats! We’re having a remarkably active, productive legislative session, as we approach adjournment on Sunday, April 22.

Governor Chris Gregoire is providing excellent leadership and the Senate and House are working together well.

Bills, bills, bills, and more bills.

The Senate literally has thousands of proposals before it. In the Senate alone, there are nearly 1150 Senate Bills proposing statutory changes of all kinds. There are also 22 proposed State Constitutional Amendments, 21 Joint Memorials petitioning mostly the federal government, 8 Concurrent Resolutions pertaining to procedural matters, and 51 Floor Resolutions recognizing special achievements. In addition, the Senate has 265 appointments by Governor Gregoire before us for confirmation, a unique role of the Senate.

Budgets, budgets, budgets

In mid to late March, legislative budget leaders will present their budget proposals, which they have been working on with other legislators and the Governor since the beginning of the session. There are three budget documents: Operating Budget, Capital Budget, and Transportation Budget. I chair the Capital Budget process in the Senate.

Here is a very short update on Senate action on some of the major priorities.

Education

We will be increasing funding in both the operating and capital budgets for K-12, higher education, job training, and early learning. We are working to enact key priorities of the Washington Learns recommendations, including expanding all-day kindergarten. We have passed legislation to reform the WASL process. We are close to passing a Constitutional Amendment to allow school operations levies to be approved by voters with a Simple Majority rather than the current 60% supermajority. I hope we do.

Health care

The Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Care submitted a lengthy set of recommendations on ways to improve access, care, and cost. We’ve passed several bills implementing many of these. We are giving special emphasis to improving access to health care for children.

Domestic partnerships

I supported this bill as it passed the Senate. It offers to same sex couples the opportunity to efficiently obtain rights to inherit, visit in the hospital, decide on disposition of remains after death, and more. These are all rights that are currently available to them, but only after complicated paperwork and legal procedures. The program is available by registering with the Secretary of State’s Office.

Widows and widowers

The Domestic Partnership bill also benefits many heterosexual couples age 62 or older. Many would like the opportunity to have a “domestic partnership,” but not “marry,” because in many cases, one of the partners (usually a widow) would lose an important income source from a prior marriage in the event of a “remarriage.”

Environment, natural resources, and recreation

Proactively, the Senate has passed major initiatives to: reduce emissions that harm our climate; improve protections for Puget Sound; remove toxic derelict vessels from our waters; advance the use of reclaimed water; and more. In the budgets, we will be making more investments in parks, trails, habitat and open space protections and recreation.

Community, economic development

We will be making many financial investments and policy improvements in the areas of: transportation, infrastructure, local projects, tourism, trade, consumer protection, fair business practices, public safety, housing, heritage and the arts.

Public employees

Respect and fair treatment for public employees is always a high priority for me. I expect the negotiated contract for state employees compensation will be approved. I will continue to work to protect and improve public employee pensions.

Reported above is a mere introduction. For more information, please check out the Senate Democratic web page at: http//www.sdc.wa.gov/. You can also check out my web page.

Please stay in touch. It’s a privilege to serve the wonderful people in the 22nd District. I do my best when I am in touch with constituents. Here’s my contact information: Email: Fraser.Karen@leg.wa.gov; Phone: (360) 786-7642, and Fax: (360) 786-1323.

Democrats Move Washington Forward

By Representative Sam Hunt, 22nd Legislative District

Moving past the halfway point, the 2007 legislative session has been going full speed ahead since day one. At times, I feel like I have been dropped in a blender! At other times, I feel like the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, “I’m late, I’m late for a very important date!”

Having a large majority in both the House and Senate, and Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire to back us up means all the responsibility for the session rests on the shoulders of Democrats. If we succeed, which I believe we will, we get the credit. But if we mess up, we also must take the blame. That’s is what leadership is about. We must make the right decisions and stand behind them

We came into the session to build on our major priorities: education, health care, environmental quality, and transportation. While work continues on these important issues, the press seems more interested in issues like NASCAR, the Sonics, and a bill to allow dogs in bars—well maybe dogs on leashes at bars with outside tables…

Shelton Representative Kathy Haigh chairs the Appropriations Subcommittee on Education; she and her committee worked hard to develop an early recommendation for funding education from early childhood through graduate school. The focus is on increasing learning opportunities for birth-to-three year olds, reducing class size, funding teacher salaries, increasing K-12 funding to meet needs of education reform, adding critical postsecondary enrollments and addressing needs in high demand job fields. I am sure Kathy will provide more details in her article, which also appears in this newsletter.

Our first major achievement, the landmark children’s healthcare bill was recently signed into law. It takes a big step toward meeting our goal of every child having health care by 2010; 38,000 additional children are now eligible for healthcare! The most conservative of the Republicans (and that is a majority of the House caucus) complained about government stepping in where the private sector should work, blaming mandates, and even using phrases like “socialized medicine” and “Hillarycare” in their opposition.

Transportation issues remain in the news. Of course, transportation has so far focused on whether or not to viaduct or tunnel along Seattle’s waterfront. Or maybe we do neither and depend on surface transportation. Seattle, King County and the state continue to search for an alternative to the troubled viaduct. One transportation recommendation from Senator Fraser, Representative Williams, and me is that the state seriously consider extending Sound Transit to Thurston County.

One of the more controversial bills I introduced is HB 2379; it would cancel the 2008 Presidential primary in Washington. This would save taxpayers $9.7 million. Why cancel the primary? Because the Democrats cannot use the primary to select delegates to state and national conventions. State law does not allow voters to state their party preference when selecting a ballot. No public indication of party preference results in a primary that does not count for anything. The Democrats will not use the primary in their delegate selection process, and the Republicans might use it for one-third of their delegates. The state should not spend that much money to determine a handful of delegates to the Republican National Convention. Voters would wonder why they even bothered to vote. At least in a beauty contest, the winner gets a crown and flowers. The winner of our primary wouldn’t even get that! Save the money and use it for education.

There was a lot of talk about providing public funding for state judicial races and options for local governments to publicly fund campaigns. I am a cosponsor of both bills and reported both out of the State Government and Tribal Affairs Committee. However, neither bill had enough votes to get to the House floor for a vote. Similar bills died in the Senate.

It is an honor to have been selected as Chair of the House State Government and Tribal Affairs Committee. This is the first year that either house has had a committee specifically assigned to address and work on tribal affairs. Early in the session we had an excellent session on tribal law conducted by a University of Washington professor and an assistant attorney general. I look forward to learning more about tribal law and history and working more closely with Washington’s tribes and tribal leaders.

I am often surprised by the number of local residents who have never visited our beautiful Legislative Building and Capitol Campus. Please take some time before the session ends and visit. Just sitting in the galleries and watching session, attending a hearing, stopping by our offices, or just walking around the buildings is a great experience. Don’t let the session end without paying a visit. And if my HB 1896 passes the Senate, we will most likely have a new gift shop by the 2008 session. Washington is one of the only state capitols without a gift shop. When people visit the capitol, they should have the opportunity to buy souvenirs, local art and books, and supplies.

For more information, contact Rep. Hunt at (360) 786-7992, toll-free hotline 1-800-562-6000, or email hunt.sam@leg.wa.gov.

Critical Homeowners’ Bill of Rights Requires Urgent Voter Support

By Representative Brendan Williams, 22nd Legislative District

With the 2007 legislative session still in progress, activity has highlighted differences between the two parties.

One Friday night, House Republicans chose to spend hours attacking a bill that would preserve teachers’ public advocacy voice. They were inspired by Attorney General Rob McKenna’s crusade, before the activist U.S. Supreme Court, to crush the Washington Education Association. In other words, Republicans do not just oppose funding education – they even want to silence advocacy for funding education.

Senate Republicans similarly spent hours debating a bill requiring medical accuracy in sex education. One Republican claimed the bill was designed for prostitutes. Another Republican took delight in repeating the word “anus” as many times as she could. After casting no votes, every Republican, save two who voted for it, angrily stormed off the Senate floor. Even the Republican Seattle Times denounced Republicans’ “screamingly hypocritical posturing.” Is this how Republicans plan on recapturing the socially progressive suburban voters they lost in the last election?

Because of its critical importance, I want to highlight just one bill: Senator Brian Weinstein’s Senate Bill 5550, which would finally grant basic protections – through a statutory warranty requirement for new homes – to Washington’s homeowners. I introduced the House companion bill, and plan on yielding to Weinstein’s Senate-passed legislation. Presently homeowners have more rights in more than 30 other states, and, in a district with over 2000 housing starts underway, I cannot think of more significant civil rights and consumer protection legislation.

Buying a home is life’s greatest investment. If you incur a 30-year mortgage obligation you should be able to expect a certain measure of structural integrity! However, this legislation has elicited fierce opposition from the building industry association. Of course, this same association is caught up in the national scandal over the Bush Administration firing U.S. attorneys for impartially administering justice, and has attacked environmentalists for gas prices, denied that the Puget Sound is polluted, denounced global warming science, and claimed women are eradicating “manly jobs.” One of their leaders even threatened Habitat for Humanity, stating, “My advice to you is to kill Weinstein’s bill or you will have major long-term problems with us.”

Most “warranties” homebuilders offer are simply adhesion contracts full of exemptions and inequities – and do not last beyond a year. KOMO-TV investigative reports have highlighted the worthlessness of these warranties. The relationship between homebuilder and homebuyer is thoroughly imbalanced in our progressive state.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (“Everyone wins with a housing market in which trust is reinforced with solid new foundations in law.”) and the Republican Seattle Times (“[I]t’s hard to fathom why a builder who made a tidy profit on a $500,000 house wouldn’t want to make sure buyers got what they paid for.”) are among those endorsing this consumer protection effort. It has won acclaim in KOMO-TV’s extensive reporting.

We really need a public outcry for SB 5550 to overcome the anti-consumer lobby!

Please always feel free to contact me. E-mail is the means to which I am most responsive: Williams.Brendan@leg.wa.gov.

Haigh Focused on Education Opportunities for All Children

By Representative Kathy Haigh, 35th Legislative District

As I write this, the 2007 legislative session is passing the halfway mark. We’ve already passed nearly 200 bills. I expect hundreds more bills to pass before we return home to our districts, as well as passage of a new two-year budget.

This has been a particularly exciting session for me because much of our focus has been on education and building an education system that provides each of our children with the best opportunities we can provide.

I’ve been actively involved in these discussions as chair of a brand new subcommittee on education. The Appropriations Subcommittee on Education was formed to look specifically at education funding and budget issues.

Our task was to develop budget recommendations for early learning, kindergarten through 12th grade, and higher education. Never before have we created a budget in this way, and it’s been an incredibly productive experience.

Our committee was able to look at how to most effectively break down barriers between early learning, K-12 and higher education. The budgeting process was also much more inclusive and transparent because we were able to talk to stakeholders, teachers, parents and students about what we could do as lawmakers to make the most difference in our classroom education experience.

We unveiled our recommendations at the end of February, with a proposed $1.2 billion in new investments to boost achievement in our state’s schools. I believe strongly that with the right investments, we can provide an excellent education for our children.

Our recommendations include more than $500 million to fully fund I-728 and I-732. In addition, we provide resources to: expand pre-school learning programs for another 2,000 children; provide all-day kindergarten in our lowest-income schools; hire 200 teachers to reduce class sizes in K-4 and 700 teachers for our high school math and science students; and expand financial aid packages to give thousands more students an opportunity to continue their education beyond high school.

These recommendations are just that – recommendations. Discussions in the Appropriations Committee and with the Senate and Governor’s office will result in some changes. But I feel good about the proposal we’ve put on the table.

In addition to education, I’ve been working on a few other pieces of legislation. One is a bill that would allow veterinary technicians to become licensed. As you probably know, when I’m not in Olympia, I work as a veterinarian in Shelton. Many clinics hire veterinarian assistants and technicians to help in the surgery room and provide life-saving emergency care. Because we depend on technicians to provide a high quality of care, I think it’s time we create a license for this emerging profession.

I’ve also been working on a bill that gives the state and local jurisdictions a range of options for managing construction projects. This means that as the cost and schedules for construction projects increase, we can use these alternative construction options to streamline the construction process and complete projects more quickly and for less money. It’s a simple, common-sense way to make more efficient use of taxpayer dollars.

If you’re interested in more information on our education budget proposal, or any of the other issues I’m working on, feel free to give my office a call at (360) 786.7966, or visit my website at www.housedemocrats.wa.gov/members/haigh. I always welcome your feedback.

Legislative District 2

By Bob Chamberlain, Chair

A lot of news these days concerns early declarations of candidacy for all kinds of offices, from local school boards and conservation districts to the presidency. To be ready for 2008, though, we have to do much of the work in 2007.

One crucial area is PCO and other volunteer identification and recruitment. The Second District is in both Pierce and Thurston counties. Both counties have set a priority for PCO recruitment and development. We as a legislative district are cooperating with both and developing our own initiatives, which I see as a key element in building voter outreach.

We also must identify those races that need special attention and cultivate, early, the right kinds of candidates for those positions—an effort that includes both nonpartisan and partisan races. The 2006 attempt by Republican-backed special interest groups to take over our State Supreme Court is an example of why we must act decisively.

Public financing legislation, backed by Washington Clean Campaigns, could help. Two of the three parts of this are, as I write this, in legislative processes, possibly soon to become law. No one pretends, however, that it will fully solve the problems of politically charged challenges to our courts, school boards, city councils and other public entities. Those challenges, some of which will be driven by financial interests, will be directly opposed to the good of the voters.

Those issues form part of our need to identify strong, articulate, principled candidates and help them succeed. For more information, contact Bob at olguy32_2000@yahoo.com.

Legislative District 20

By Mike Rechner, Chair

In my run for State Representative in 2006, I told everyone that I planned to stick around no matter the outcome of the election. In order to keep my word, I stepped up and took the reins of the 20th Legislative District. I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to Bob Guenther for all his years of service to the 20th LD. Not to make it sound as if we have lost Bob, he is still close, serving as the 1st Vice Chair of the Lewis County Democrats.

My immediate goal as Chair is to help bring the three Democratic organizations, Thurston, Lewis, and 20th LD, together to form stronger, more active organizations. As separate organizations, we can all do only so much. But as a team, the three can play a much more significant role in shaping our areas political landscape. I know the Executive Committee members and PCOs from both county organizations and believe we can really do some good work in the future.

In the coming months we will be focusing on PCO recruitment. There many precincts in the 20th without PCOs. If we are to draw more people into our party, we have to start with getting a PCO into every precinct. They form the most basic level of grassroots organization.

We also want to have a presence at all the summer events and parades across the district. Anyone with any fundraising ideas, please contact me. We will develop a calendar in cooperation with Thurston and Lewis County Democrats which will be posted on our website www.lewiscountydemocrats.net/20thleg/index.htm.

I look forward to working with all the PCOs and volunteers in the coming year to make this a more Democratic 20th Legislative District.

Legislative District 22

By Jim Cooper, Chair, and Zach Smith, LD 22 State Committeeman

The Washington State 2008 Democratic Party Presidential Precinct Caucuses are less than 12 months away. The process of choosing a Democratic Party nominee for President of the United Sates of America starts with you, today.

In our state the Democratic Party will use the caucus system to allocate delegates to the Democratic National Convention to be held in June of 2008 in Denver Colorado. Our process starts now at meetups and campaign gatherings in our community. You can find out about these campaign meetings at the Thurston County Democrats web site, www.thurstondemocrats.org.

Democrats are fortunate our field of candidates include leaders with the vision and experience to lead our country to a future of hope and resolve. Critical issues demand that we act now: accelerating economic dislocation, growing cultural diversity, global warming, and a political landscape that is in constant tumult as national and global events increasingly affect us at the local level are just a few.

We can choose the Presidential candidate that will address these issues. Every Democratic Presidential candidate deserves consideration; you can choose which candidate to support. Like choosing a candidate for City Council or county government, this year we will begin the process of choosing the Democratic Party nominee for President.

Get involved now—you can attend a campaign meetup, go to a Thurston County Democrats meeting, and choose a candidate. As our political opponents move to restrict access to their political system by imposing social and religious litmus tests, we must show Americans everywhere that the Democratic Party is the party of freedom, opportunity and accomplishment.

Legislative District 35

By James Chapin, Chair

On Earth Day, Sunday, April 22, the 35th Legislative District Democrats will hold events across our district empowering our members, friends, and neighbors to conserve energy one light bulb at a time, one home at a time. We will have lunches and events at the Silverdale Community Center, a venue in Mason County, the senior center in Elma, and at Sam Garst’s “green” home in Thurston County.

Through press releases, our website and newsletters we will ask that consumers bring in their incandescent light bulbs and we will replace them with florescent bulbs. We hope to give each participant at least a package of six 60-watt bulbs and 100-watt bulbs and their equivalent watts in spotlights.

We requested free florescent light bulbs from Puget Sound Energy, which serves Kitsap and Thurston Counties, and the Public Utilities District, which serves Mason County, to help accomplish our goal of re-electrification of the 35th LD. We hope this effort will spread throughout the state. In addition, Mason County Commissioner Lynda Ring Erickson hopes to donate cedar and hemlock saplings to give to participants.

We invited members of Congress to speak and endorse the necessity of this project, along with members of our community who have shown leadership in the conservation projects within this district. In addition, we hope that at least one member of Puget Sound Energy and the Public Facilities District in Mason County will address how this small effort can help with greenhouse gas emissions.

For more information, contact James Chapin at (360) 692-2666, or Fran Moyer, LD 35 fundraising chair, at (360) 830-4332-H, 360-509-3069-cell.

Community News and Other Items of Interest

Listen Up: People of Color Uncensored

Democrats & Diversity will be a regular column in the Thurston County Democrats newsletter this year. This column will feature different authors on the subject of diversity and democratic values.

By Teresa Sykora Lovaas

Author’s disclaimer: I have never grasped the difference between ‘my opinion’ and ‘absolute truth.’ That having been said, this is my experience as an Asian woman in the mainstream feminist movement.

Going in, I was full of wide-eyed wonder. Looking back, I feel a little Spongebob-ish in my naivete. Soon after I took on a leadership role [in NOW], it became clear to me that this really wasn’t what I’d imagined. I was engulfed in a sea of white faces that cared little about issues that I was passionate about. Things like human trafficking and it’s more attractive sister, mail-order brides. I understand why that is.

When I see a cargo container opened up and the bodies of Asian women being hauled out, I have a visceral, blood lust reaction that gnaws at my gut and makes my heart race—even now, as I think and write about it. What I see coming out of that cargo container is my aunt, my mother, my flesh and blood for innumerable generations. I see me, and I see my daughters. Being bought and sold like cattle and treated with less dignity. No white person—no non-Asian, for that matter—can see those things.

My problem was that they weren’t representing the issues that I, as an Asian woman care about. Why were they giving ‘women of color’ issues lip service, but no real teeth? This led to disillusionment, which led to detachment.

After a lot of anguish and analysis, I’ve realized that my expectations of NOW were unrealistic and unfair. NOW (and mainstream feminism, in general) is a white women’s organization. It was created by and is, to this day, fueled by white women. I was angry and resentful at NOW for just being NOW.

If it had been fully integrated with women of color from the beginning, it would be a very different organization, and the differences would only start with the addition of kimchee soup at board meetings.

White women have the distinct advantage of being able to look at women’s issues in black and white. Domestic violence is bad. Abusers are arrested and get treatment. Period.

But is the issue really that simple?

White women have one huge luxury that we don’t. White women don’t have to protect their men and children from society. Their men ARE society. We, however, have to think about things like whether we want more of our men in jail. We have to think about the shame every Asian person will feel when one of our men is plastered in the media as ‘violent’ and ‘dangerous.’ We have to think about how much we trust white society (you have to admit, y’all haven’t been stellar in this area) to protect us and treat us fairly. White women don’t have that dilemma.

Case in point: When 9/11 happened, Muslims were largely viewed with fear and skepticism, and are still at times labeled dangerous. But, after the Oklahoma City bomber was found and convicted, people only laughed when I demanded all whites be rounded up into camps because I no longer felt safe with them running around. When I told my husband I wouldn’t date him because he is white and was raised Christian, and every single American serial killer I’ve heard of is white and Christian, he really didn’t take me seriously. (Needless to say, I am, so far, safe with him, despite the clear danger.)

Yes, I’m stating these things tongue in cheek, but just, for a moment, imagine that was the world you lived in. A place where, every time a white man committed an act of violence, you husband, your father, your son, was at risk of retribution–just because he’s white too. Trust me, NOW would be a very different organization if this were the case.

Because the women of NOW could look at women’s issues without the myriad other issues the rest of us have to consider, they could champion women’s rights and protections aggressively, and without apology. That is a very good thing. I realize now what a gift organizations like NOW are for our society. They have brought this country out of the dark ages, and given women something that almost resembles equality… if you don’t know much about math or the justice system, or really, what ‘equality’ means at all. That is an amazing accomplishment, and the fact that these women are still fighting for it is only to be applauded and, believe me, I’m the first to clap my hands.

However, I urge NOW and the mainstream feminist movement to please not try to entice us to join up. Whether you believe that we make up such a miniscule percentage of the membership due to a long history of not allowing women of color at the feminist table, or because of self-inflicted exclusion isn’t the point. NOW should not try to be all things to all women. It is what it is. But when it comes to the issues that Korean women care about, NOW hasn’t a clue. Nor should they. Taking a page out of the ‘How to be a Person of Color in a Society Ruled by Whites’ handbook, my advice is this. Just be yourself. Be proud of who you are and how you got that way. Don’t change for anyone.

On behalf of women of color, and yes, I speak for every one of us (please reference the disclaimer above), stop this sudden demographics induced desire to ‘help’ and ‘understand’ us. We aren’t stupid, and we aren’t weak. We are intelligent, strong, proud, and understand our issues far better than you ever will. We will stand up for and protect ourselves and better our lives (all the while protecting our men from yours) all by our own little selves.

Teresa Sykora Lovaas: I am the former president of Washington State NOW, and currently am Master and Commander of my own little world. I have lived in the Olympia area since 1978, and am married and have four kids.

Classified Ads

As a way to ofset the costs of producing our newsletter, we have been selling ads for local businesses and candidates. This year, we're opening this up to include Classified Ads. Please read the guidelines below and be sure to contact us with any questions.

Classified Ad Guidelines:

1. $15 minimum cost (includes 33 words or less;
2. 45 cents per word for longer text ads (greater than 33 words);
3. Classified category heads will NOT be used.  Ads will be listed alphabetically by first word introduction, as shown.  Advertiser must include first word(s) subject ending with a colon; 
4. Classified ads could be any subject except ads in pursuit of personal/romantic relations.  However ads could be a letters of thanks, such as "thanks for support during my recent tragedy" i.e. (loss of dog, cat, husband, wife, etc.);
5. Must be submitted to TCD newsletter editor (info@thurstondemocrats.org) no later than the 15th of the December, March, June or September. 
6. TCD reserves the right to choose which ads are allowed.

In My View

We've started a new column in the newsletter this year. It's a "letter to the editor" column that we are calling In My View. There are two letters included in this edition of our newsletter. If you are interested in having your view published in our newsletter, please read the guidelines below.

In My View Guidelines:

1. Must be a topic related to civic or political issues;
2. Must be 100 or fewer words;
3. Must be submitted to TCD newsletter editor (info@thurstondemocrats.org) no later than the 15th of the December, March, June or September;
4. TCD reserves the right to choose which letters are published, and, if chosen, letters to the editor may be edited due to space limitations only;
5. Contributor must include full name including middle initial, city/town of residence, and contact telephone number (for editorial verification if needed; telephone number will not be published);
6. The Thurston County Blue blog is available for anyone interested in writing more about a topic than the "Letter to the Editor" section can accommodate.  Please visit www.thurstondemocrats.org/blog begin the discussion today!

Karen, Sam & Brendan

I’m sure you’ll have no problems getting the Domestic Partnership bill passed. But, really, that’s “not enough.” We need to pass the same-sex-marriage act (SB 5335 / HB 1350).

I first got involved with “gay issues” when I was 21 and had moved to San Francisco (in 1961). I met dozens of gays who had come out of the closet there (that’s 8 years before Stonewall).

One gay (Bud) had a nightclub called The Arena that was open to new talent and not “touristly-expensive”—a great place for “locals” and Bud was friendly to all. Bud was brutally murdered—the first person I ever knew who had been murdered. The police called it a “gay-bashing” but did nothing about it.

Later (in 1960s) I learned that my nephew was gay and had to leave Port Townsend because of the backlash. He has lived in New York City ever since. In 1970s a gay teenager baby-sat my kids. In other words, for 45 years I have known gays, lesbians, transsexuals and transgender folks.

I’ve worked for Women’s Rights and Civil Rights, but still we haven’t covered this portion of our citizens! Why aren’t we here, by now? Please, make it this year!

Linda Lombard
Demo PCO and your constituent
Editor’s note: Reprinted with author’s permission.

Let’s Put the Kibosh On 2008 Presidential Primary

Make no mistake, I’m usually the last person on Earth to suggest that money spent on an election isn’t money well-spent. But I’ll say it today: Our citizens in the state of Washington are on track to throw $9.2 million in public money down the drain for the 2008 presidential primary.

This upcoming primary election, on top of being a big waste of money, will have no meaning in the national decision-making process. It’s just dead wrong of us to go forward with it here in the Evergreen State. That’s exactly why I’m sponsoring House Bill 2379 to cancel this beast next year. The House Appropriations Committee this week will hold a hearing on the bill.

The two major national political parties aren’t even required to consider what Washington’s presidential-primary voters think about who should be their standard-bearers. The Democratic Party doesn’t plan to use the vote in designating or selecting any of its delegates, and the Republican Party might use it to select only a third of its delegates.

Like it or not, when it comes to determining its presidential nominee, the Democratic National Committee won’t allow the Washington State Democratic Party to use the primary. This is the case because here in Washington we don’t have a firm declaration-of-party on the voter’s election sign-in sheet. That’s the only way the national party can determine if the person who’s doing the voting is really and truly a Democrat or a Republican.

Frankly, the presidential-primary election for our voters really doesn’t even rise to the level of a political beauty contest (which would be an insignificant enough level, anyway). At least in a beauty contest, the winner gets a crown and a nice bouquet of flowers!

I’ve always supported the idea of our state participating in a meaningful presidential primary. But the state and national political parties, the Legislature, and the courts have been unable to agree on a process that will enable the primary votes to be considered in apportioning delegates to the national nominating process.

Yes, it would be great to have a primary that helped determine at least half our state’s delegates to the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. But that simply isn’t the case at this time. It simply makes good fiscal sense to scrap this beauty contest before we waste any public money on it.

The state House of Representatives, by unanimous vote, has already passed another measure I’m sponsoring (House Bill 1526) to modify our presidential-primary ballot. Right now, a major political party can request that a separate ballot, containing only candidates who have qualified to represent that particular party, be provided for voters who request a ballot for that party. Current state law says that a primary ballot containing the names of all candidates who have qualified for a place on the ballot must be provided for nonaffiliated voters.

The unaffiliated ballot is provided for voters who don’t want to identify with either major political party. But the rub is that in the national presidential primary, the national parties don’t count unaffiliated ballots. So the practical effect of our current primary is that unaffiliated ballots cast in the presidential primary don’t count in the national presidential-primary election.

My already-approved (by the House of Representatives, at least) legislation would eliminate the unaffiliated-ballot option for the state’s presidential primary. This change would require the printing of fewer ballots, which is a big public expense right now. The ballot would clearly indicate party affiliation for each candidate. In our current Washington system, people who choose the unaffiliated ballot for the presidential primary don’t realize that most of these ballots go uncounted in the national presidential primary.

This legislation would allow people to choose only a Democratic or a Republican ballot so that they might actually have a say-so in the national presidential primary. What a concept: an election that actually counts every vote!

State Representative Sam Hunt
22nd Legislative District

Support Builds for Presidential Primary

Support has begun to build to retain the 2008 Presidential Primary. The 38th Legislative District, State Committee members Kelly Wright of Snohomish Co., John Pollock of Clallam Co., and Debby Pattin of Thurston Co. have testified before the Washington Legislature in favor of keeping the Primary. Governor Gregoire wants to have the primary to draw candidates to Washington to hear about our local issues.

1. Money Saved for the Democratic Party: During the 2004 presidential delegate selection, each county had to pay for the expense of holding individual caucuses. This saved money can be used to support candidates.

2. The Presidential Primary will generate an updated list of target voters: 1.3 million voters participated in the 2000 Presidential Primary. The law now requires voters to sign a declaration that they are a Democrat and requires the County Auditor to supply to each Central Committee a list of all voters in the Presidential Primary identified by party. If the primary is held, it is estimated that the Thurston County Democrats will get an updated list of approximately 40,000 identified Democratic voters and 27,000 identified Republican voters.

3. The voters want a Presidential Primary: Recent polling data estimates that the overwhelming majority of Washington voters support the Presidential Primary. The GOP plans to use this as an issue should the Democratic Legislature kill the primary. The Seattle Times has already begun to criticize the Democratic majority in the State House for “killing” the primary.

4. A primary will bring candidates to our area: A Presidential Primary will increase candidate attention on Washington. California will have it’s Primary on February 5 and Oregon is debating moving its primary to February 5. Without the primary, we could be overlooked by the major candidates as happened in 2004.

5. A Presidential Primary is the only way that our military members can participate in this process: There are currently 1,719 Thurston County military voters stationed in Iraq, Afghanistan and around the world. These are the voters who have the greatest stake in the next election. The Presidential Primary allows these voters the right to have a say in the selection of the next president.

Ken Valz
Olympia, Washington

Democratic Presidential Candidate Contacts

The 2008 presidential race is fully underway, with caucuses and primaries being earlier than ever before, many, including Washington’s, in the first week of February 2008.

Following is a list of the declared Democratic candidates, those with exploratory campaigns, and two with grassroots campaigns to draft them.

Barack Obama for President has a local presence with Meet Ups being hosted by TCD members Russ Olsen, Debby Pattin and others. Email obama.tc08@yahoo.com or visit: www.obamatrip.com/thurston, or the national site: www.mybarackobama.com. The next Meet Up is April 19th.

Bill Richardson for President has a local presence with regular Meet Ups being hosted by TCD members Ken Camp and Emmett O’Connell. Contact them at www.wa4richardson.blogspot.com or visit www.richardsonforpresident.com.

Chris Dodd for President has an event in Seattle on March 30th. Contact Deb Greenspan at email dgreenspan@chrisdodd.com/, 202-737-3633 or log on to www.chrisdodd.com/seattle

Dennis Kucinch for President will be in Aberdeen at Gray’s Harbor Institute Presentation on March 30th. For more information on the Kucinch campaign in Washington state, go to www.kucinich.us, or call TCD member Cheryl Crist at 754-7631.

Draft Al Gore for President has a local presence with Meet Ups being hosted by TCD member Jane Johnson. Group meets the first Tuesday of the month. Venue is changing. For information, please check draftalgore.meetup.com/41/?gj=sj6 for details.

Draft Wes Clark for President supporters can be found at www.democrats.org/page/group/WesClarkforPresident2008.

Joe Biden for President supporters can be found at www.joebiden.com.

John Edwards for President has two local chapters, Capital Corps at blog.johnedwards.com/chapter/449, and South Sound at blog.johnedwards.com/chapter/406. National House Party day is Wednesday, March 28th, 7:30 p.m. Visit blog.johnedwards.com/oc/houseparty

Hillary Clinton for President supporters can visit www.hillaryclinton.com, or phone 202-263-0180. As of this writing, a Washington State chair for the Clinton campaign has not been identified, but there is a House Party scheduled in Fife on April 28 (see “Find an Event’ in her web site).

Mike Gravel, Senator from Alaska, is also running for President. Information on his campaign can be found at www.gravel2008.us.