More On That Quitting Quitter

That would be Jay Inslee.

Check out this video from the WSRP.

Meanwhile, State Attorney General Rob McKenna is busy fulfilling the obligations of his elected office, despite the rather serious hindrance to his campaign. Which, it appears, the Democrats are busy milking to Inslee’s advantage.

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Moxie Media’s Deceitful, Allegedly Illegal Attack Ads Against Local GOP Candidates

Guest blogger, Janis Richter

My 19 year old son is diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Imagine the outrage I felt when I opened my mailbox to discover a political attack ad against my husband (Dennis Richter, candidate for Washington State Representative in Legislative District 1, Position 1) which was addressed to my son, stating that “If you’re concerned about the risk of Autism…Then you should be concerned about the risk of politician Dennis Richter.” It is despicable that any false claim be made against my husband, but this one is particularly offensive! Dennis cares deeply about children affected by Autism, one of them being his own step son!

There is no way for Dennis to have been misconstrued. His position is very clearly stated on his website. In response to the deceptive claims made against him, he states on his campaign website:

Our political opposition is trying to deceive voters by misstating our positions on important issues. For example, one recent mailer said I am against screening for autism and breast cancer. This is a blatant lie, twisting what I believe about health care mandates. Put simply, I do not believe it is the function of state government to tell private industry what they have to sell to consumers. Any insurance company should be allowed to sell policies that provide a wide range of coverage. That will keep our health care costs as low as possible. We believe that voters will see through this type of strategy by our opposition and will side with the common sense solutions our campaign offers.”

By the way, my 19-year-old stepson, Jared, was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome (“high-functioning autism”) at an early age. It is a particularly low blow for my political opponents to deceitfully attack me over such a personal issue.

From the article A Mind-Bogglingly Complex Scheme Funnels $2.7 Million for Labor and its Allies in Washington-State Races – Berkey Case is Just the Beginning, published in Washington State Wire, we learn that Moxie Media, the company that funded the hit pieces against Dennis, “shuffles Campaign Cash Through 40 Political Action Committees”. Basically, it is a front group that deliberately and fraudulently conceals from the voters who is paying for the ads. The article states that “this year labor organizations and their allies have funneled as much as $2.7 million to independent campaigns for and against legislative candidates in this state. The Public Disclosure Commission has referred a case against the company to Attorney General Rob McKenna. He has filed suit against them.

Numerous candidates across our state are being vilified by attack ads put out by Moxie Media. Washington State Republican Party Chairman Luke Esser has called for the “Democratic candidates who have benefited from these sleazy shadow groups to “publicly renounce their activities and condemn the outrageous behavior of Moxie Media… If these Democrats remain silent they will be complicit with the politics of sleaze and cynicism. Those Democrats who won’t condemn the Moxie Media shadow groups are merely hoping that all the tangled webs of deception won’t be unwound by the media and the PDC until after Election Day. The voters deserve better than that.” I agree with that, and would add that these candidates who have been maliciously attacked deserve better too.

Editor’s Note: Heidi Munson has also been a victim numerous malicious ads. She is running for LD-1, Position 2.

A Few More Thoughts on the WSRP Website

I re-visited the WSRP website this morning for a quick reassessment. On the bright side, the big, election results graphic that’s been failing to load for the last couple of weeks has reappeared. And that’s about it for the bright side.

My main issue with the site is that it gives the general impression that nobody cares. For starters, the site is obviously based on a template provided by the Republican Party and I guess that would be fine if it were the website for the Timbuktu Republicans; it is certainly not fine for the WSRP.  Washington is a bastion of the high tech industry and people expect more. If the WSRP doesn’t boast a single member capable of designing an original, state of the art website, our party is really in dire straits.

Next, the site still hasn’t been updated since before the election. Not a single new blog entry since 8/25 or news item since 10/21. Maybe it’s just me, but I expect new content on the internet, if not daily, if not weekly, at least each time something significant occurs. Like an election, for example. Maybe some comments from the chairman on the results?

Clicking on the “Take Action” link gives several options, such as “Call Talk Radio” and “Write a Letter to the Editor.” Clicking the Talk Radio tab takes you to the National GOP site where you’re presented with a list of national and local radio shows. That’s great, but the list of local radio shows includes Ichabod Caine and Dave Ross, but doesn’t include Kirby Wilbur or David Boze. The Write a Letter tab also links to the national site…my Snohomish County ZIP Code yields the Coupeville, Puyallup and Enumclaw papers, among others, but not the Seattle Times or the P-I. I think Washington State Republicans would be better served to have the list generated and maintained locally.

I could go on and pick a few more nits, but…I won’t. This website tells me that the WSRP is not just resigned to being the minority party in our state, but that they’re kind of okay with it. Regardless of the results of the election – which were actually encouraging in some respects for Washington – despite whether or not the party leadership will soon be changing, there should have been a plan in place (two plans!) for updating the website afterwards. There should be someplace to sign up, other than on the national website. They should be offering an e-mail newsletter. They should take online donations – unless, of course, they’re not strapped for cash. There should be a Republican store where you can buy caps, t-shirts baby wear, mugs, key chains or whatever.

Republicans have allowed themselves to be defined by the enemy, a hostile main-stream media. We need to redefine what it means to be a Republican and that starts with the WSRP website. The current website does not further our cause.