Washblog

I'm at the Sheraton at the Democratic Party/Cantwell election night party, sitting at the bloggers/press table with Andrew of NPI and many assorted actual journalists.  I'm going to update this periodically throughout the night, so this post will get a bit long and push other content down the page.  Washington results will stay above the fold, national results below.  If you have stories about today, weird happenin's at the polls, outbursts of rage about outcomes we don't like.  

For national numbers, I suggest CNN's page.

UPDATE: It's just been announced that Democrats have won back the House of Representatives for the first time since 1994!

Polls close in Washington state at 8:00, first (mail-in ballot) numbers will be public at 8:15.

UPDATE: 13% of the vote counted, Darcy leads Reichert by 199 votes. This one will not be decided tonight. Hang in there!

Okay. I admit, it's too much to try and keep up with all this info. SO:

Secretary of State's results

Snohomish County results

King 5's elections page

King County's election page

AP Results

Bright Mind broke the story on Washblog yesterday.  Washington State's Republican Party has sent out a letter on official-looking but fake Attorney General letterhead that slams a Democratic candidate here in the 47th Legislative District -- and extols the virtues of the Republican candidate.  McKenna misrepresents the Democrat's employment and accuses her of preying on the vulnerable. Relevant to note here is the fact that the candidate in question, Claudia Kauffman, has spent her career helping and protecting the vulnerable.

Here's a jpg of McKenna's letter.  Interesting  that Mr. McKenna would choose to denounce campaign literature of a local Democrat -- literature that stays on the issues and is respectful and ethical -- while he has repeatedly ignored illegal and questionable Republican behavior. Last year, there were the fake sex offender notices coming from Republican campaigns. In 2005, there was the use of illegally modified voter challenge forms to purge legitimate voters from Democratic areas from the rolls right before an election. In 2004, there were the illegal ads run against Deborah Senn by the US Chamber of Commerce.  Here, David Goldstein quixotically calls on Mr. McKenna to tell his party to stop its dirty tricks.  Here, Steve Zemke on Majority Rules blog tells us that McKenna is conspicuously absent from the list of state Attorney Generals suing to protect Washington citizens from rising gas prices and global warming.  This past Saturday, Darryl Holman of Hominid Views revealed that Mr. McKenna has recorded robocalls containing misleading statements about Rodney Tom's legislative attendance record.

On my piano sits a hymn book I've kept there since my days as an active Mormon when, among other things, I played the organ every Sunday in church. One of the hymns in that book is entitled, The Morning Breaks, The Shadows Flee."

Such describes my mood today. Once again those of us who've been actively involved in what we were taught in our civics classes - and believed -  enter into this bi-annual day of hope with a prayer that by the end of the day we will have taken giant steps back toward social, economic and political sanity.

Many like me re-entered our political process with reluctance, not wanting to be bothered ... until it became clear that those driving the vehicle of democracy had their pedal to the floor, little concern for steering through hair-pin curves and no concern for the safety of America's citizens and the cargo of constitutional protections and freedom.

We clearly saw madmen at the wheel.

Any change from our current circumstance - from having exchanged citizen priorities for corporate priorities to having lost the most powerful global influence for good in the name of greed, corporate capitalism and undifferentiated power - will be a giant step backward toward sanity.

Vote suppression RoboCalls from Republicans are being made in the millions.  The calls seem to be from Democrats -- unless you listen past the introduction, and ring 6-7 times late night and early morning.  Peter Goldmark's race is a target.  Here's the Goldmark's response. If you get one of these calls, you can call WA State Democrats' hotline -- (recommended ASAP):  1-877-336-7492.  See Eridani's diary on Washblog on how to save the calls to your harddrive.  

According to info on Daily Kos and TPM Muckracker.com, this is a coordinated national campaign conducted by the NRCC and Conquest Communications, 2812 Emerywood Parkway, Suite 103, Richmond, Virginia 23294. - PHONE (804) 358-0560 - FAX (804) 213-0797, and active in at least 20 Districts.  G2Geek on KOS says this could result in widespread civil and criminal sanctions that could bankrupt the Republican party.  He's got specific advice.  See below the fold for that & more.

Everyone by now knows there is massive flooding and more rain expected, so King County Elections is planning for several polling locations to be closed.  For expediency's sake, I'm excerpting the Seattle Times article in its entirety (apologies to the Times) below the fold.  Mucho importante if you live in East King County - if you are in another flooded county and have similar info, please add in the comments thread and post to your own blogs if ya got 'em.

I am hoping that we will be able to provide on Washblog up to the minute results on all LD and Federal races tomorrow evening after the polls close, but would like to consider other local races that people will be interested in - like Snohomish County PUD for example.

If people have a preference, please list it in the comments to this post and we'll put updates in for the local races you requested.

As for tomorrow, most people will be very busy with GOTV - if you have something you want to share - a problem at a precinct, or any story you would like to pass along and don't have the time to post, then send us an e-mail (info@washblog.com) and we will post it for you.

Here's to a big win tomorrow night!

Tomorrow the Air Force Times, The Army Times, The Navy Times and the Marine Times are publishing an editorial calling for Bush to fire Rumsfeld. The editorial says Rumsfeld has "lost credibility" with top officers. As a legitimate action of genuine political support of our sons and daughters at war, the implication of these editorials is enormous. They  accomplish more in one moment than 6 years of presidential appearances on military installations, in military communities and at VFW and American Legion Conventions.

In addition, the military "Times" editorials effectively counter the shabby and foolish decision of the VFW to endorse a did-not-serve cheap-talking Republican candidate rather than Democratic Congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq veteran who lost both legs to the Republican Occupation of Iraq.

Washington Democrats Voting Integrity Hotline: 1-877-336-7492

ROBO-CALL Vote manipulation tricks going on right now.

What do you do if you see or experience something you think is illegal or questionable on election day -- or if you just have a question? Well, I hear that Common Cause has ranked Washington State as a low risk for election cheating. However, from my past poll judge and doorbelling experience, I know that there is sometimes confusion and error. I called Washington Elections just now.  The very nice person there told me (in an email update) that their hotline # is 1-800-448-4881. Calling that # on election day will result in a referral to the appropriate county auditors office.   She sent me this link: County Auditors in Washington State.  Then I called King County Elections.  They have a very useful site for general info and, if you experience problems in King County on election day, you can call them here:  1-206-296-VOTE (8683).

Then I called Washington Democrats.  They do have a hotline -- and it's open for business now. 1-877-336-7492.  It's staffed by an attorney and other volunteers.  They have a network of attorneys and others who will be on call to help on Tuesday.   Hotline hours: 9am - 8pm today and Monday 11/6; 10am-5pm on Saturday and Sunday; and 6:45am- 9pm on Tuesday, 11/7.  More info over the fold, including links to a number of election protection sites (I like the "Video the Vote" idea), and two important points that some people are unclear on that can keep them from voting. BTW, if you live in the Seattle area, don't forget there's an Emergency Post-Election Meeting at Trinity United Methodist Church.

We have witnessed a remarkable phenomenon recently.  In the face of a corrupt, inept, and dishonorable national leadership, citizens like Darcy Burner, Peter Goldmark, and Richard Wright have stepped out of successful private lives into the bruising business of running for national office to lead us back to honor and strength.  This strikes me as akin to the sacrifice that soldiers make when they volunteer to fight, a sacrifice that this administration dishonors by mistreating soldiers and veterans, running an inept war, selling out our military to corrupt private contractors, sponsoring torture, and suspending habeus corpus.  Soldiers like Washington's Ricky Clousing and Ehren Watada have made the sacrifice twice: first volunteering for service and second speaking up against the dishonorable way this war is being run.

True to the nature of American media, public focus has settled more on the scandals and outrageous behavior of the Republicans that triggered this wave of citizen action -- than it has on the Americans who are sacrificing to restore our honor.  

Lynn Allen at Evergreen Politics just now has a very insightful post up on Darcy Burner:  We Need Darcy in Congress that helps redress this imbalance. Lynn writes from her experience as a consultant and trainer in the high-tech industry, as well as a political activist/ organizer and close observer of the Burner campaign.  It's well worth the visit.

I just see now on Horses Ass that we can all confirm Reichert's untruths on the bus driver incident for ourselves. The scoop comes from Greg Sargent's TPM Cafe piece:  WA-08: Reichert Caught In Lie About Driver Who Flipped Bird To Bush. Here's the sound file of Reichert speaking.  And here's the text of what he said:

As the motorcade went by the President and I drove by on I-5. The President was having a great time. He was waving at everybody. And waving at the kids he got the biggest kick out of the kids leaning out the window to say hello to the President of the United States. The sad part of it is, though, we got to the last bus...the bus driver flipped the President off. [Loud boos.] So the very next day, you know what I did? I called the superintendent of that school district. And that bus driver no longer works for that school. [Loud cheers.] That's the old sherriff part of me still around.

What's saddest to me about this sound file is how Reichert rouses the crowd to celebrate that the busdriver lost his job. President Bush got off scott free for flipping off the media (see Youtube clip below). And Cheney is allowed to say "F* yourself" to Senator Patrick Lehey on the floor of the Senate. They don't get fired or even reprimanded for their scorn and dishonor of their offices and the whole country. But Reichert feels perfectly free to rouse a crowd to celebrate that he got a busdriver fired for political self-expression. Maybe the district had to fire the driver. I'm not blaming the district. Reichert's actions, on the other hand, are morally immature and, in their effect, hurtful to all of us.

I can't help myself but in the spirit of true democracy and school bus drivers, I'm making a well-recognized gesture of assessment at both Bush and 8th District Marionette Reichert. Some things are worth passing on and are so true that it would be sinful not to shout it out. The following is one of those things that someone sent Lietta who forwarded it to me. ... and I'm playing it forward
-Arthur

Things you have to believe to be a Republican today.....

or, as I would have titled it 15 Dumbass Beliefs of Highly Dumbass People

Republican Belief # 1
Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.

Republican Belief #2
Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him, and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.

Republican Belief #3
Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is Communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.

I just got off the phone. At this very moment, King County Elections is short 3 poll inspectors, 15 judges trained on the touchscreens, and about 200 poll workers (target 4,000).

I know everyone's busy, etc. But I'll personally buy a beer or latte for anyone who signs up to be a poll worker for the upcoming general. Last training is Monday afternoon.

Please call 206-296-VOTE (206-296-8683). (It's quicker than using the online form.)

 

 

[Front paged NM -- worth 1,000 words, etc. And go see EWPolitics.com.]

*Photo taken October 31st, 2006, Spokane, WA

Booo!

Originally posted at The Left Shue

Apparently John Kerry botched a joke about George W. Bush. It has been under-reported that the text of Kerry's prepared remarks was distributed to the media prior to his misstatement. The text includes the words "end up getting us" before the offending "stuck in Iraq". It clearly shows his remarks were aimed at Bush and not the troops. Bush and the republicans were quick to attack Senator Kerry.

[Front paged NM]

...because Ivan is too modest tell us that he was awarded the Democratic Party's Warren Magnuson Award for "Democrat of the Year," together with Wendell Hannigan, Chair of the 15th LD ("sister" district with the 34th).

Ivan only got it because he insisted he did NOT want to be "Chair of the Year." Very clever, Ivan!

I hate to stereotype people, but to me, the dignified buffalo-vested gent in the middle between Ivan and Rep. Rick Larsen does NOT look like a "Wendell Hannigan." THIS guy at left looks like a "Wendell Hannigan."

I spent $75 for a ticket to this event because I was assured that "LD Banner Designer of the Year" was one of the categories. It was NOT!!

More pictures below....