2004-10-21

Do As I Say

Here they are: Eric’s endorsements for the general election on Tuesday 02 November 2004.  Note that not every ballot selection carries an explicit endorsement; some choices were made less than rigorously.

We live in a republic, not a democracy.  We elect representatives to make our laws for us so we can get on with more immediate issues, such as following professional sports.  As a general rule, therefore, initiatives should be considered attempts by special interest groups to hijack the legislature, and referenda should be considered attempts by craven legislators to delegate their job duties to amateurs, all at the taxpayers’ expense.  I don’t know what the fuck an "Advisory Measure" is, but it sounds like a publicly-financed opinion poll.  Absent extreme overriding concerns, therefore, the dutiful citizen should vote NO on all initiatives, referenda, and ballot measures.

 
  • Initiative 872:  Yes
    This initiative, born of an infantile reaction to the elimination of the Washington’s First-Amendment-violating blanket primary, is the worst of all the primary election options yet proposed.  Nevertheless, I hope it passes because I believe the major parties when they say that if I-872 passes, they’ll pull out of primaries altogether and nominate their candidates in conventions, which is how it should be.
  • Initiative 884:  No
    This initiative is endorsed by all the right people and opposed by all the right people, and I very rarely say no to increased public school funding.  However, it also makes use of two of the worst blights upon Washington politics: sales tax and dedicated funding.  Sales tax is horribly regressive and Washington’s is already the highest in the nation.  I am sympathetic to the Leninist argument that "the worse, the better," i.e, that we should make the system worse so that the people will support revolutionary change; therefore, we should increase sales tax in order to improve the climate for the obvious solution: dumping sales tax altogether and adopting a state income tax.  Such sympathy, however, does not exceed that I extend to those in lower tax brackets whose disposable income will be eroded over the years until the Glorious Revolution.  Dedicated funding is just as benighted.  What’s next, submitting the state budget to referenda?
  • Initiative 892:  No
    Lower property taxes, more slot machines, Tim Eyman completes his political comeback; no thanks.
  • Referendum 55:  No
    I Public School Bureaucrats.
  • Initiative 297:  Yes
    What’s the worst that could happen—all our nuke waste jobs are outsourced to Nevada?
  • King County Charter Amendment, Question 1:  No
    Gridlock good, Tim Eyman bad.
  • King County Charter Amendment, Question 2:  1B
  • King County Advisory Measure 1:  Don’t ask me.
  • King County Advisory Measure 2:  Dock the pay of whoever let this crap get on the ballot.
  • President/Vice-President of the United States:  Treebeard/Pippin
  • United States Senator:  It’s Pat.
    Patty Murray is as dumb as a post and her voting record is undistingushed.  Doesn’t matter a damn; this is about blocking Evil judicial appointments and restoring gridlock to Congress, and Murray is a loyal Democratic lickspittle.
  • Congressional District No. 7 U.S. Representative:  Baghdad Jim
    I voted for Joe Szwaja in 2000 out of pure anti-incumbency pique.  McDermott’s got one of the safest Democratic seats in the House, and four years ago I thought he might be in danger of becoming too lazy and comfortable.  Whether his trip to Baghdad in the Winter of 2003 was a luxury that only a politician with a safe seat could indulge or a genuine response to the relatively strong showing by Szwaja, I think it was a tactical error.  Nevertheless, McDermott was one of the very few people in (the other) Washington who clearly, forcefully, and timely spoke out against the Administration’s fear-mongering after 9/11 (even if he should have done so from the Capitol steps rather than the Baghdad Sheraton).
  • Governor of Washington:  Sherbie
    With a divided and spineless state legislature, a visionary governor might be able make major improvements.  Unfortunately, Locke has done little but ape the worst of Clintonism’s pro-corporate centrism, surrendering the initiative (pun unfortunately intended) for statewide reform to the likes of Tim Eyman.  On the major state-level issues that motivate my vote (tax reform, gay marriage) Locke’s administration has been a whistling void of leadership.  I have seen nothing from the State Democrats to challenge the impression that Gregoire will be more of the same.  I even have philosophical reservations about Gregoire’s one signature achievement, her participation in the tobacco settlement; it was a terribly paternalistic precedent to set, everything that I hate about contemporary liberalism.  I’ve been searching high and low for something about Rossi that is so vile that I would be compelled to vote for Gregoire, but I haven’t found it.  So I’m going with Sherbie.
  • Lieutenant Governor:  Take This Job And Abolish It
    Jocelyn Langlois promises to do away with this bucket-of-warm-piss job, and I concur.
  • Secretary of State:  Sam the Eagle
    Sam Reed fought to keep the puerile blanket primary, but there’s no question that when he did so he was following the will of his constituents.  On the other hand, he understands the need for ballot paper trails.
  • State Treasurer:  Sherbie
  • State Auditor:  Sherbie
  • Attorney General:  The Owl Lady
    Deborah Senn sees through the cant that passes under the name "tort reform" and recognizes if for the corporate payoff that it is.  More importantly, she has the right enemies.
  • Commissioner of Public Lands:  The Tree Hugger
  • Superintendent of Public Instruction:  Dump the WASL
    Judith Billings is agin’ the WASL, Terry Bergeson is fer it.  Vote for Judy.
  • Insurance Commissioner:  Deborah Senn II
  • State Legislative District No. 32, Representative Position 1:  Eric Emme
    I never vote for unopposed candidates, unless I know them personally, which is the case with Emme.
  • State Legislative District No. 32, Representative Position 2:  Eric Emme
  • State Supreme Court, Position 1:  Not Jim Johnson
  • State Supreme Court, Position 5:  Sherbie
  • State Supreme Court, Position 6:  Not Richard Sanders
    Some people say Sanders "energizes" the judiciary.  I used to think the same thing about Antonin Scalia.
  • State Court of Appeals, Divsion No. 1, District No. 1:  Sherbie
  • King County Superior Court, Position 23:  Andrea Darvis
  • King County Superior Court, Position 42:  Catherine Moore
 

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