Regardless of what happened Monday morning, the gubernatorial election showed that Washington is very evenly divided between red and blue--but the fact that only a three of our nine person delegation to the House of Representatives is Republican doesn't bear that out. However, there's a man who aims to make that score a little bit more even. That man is Doug Roulstone, and he is challenging Rick Larsen for the 2nd District House seat.
I've had my own run-in with Larsen, so it gives me great pleasure to say that Roulstone is a fantastic candidate, tailor-made for the 2nd District, and he has a fantastic shot at winning this contest.
Roulstone has two main areas of experience, both of which are perfect matches with the district, which ranges from Everett up to the Canadian Border, east to the Cascades west to Island and San Juan counties. First off--defense.
Roulstone served in the US Navy for over 30 years, becoming highly decorated, accumulating over 3500 military flight hours, serving in over 100 countries and finishing his career as the Captain of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis, a with a crew of 5,000 under his command. Roulstone's military experience and contacts would come as a great boon to the 2nd District, the home of two important military bases that employ thousands of people.
His second main area of experience is aerospace. Since retiring from the Navy in 1999, Roulstone has been the senior vice-president of Thomas James International, a local aerospace and engineering company that does business with Boeing, the Defense Department and many other big-time aerospace players. In a district so heavily influenced and employed by Boeing and other connected aerospace, that kind of experience is vital. Boeing's image has taken a beating in Congress in recent years, not without cause, and it will be helpful to everyone in the region if Boeing has a local congressional ally who understands aerospace.
Beyond these two main areas, Roulstone has a couple other issues he can easily run on. One is education--in part because he is a parent of children in public schools, but also because he has gone out of his way to make those schools better. During a recent school strike in Snohomish, when the official leadership of the district were wouldn't do it, Roulstone organized an ad hoc town meeting between parents, teachers and District administration. Just a couple days after his meeting, the sides came to an agreement, and teachers went back to work.
Additionally, Roulstone and his company have been instrumental in setting up a state-of-the-art computer aided design facility at Snohomish High School. The lab is so good that some Boeing engineers who worked on the project have confided that in some ways, the high school classroom is better than what Boeing has! [Edit: removed a statement here because it's not official yet.]
All this is due to the hard work and tenacity of Roulstone in making the facility happen. He understands education at the two most important levels--that of a parent and of an employer.
Roulstone's fourth major issue is a simple one--he's a Republican. While that's not usually a big advantage in this state, it may be in this race. In many issues, but especially those of defense and aerospace, the 2nd district will be much better served by a member of the majority than a 3-term member of the minority. Base closures will always be a worry for the military-heavy 2nd District.
For example, The USS Abraham Lincoln is constantly in danger of being moved from Everett to Bremerton. Larsen will never be able to compete with Rep. Norm Dicks if Dicks decides he wants to bring the Lincoln into his District. A Republican, on the other hand, will be able to, because Dicks is also a member of the minority. The same sort of thing will play out dozens of times in other areas--the 2nd District will be much better served by someone who plays for the winning team.
Roulstone is in this to win--he's not a no-hoper who just threw in against Larsen to fill a spot on the ballot. He's getting started early and is working hard to get the financial help of the House Republican Caucus--something he needs your help to do. He needs to raise $300,000 by the end of the year in order to show them that he's a serious contender. You can help make that happen that by clicking right here.
A whole lot more information can be found at www.Roulstone4Congress.com. Roulstone offers a fantastic voice for the 2nd District and Washington State as a whole. I hope you'll help him make that voice heard in Washington D.C.
Cross-posted at The Flag of the World.
Posted by Timothy Goddard at June 07, 2005 10:28 PM | Email This"They do not believe the poor should have the opportunity to grow wealth. "
That's f'shore. Keeping them poor keeps them dependant. Making them wealthier enables them.
And the fact that he's a retired Naval Aviator makes him almost (not quite) as classy as a US Marine.
Semper Fi
Mike
But... give it your best shot.
Posted by: Unkl Witz on June 7, 2005 11:21 PMThey were wrong then and they are wrong now!
Fartin' in the wind I believe the expression goes!
Posted by: GS on June 7, 2005 11:54 PM'The POWER is in the PEOPLE'S hands!'
There is no SALVO that can be heard LOUDER or shake the foundations of CORRUPTION more than each person casting their VOTE!
Stefan is correct in pointing the way to 'rip up the OLD foundation' (Start at the 'slab' edge) and start laying a NEW one!
Stefan, Lead on!
Posted by: arky on June 8, 2005 04:52 AMJust heard it on KVI that Rossi has actually considered it, but ruled it out. If there is any chance of restoring faith in King County's election system, Rossi as executive would do it.
How could we draft him? No cross country travel, and perhaps even more power to fix things than the governer. It seems the perfect response to a corrupted election and an illegitimate governer.
Posted by: Mike on June 8, 2005 06:36 AMRossi as KC exec would be able to Swing the State RED, since King County's Votes(illegal or legal) speak for the entire state.
But Seriously, get Rossi in that seat and this state may have a chance at survival. King County has all the votes, so let's start there.
The Dem's have run this state into the ground, and it's time for a positive change.
Posted by: Chris on June 8, 2005 07:44 AMI had this same question about contacting, Dino, for the same reason, yesterday. I didn't know what to do, so I sent an email to info@dinorossi.com
I layed out the same thoughts that have been expressed at SP in post after post about Dino running against Sims.
If anyone knows a better way to contact Dino, please let me know and I'll cc. the email there, as well.
The power is in the people. Right now, King County is all that matters, so that is where the focus needs to be.
Monday's ruling just might motivate us more so to be active in changing this state from blue to red, than would our preferred ruling.
Posted by: Robyn on June 8, 2005 07:52 AMPhone Numbers:
Phone: 425.646.7202
Fax: 425.646.7207
Email Address: info@DinoRossi.com
I know the address says Rossi for Governor but the phone number at least is still active and it is definitely being monitored.
Mailing Address:
Rossi for Governor
15100 SE 38th Street, #715
Bellevue, WA 98006
There is already a great candidate running against Ron Sims--county councilman David Irons. He might be willing to step aside for Rossi, but I don't think Rossi would do that to him. Irons is a great candidate--and Ron Sims' own polls show him losing to Irons.
But, to get back on topic, Doug Roulstone is a great guy!
Posted by: Timothy on June 8, 2005 08:18 AMLast time around, there was a relative unknown running and did a pretty poor job.
Granted Roulstone is good on paper, but how would he unseat Larsen? His staff, I understand, is getting better at representing his constituents.
Larsen spends a lot of time using Mediscare tactics, came out against the war, but fought like a son of a gun to keep the Homeport alive in his district. And besides, he is a good guy.
Other than ideology, why would the normal guy crossover and take out Larsen? Whoever takes his place has four or more years to get credibility in Oly. Larsen has that now.
Posted by: swatter on June 8, 2005 08:19 AMNow that the election contest is completed, with follow-up to come in the form of citizen initiatives to clean up Washington's election and election contest systems to come...hopefully, it's time to broaden our focus to include more of the political issues affecting the Puget Sound region.
With our being in the midst of Washington's GMA updates at the county and municipal levels, we really need to pay attention to things like property rights and water rights issues. Now that an election season gearing up to full swing, we need to do everything we can to get politicians who support these constitutionally guaranteed rights into office. With groups like Futurewise (used-to-was 1000 Friends of Washington), WEC, and the majority of the King County Council working against the citizen landowner, we need to work hard to cover our backs.
Posted by: gaelwolf on June 8, 2005 08:40 AMFirst by KCE, and then the second time by the court.
That is politics as usual in Washington State; it is to be expected because leftists do not care about ethics, justice, or the electorate.
Now is the time to focus on appealing the gas tax, and removing from office all politicians that voted for it (especially all RINOs).
You don't even have to be ALIVE to vote in Washington, from what I can tell.
Posted by: Richard Easbey on June 8, 2005 09:15 AMESSB 6103
Senate vote on 3rd Reading & Final Passage
4/20/2005
Yeas: 26 Nays: 22 Absent: 0 Excused: 1
Voting Yea: Senators Berkey, Brown, Deccio, Doumit, Fairley, Finkbeiner, Fraser, Haugen, Hewitt, Jacobsen, Keiser, Kline, Kohl-Welles, Mulliken, Poulsen, Prentice, Pridemore, Rasmussen, Rockefeller, Schmidt, Shin, Spanel, Swecker, Thibaudeau, Weinstein, and Zarelli.
Voting Nay: Senators Benson, Benton, Brandland, Carrell, Delvin, Eide, Esser, Franklin, Hargrove, Honeyford, Johnson, Kastama, McAuliffe, Morton, Oke, Parlette, Pflug, Regala, Roach, Schoesler, Sheldon, and Stevens.
Absent:
Excused: Senator McCaslin.
House votes on the gas tax bill
Yeas: 54 Nays: 43 Absent: 0 Excused: 1
Voting Yea: Representatives Anderson, Appleton, Blake, Campbell, Chase, , Clements, Clibborn, Cody, Conway, Curtis, Darneille, Dickerson, Ericks, Flannigan, Fromhold, Haigh, Haler, Hankins, Hasegawa, Hinkle, Hudgins, Hunt, Hunter, Jarrett, Kagi, Kenney, Kessler, Kirby, Lovick, McCoy, McDermott, McIntire, Moeller, Morris, Murray, O'Brien, Ormsby, Pettigrew, Quall, Roberts, Santos, Schual-Berke, Sells, Simpson, Skinner, Sommers, B. Sullivan, Tom, Upthegrove, Wallace, Williams, Wood, Woods, and Mr. Speaker.
Voting Nay: Representatives Ahern, Alexander, Armstrong, Bailey, Buck, Buri, Chandler, Condotta, Cox, Crouse, Dunn, Dunshee, Eickmeyer, Ericksen, Grant, Green, Holmquist, Kilmer, Kretz, Kristiansen, Lantz, Linville, McCune, McDonald, Miloscia, Morrell, Newhouse, Nixon, Orcutt, Pearson, Priest, Roach, Rodne, Schindler, Serben, Shabro, Springer, Strow, P. Sullivan, Sump, Takko, Talcott, and Walsh.
Absent:
Excused: Representative DeBolt.
Larsen and Roulstone race is for the US House of Representatives, not Olympia.
As for property rights, he spoke out in favor of them, but when push came to shove in his district when he was on the County Council, he voted 'no-growth'. Shouldn't be an issue nationally now that Gore is not President. He had a scheme where the feds would get into land use planning if he were elected. It's bad enough that the State is involved with unelected Growth Management Boards paying a huge salary to Democrats operatives.
Posted by: swatter on June 8, 2005 09:42 AM"We have to get ahead of the health care crisis in our country. General Motors pays $1500 per car to provide health insurance. No wonder they're in trouble. At the same time, workers everywhere are seeing less coverage and more out of pocket expenses. Health care costs will destroy our competiveness, our standard of living and the welfare of our citizens if we don't act soon."
Agreed, agreed, agreed. Is he hinting at some kind of socialization though? What's the plan? GM has been quietly shifting MFG to Canada, BTW. But they are all over-priced union up there, aren't they? Canada pays the health care - new can o worms.
Posted by: CandrewB on June 8, 2005 09:44 AMI think starting early really helps Roulstone case. $300k by the end of the year will get him 'big boy' party money.
Posted by: swatter on June 8, 2005 10:32 AMSo we need a Republican to beat Larsen, but is Roulstone the right Republican? He was a major cheerleader for Mike Vaska last year. Vaska was the trial lawyer who jumped into the 2004 AG race at the urging of Dan Evans because Rob McKenna -- who isn't even as far to the right as most Repubicans -- was nonetheless too far to the right for them.
Maybe Roulstone is the right guy, but don't jump in blindly.
Posted by: TB on June 8, 2005 11:27 AM