1. What is really funny about the King County GOP is the lack of party loyalty among the party LEADERSHIP. We have seen some of this with GOP activist Larry Corrigan, who gave 20% to 25% of his campaign contributions to Democrats.

On Saturday, the small band of King County Republican PCO's elected Mike Nykreim as one of their representatives to the State GOP Executive Board from the 1st CD. The state GOP Executive Board has two people from each congressional districts, with King County's representatives being elected by PCO's from all over King County (and not just those from the CD in question).

Believe it or not, Nykreim supported Democrat Rodney Tom over Republican Luke Esser in the November 2006 election, and donated $100.00 to Tom's campaign on June 26, 2006. Nykreim just helped eliminate an incumbent GOP state senator, and Republican PCO's choose him to be a top GOP leader? Incredible! Of course, they probably didn't know that at the time they elected him.

Another interesting disloyalty by a GOP leader is Fawn Spady of Mercer Island. Her father-in-law, Dick Spady, started Dick's Restaurants. Fawn and her husband Jim Spady currently run this business. The Spadys have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars promoting charter schools. Fawn Spady was the GOP nominee for State House in District 41 to run against Democrat incumbent Judy Clibborn in 2004.

However, Fawn Spady gave $750.00 to Democrat Aaron Reardon in his successful campaign to be elected Snohomish County Executive in 2003. Fawn gave $500.00 to Reardon in the primary, when he defeated Goldy's sister-in-law and another Democrat. Fawn gave $250.00 to Reardon in the general, when he defeated Republican Dave Earling (who happens to be Eric Earling's father). Her husband Jim Spady gave Earling another $750.00. Incredibly enough, during the 2004 campaign when Fawn was running for the legislature, her husband Jim gave $150.00 to Democrat Laura Ruderman for Secretary of State, and $200.00 to Helen Sommers, a Democrat state representative from Seattle.

Posted by: Richard Pope on December 4, 2006 07:27 PM

2. Thanks Stefan!
And Matt!
And Eric!
I'll weigh in after you guys since you're the top dogs here:-) Have an ever so slightly different and probably more controversial take.

Posted by: Reporterward on December 4, 2006 07:37 PM

3. Eric Earling and Matt Rosenberg both make some excellent points about the future of the GOP in the suburbs. There are a number of factors that make the future challenging. One is that the suburbs are urbanizing. Take Bellevue, the most rapidly densifying city in the state. Eventually, it will be a victim of its success: it is attracting urbanites who are bluer than the denizens of old Bellevue. Ironic that Kemper Freeman's succcess in turning Bellevue into a city is helping to undo the hold the GOP once had there.
Another blow: the impending demise of the King County Journal. The Eastside will most likely lose the one newspaper that stood for suburban interests. Combine that with the likely disappearance of the P-I and you'll have one editorial page--a Blethen dominated editorial page--attempting to set the agenda for the entire region.
The brand of Republicanism it will promote won't be in tune with the people who live in the 'burbs. Partly this is due to what might be described as Jim Vesely Republicanism, which represents a stolid good-citizen kind of politics that favors status quo institutions and approaches. Sounds inoffensive and commonsenical, but it is too conventional and slow-moving for places like the Eastside. The days of Dan McDonald and Jim Horn--the politics of GOP engineers--is over.
The question is, how can the GOP attract its fair share of suburban independents and ticket-splitters? Right now, Denmocrats are more successful at selling candidates who are pro-business and more like their suburban neighbors. My advice would be to run candidates that are more like the Eastside itself: young, smart, well-educated, entrepreneurial, pragmatic, socially tolerant, and innovative. Not change averse.
The difference-makers in either party will be candidates who don't get bogged down in the quagmires of education and transportation by trying to build or spend their way out of problems with conventional means and methods. This is the problem with making something like the flawed WASL the centerpiece of good schools, or making road-building the only answer to transportation.
New technologies, better testing, public private partnerships, alternative transportation, innovative suburban design: the GOP could, if it wanted, help the suburbs think their way to solutions rather than representing the stodgy ideological patchwork of your dad's old golfing buddy from Rotary. You can see how well that is working.

Posted by: mossback on December 4, 2006 09:11 PM

4. Interesting stuff about the Spadys. Anyone know what's up with that?

Posted by: Me on December 4, 2006 10:03 PM

5. Well, for one thing, many a Republican supported Helen Sommers in 2004, when the SEIU and others challenged her in the primary because she wouldn't spend enough money to satisfy them. And not just by giving a paltry $200- many a Republican was climbing the hills in the 36th doorbelling for Helen. That legislative position was settled in the primary, and Helen was by far the better choice for any fiscal conservative.

But where does Richard Pope- with his running under whatever banner is convenient- get off criticizing those who find some value in members of the other party?

Posted by: Captain Wierd on December 5, 2006 02:42 AM

6. It appears also that the Democrats the Spadys gave to were supporters of charter schools. Anyone familiar with Olympia (or Washington, DC) knows that when is a frequent advocate for a cause, and one is known to have finanicial resources, then one will receive fundraising calls. The contributions to Sommers and Ruderman are for pretty small dollar amounts in the scheme of things, especially given Ruderman's reputation as an agressive fundraiser.

Meanwhile, the contributions to Reardon were no doubt because he was a tremendous advocate for charter schools in Olympia, and the Spadys needed some Democrats to play that role. I can attest lots of lobbyists and other folks with business in state house were shaken down that year and faced an interesting choice: not give in a race many of them didn't have a real interest in, or give money understanding that if Reardon lost the Exec race in Snohomish County he'd be back in Olympia and not be pleased with them if they hadn't.

I guess if anyone should take offense to this it should be me. I don't. I know the Spadys, they're good people, and that's politics.

The Nykreim situation, however, is another matter. I suspect he has a personal relationship with Tom but rewarding a party switcher and then running for a party post in the same party Tom fled is a bit much.

Posted by: Eric Earling on December 5, 2006 07:29 AM

7. This weekend PCO's did vote to elect Mike Nykreim to the State GOP Executive GOP Board. I DID NOT vote for Mike Nykreim and here's why - he donates money to DEMOCRATS! One thing Mike said in his speech was that he wanted to meet and talk with every single one of us in the room. Well Mike let the dialogues begin. Three things Mike. 1. Do not donate money to democrats. 2. Get more young people involved. 3. Let's fill our PCO seats, and with folks willing to actually do the job!

Posted by: Kristi Brown on December 5, 2006 07:49 AM

8. None of this insider stuff made any difference at the polls. People had been convinced that Republicans were bad and that everything in America was wrong because of Republicans. The media was relentless in their daily assault on Bush, the war, and advancing the perception that Republicans were corrupt. With just half of Americans voting, less than percentage point gave the Democrats the Senate and little more gave them the House in what is typically a bad year for the incumbent party anyway. People weren't voting "for" Democrats and their policies (whatever they are), but they were directed by the media to vote against Republicans.

The local races followed the national trend in a state where the media is even more biased than it is nationally, while alternatives like radio and blogs still only reach a minority of voters.

It also doesn't help that the party endorses RINOs that are allied with certain special interests that feed off the taxpayers while too many Republicans act like Democrat wannabes on taxing and spending policies, chasing moderate voters that they think can be won without losing their base with their abandonment of conservative principles.

Hey, but what do I know?

Posted by: MJC on December 5, 2006 08:02 AM

9. "This is the problem with making something like the flawed WASL the centerpiece of good schools, or making road-building the only answer to transportation.
New technologies, better testing, public private partnerships, alternative transportation, innovative suburban design: the GOP could, if it wanted, help the suburbs think their way to solutions rather than representing the stodgy ideological patchwork of your dad's old golfing buddy from Rotary. "

Well said mossback. We need candidates who can apply principles and imagination to find good solutions to the problems our state faces.

Posted by: M&M on December 5, 2006 08:04 AM

10. I'll tell you what is wrong with the GOP. It picks the stupidest fights to die over.

I listen to KVI, but there are times I just have to turn it off. It gets way too religious or anti-abortion. These things will turn off the average eastsider, and reinforce the sterotype of the Wash State GOP member as a member of the fanatical evangelicals. It might not be true, but perception matters.

The other topic that will turn off eastsiders in a heart beat is the constant drum that illegal aliens are ruining our country and need to all be run out of town. First, it sounds heartless. Second, it is unworkable. But it sure brings on the callers who want to foam at the mouth.

At this point, the voice of the GOP is talk radio, not the GOP leadership. Vance usually sounds silly, Tebelius is nonexistent. So we have Kirby and John. No wonder the party is in such sorry condition.

Posted by: janet s on December 5, 2006 08:16 AM

11. Pretty sad that the two "surviving" Repugs that you champion are one who's more like a Democrat and one who had no opponent.

Posted by: LOL on December 5, 2006 08:44 AM

12. At least the two Republican survivors will be in the caucus, unlike all your losers who had no prayer (pun intended) of winning.
The current base of the party is way too narrow.

Posted by: Mark on December 5, 2006 09:46 AM

13. M&M, so you would rather spend 5 billion on a transportation fix that reduces congestion by 5%, when the same money for new roads reduces congestion by 20-25%? These numbers are the Freeman-McKenna third north-south freeway idea.

And why is your nose in here anyway?

The problem (and the beauty for elections) of your verbage is it all sounds good, but never succeeds in the least when it gets implemented.

On topic, I hope after all the yelling and screaming after last weekend everyone pools together and works together. There seems to be so many fights that the victors will crawl away and do all the work themselves without having the support of the victims of the battle.

Posted by: swatter on December 5, 2006 10:40 AM

14. any cases where Dems are giving money to republicans? (I can't imagine...)

Posted by: Me on December 5, 2006 10:41 AM

15. I resigned my PCO in the 48th over Bush's stupid Immigration plans. After 40 years of voting I find that I am a Conservative first and a Republican second.

Posted by: John425 on December 5, 2006 02:17 PM

16. Eric's explanation of the Fawn & Jim Spady donations to Reardon, Sommers & Ruderman sound halfway reasonable. Perhaps giving to Reardon in 2003 is understandable. But in 2004, Sommers had a Republican opponent, and of course, Ruderman did as well. It isn't good to be running as the nominee of one political party in a given election, while giving money to candidates of another political party in that same election.

As for Mike Nykreim, same logic applies. And even more so, seeking to be a party leader.

Although I did hear that the King County GOP leadership didn't help Nykreim when he ran for Kirkland City Council against a Democrat in 2005. Luke Esser wouldn't endorse Nykreim, while Rodney Tom did. The King County GOP didn't give a dime to Nykreim's campaign, while they dumped $6,000 a piece into four city council candidates in Issaquah and one city council candidate in Sammamish. So it is understandable why Nykreim would be pissed off at Esser and supportive of Tom.

But he still shouldn't have run for a party leadership position this year.

Posted by: Richard Pope on December 5, 2006 09:06 PM

17. swatter,
I am on topic. I was agreeing with mossback.

Where does 5 billion on rail come from? I never wrote that and if the Kemper/Freeway plan is so great where are the details?

On the other thread, I trying to get across the point that a North/South freeway in the foothills is a politically dead idea, and it would hurt more Republicans than Democrats.
Why do people on this blog continue to push it?

If want an innovative idea, take a look at the "cooper corridor". It is a foothills rail line. It would follow the path of an abandoned railway in the foothills of the Cascades. The line would be owned by the state and run as toll line. It would eliminate most of the truck traffic going through Seattle and thus reduce congestion.

Posted by: M&M on December 6, 2006 08:42 AM

18. jonny482

Posted by: jonny915 on December 7, 2006 07:45 AM

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