It's not often a partisan Republican gets some nice parting words from the MSM on the way out the door of public office, but retiring Snohomish County Councilman has been praised in recent editorials by the Seattle Times and the Everett Herald. He deserves it.
Posted by Eric Earling at December 30, 2007 05:57 PM | Email ThisWhat is his big accomplishments in these 4 decades? Where has he reduced government?
Posted by: Travis on December 30, 2007 06:30 PMWhile sitting on the Snohomish County Council is an important elected position, Gary's efforts there didn't make a difference nationally as they would have had he been elected to Congress from the First District.
Both the Herald's and Times' pieces smell too much like some of the old stuff written about blacks who weren't so uppity as to become a problem to the white establishment. According to the Herald and Times, Gary Nelson was a credit to his party, which translates as he wasn't a sufficiently potent threat to the hegemony of their POV.
This isn't a criticism of him; he did the best he could with what he had at the time. As someone who's lived in the First Congressional District for well over 25-years, I remember those races, and I remember Gary's Congressional campaign office in a shabby little store-front in Ballinger Terrace. He didn't get anywhere near enough support from any Republican organization, state or national, sufficient to mount a genuinely competitive, eye-toward-winning campaign.
Therein lies a huge problem that continues to grow for Washington Republicans, especially those in the I-5 corrider from Olympia to the Canadian border: is the party content to be a credit, or does it want to win?
From where I sit, the answer is becoming increasingly obvious and increasingly unpleasant.
Part of the problem is Republicans forgetting their roots, acting like Dem-lites, and causing voters to opt instead for the real thing.
Part of it also are the uncomfortably large number of scuzzy buggers (literally, it seems) who pass themselves off as Republicans. Can't the party do a better job of vetting some of these turkeys before letting them in, pardon my use of the punnish term, the "back door?"
And, of course, part of it - this to the party's credit - is standing fast on Iraq and the War on Terrorism in the face of withering crticism from the left, a level of criticism that only now is looking increasingly partisan, wrong-headed, and anti-American. Lincoln faced something similar in his day.
Still, however, there are some serious issues that need to be addressed by the Republican Party, both locally and nationally, or it will be fated to be increasingly faintly and condescendingly praised by Democratic Party operatives and pimps (the MSM) for keeping its place and not getting uppity.
In politics, there is no place and show, so I'd rather be cursed than lauded by my enemies; at least then I'll know I'm being effective.
The Piper
I think you're right in one regard though - until the Republicans prove they're interested in executing, rather than paying lip service to less government and lower spending - there isn't much of a reason to vote for one.
Posted by: BA on December 31, 2007 12:20 PMI would rather the Herald and The Times would have castigated Gary for being obstreperous in his partisan views, someone who blocked the "progressive" agenda, and who was out of step with the forces of good government and liberal progress.
In other words, someone the MSM loves to hate.
Again, the point is that when your ideological enemies commend you for being a nice "boy," then something is out of kilter.
The Piper
Posted by: Piper Scott on December 31, 2007 12:53 PMOK, sorry to interrupt. I'm not trying to blog-jack this thread or anything - just thought y'all would like to know.
Posted by: Dave Lincoln on January 1, 2008 09:29 AM