Fred Walser is a Democrat running for Washington State Senate in the 39th District. In a single week, he filed for office and pled guilty to providing false information in an investigation of a subordinate, which brings with it a fine of $20K and 240 hours of community service.
A new web site from the 39th District GOP, called Who is Fred Walser?, aims to inform voters about not only the many troubling circumstances surrounding this particular crime, but also about his record in other controversies, and to hold him accountable on other issues.
For now, enjoy a couple of videos about Walser's "Best Week Ever," then head on over to the new site to find out more about Fred Walser.
Cross-posted on <pudge/*>.
Posted by pudge at June 16, 2008 11:14 PM | Email ThisBut all in all, a pretty good song.
Somehow I suspect that the 39th LD will be placed a good bit lower on the Democratic priority list. But even if Walser hadn't screwed up in a totally major way, Republicans are rather strong in the 39th LD and Val Stevens is extremely effective as a legislator and as a candidate.
I would think that the sentence -- 30 days of jail (converted to 240 hours of community service) and $20,000 fine pretty much speaks for itself. Too bad, since a "clean" Walser could have at least made the race interesting and at least slightly competitive.
With any luck, the Republicans will go overboard beating a dead horse (Walser) and focus less energy on other seats :)
Posted by: Richard Pope on June 17, 2008 01:22 AMFor many people his plea and sentence would be enough, but he has tried to spin it, in his words, as a "clerical error." The web site shows that there is far more to it than that, and all of it makes him look deceitful and conniving. At best. And we're not going to give him an inch on it.
Democrats ARE making runs for seats in the 39th, and people like Walser think, hey, "it's a Dem year, I bet I could win just on name recognition and party affiliation alone, since there's not much media covering the 39th to highlight my flaws." And our message in the 39th is clear: think on.
Who is "they"? The "they" is "pudge, chair of the 39th LD GOP in Snohomish County." My job is to help win the 39th LD for Republicans. What SHOULD I spend my time on? Would you have me not do my job ... ? :-)
This isn't the only race we'll be focusing on, but Walser did just plead guilty less than two weeks ago, so it's the hot topic, and Walser and his supporters have been trying to convince the public this was merely a clerical error. We won't let them spread even more false information, not without the facts in their face.
Although honestly, thanks to equal parts Gregoire and Rossi, I think there may be more anti-Dem spillover than the other way around in this state. It's hard to judge at this point how the presidential race will impact us, but I suspect that despite you disliking McCain, that he will be good for other GOP candidates in general, in WA.
The most important thing to me is not just making sure Walser can't get away with fooling anyone, but that we send the message that we won't let others do it, either, not in the 39th, and soon not in the 10th, not in the 44th ... one district, once race, at a time.
Posted by: pudge on June 17, 2008 12:42 PMWe had more Republican districts back then.
If we don't have Republicans who are going to make damned sure they hold the few districts we've got, then we will lose what little we have.
The Democrats in Washington State thrive in an culture of corruption. From Tami Green to Geoff Simpson to Chris Hurst and now to Fred Walser? I could list even more.
When the GOP has "issues" with their candidates or electeds they clean them out. The Democrats go ahead and file them to run for office anyway.
And what is going on with the lack of accountability for Democrat donors and the labor councils? One week after Simpson was arrested for DV (following several years of restraining orders and nasty, nasty domestic problems that were well-known) the state labor council endorsed him...without either waiting to see what the truth was or even interviewing his opponent.
The labor council has endorsed Fred Walser.
Several other notables in Snohomish County have endorsed Walser, including Sheriff John Lovick, Councilman Dave Somers, the local teachers' unions, Crystal Hill the Mayor of Gold Bar (I'm disappointed in you, Crystal!), Don Gough, the Mayor of Lynnwood, and even Senators Hobbs and McAuliffe.
The fact is it's not just the Democratic party itself who don't take ethics seriously, it's the grassroots of their party as well.
The donors, big labor bosses and elected officials in the Democratic Party support convicts like Walser because they don't see a violation of the public trust as an important issue come election day.
If the voters keep agreeing with them, then maybe they are right.
Posted by: Chad Minnick on June 17, 2008 03:35 PMI think your time may have been better spent to get Jack Turk, a good guy and a smart guy, to run for a legislative office before going after executive?
Posted by: swatter on June 17, 2008 03:51 PMAs to Jack, while I do care about the other LDs, I don't spend much time working on them. He's in the 44th, and I know Mike Hope is the best candidate to face Liz Loomis there, but I don't know what Jack's prospects would be against Dunshee. I wouldn't guess very good, at least not until Mike can get in there (which I believe he will do).
And Chad, of course, makes a great point too: not without some valid reasons, the GOP has come to be seen as the party of corruption, but we know the Dems at least as bad overall, but in WA, they are much worse, and we need to be making that point, and Walser is as good a place to start as any. This is an indictment of the Democrats almost as much as it is of Walser.
There's really no downside to this. It's not like I am spending thousands of dollars and months of my time. It was a week or so of research and writing at nights, and $10 for a domain name, and in return we get a fairly comprehensive place for people to get the facts.