According to Horsesass and Progressive Majority, state senator Bill Finkbeiner (R-Redmond) recently told a group of his constituents that this year he will be voting for House Bill 1515, the gay civil rights bill that has been shot down in the Washington State legislature for 30 years running.

If true, this is huge news for gay rights in Washington. The bill — which would specifically prohibit discrimination against homosexuals in housing, employment, and financial transactions — lost in the state senate last year by just one vote. If Finkbeiner is finally changing back to his original position on gay rights (the one he held back when he was a Democrat), then it’s almost certain that the gay civil rights bill will pass this year.

Maybe this news has something to do with Finkbeiner’s new challenger for the November elections. Or maybe it has more to do with Finkbeiner no longer being the Senate minority leader, and therefore no longer being required to stand as an exemplar of the Republican party’s anti-gay politics. But whatever the reason, this news is going to make a lot of gay rights activists in this state very happy. (If true.)

Yesterday afternoon, the Friday afternoon before the 2006 legislative session was set to begin (it starts on Monday), a gang of Democratic bloggers, including blogging BMOC David Goldstein of HorsesAss, held a symposium in Olympia to school Democrats about the local lefty blogosphere and how to use it.

The conference—organized by 18-year-old blogger Andrew Villeneuve, chair of his own grassroots project, the Northwest Progressive Institute, and Lynn Allen from Evergreen Politics blog —was held in a hearing room in the Capitol building and drew about 30 folks.

Two Democratic Reps —Zach Hudgins from the 11th (South Seattle, Burien, SeaTac, Renton) and Deb Wallace from the 17th (Vancouver) showed up—as did Gov. Gregoire’s new communications director, Holly Armstrong. Also on hand: lots of staffers for Democratic legislators. Mostly, though, the room was packed with bloggers.

It was a pretty self-congratulatory session, with, for example, Goldstein explaining how his “David Irons Hits His Mom” story provided a devestating left hook to the suddenly surging Irons. (Our own SLOG got props from Washblog’s Ray Minchew, who credited us for the Lori Sotelo voter challenge story.)

Basically, though, the bloggers’ advice to the Democratic Party was simple: Leak your stories to the bloggers first. The partisan bloggers will run with your speaking points, create a buzz, and force the media to pick up on it.

Ironically, I thought the best advice of the day concerned a comparatively archaic technology: Radio. Michael Hood, whose blog,Blatherwatch, monitors the right-wing talk radio shows, advised Democratic politicians to go on right-wing radio every chance they get. Democrats, Hood explained, make the mistake of blowing off right-wing radio because they think either, they won’t get a fair shake or that the audience won’t be receptive to their message. Hood said that while the callers will be hostile, the hosts are courteous, and there are tons of independent voters tuning in. The producers put the combative callers on the air because it makes for better radio, but ultimately, it’s another chance to get your message out. When Ds make the mistake of not going on, Hood said, the Dems just look like sissies. And bottom line: The Democratic POV just gets bashed. Hood’s advice: Get on and bash back.

Yikes. By the time Friday’s 5:00 deadline for applications to fill the city council seat formerly held by Jim Compton rolled around, 99 council hopefuls had put their names in the running, most of them almost literally at the last minute. The final batch of names includes dozens of political unknowns; several candidates - among them mayoral staffer Timothy Durkan, former council member Sue Donaldson, and two-time council candidate Robert Rosencrantz - who had long been rumored to be running; and a handful of new names that council members called “strong contenders,” among them Sally Clark, Stella Chao and Russ Brubaker. Council members will decide Monday on a strategy for selecting the top dozen or so candidates, and have until January 26 to choose Compton’s successor.

A full list of all the contenders is below the jump.

Continue reading "The Final Tally" »

AP…

Embattled Rep. Tom DeLay decided Saturday to give up his post as House majority leader, clearing the way for new leadership elections among Republicans eager to shed the taint of scandal, two officials said.

These officials said DeLay, R-Texas, was preparing a letter informing fellow House Republicans of his decision. These officials spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they did not want to pre-empt the formal announcement.

If a life-threatening stroke is god’s punishment to Ariel Sharon for splitting up Israel, it’s hard to imagine what the fuck the rest of us did to deserve this… (click image for video)