good. someone needs to run against that waffle house.

Its funny, what Chad *forgot* to mention in his post was the fact that they waited until about half a dozen people (important ones too, like John McCoy) had left the meeting, which was essentially over, to take this vote.

Anyone care to investigate that little missing factoid?

More about Wilson at:

www.votemark.org

also missing in this account is the fact that there was no formal announcement to the LD membership that there would an endorsement at that meeting. they just said "endorsements may be considered." Chad's explanation was lame: "this would have produced a larger turnout of folks who normally come out for these occasions-to staunchly defend the status quo." As I emailed Mark earlier today: "That's the worse excuse for not letting people know in advance that an endorsement would be made that I have ever seen."

More about Wilson at:

Washblog.com

The Snohomish Democrats do this all the time to run things through, then you never see them at the meetings until the next issue they want to ram down people's throats...doesn't set well, huh?

Aexia -

Thanks for the link. Reading down through several of the posts there gives folks a chance to see a variety of Pro-Wilson and Anti-Wilson arguments and rebuttals.

Because the recent SLOG entry on the 38th LD's endorsement of Mark Wilson is resulting in a particular inference of wrong-doing on my part, I would like to set a few of the facts straight.
To begin with, not every LD in the state operates in the same manner when it comes to endorsements. As a matter of fact, every LD operates under its own set of Bylaws and Standing Rules. Under the Bylaws of the 38th LD, the only "requirement" for endorsements is that there be a notice before any endorsement may be considered. There is no further requirement that the proposed endorsee be named. In addition it is stated that a candidate may ask for endorsement at any time, with no formal mechanism in place such as an application or interview process. In my two years at the 38th, the only times I can recall us naming the proposed endorsee was when the candidates for state party chair (Berendt, Rodriguez, Philips, and Overman) were scheduled to address our LD to seek our endorsement. We also, last year, sent out an announcement of a forum between the candidates for Mayor of Everett and assumed an endorsement request would follow. Other than that, motions for endorsement generally come from a recommendation of the Executive Board or as a motion from the floor. This was the case on May 1st. As for how widely the notice of possible endorsement was sent out, we are required to send out notice of our meeting at least seven days in advance. The following notice was sent to the membership:

Next Meeting!!!!
Monday, May 1, 2006 at 7PM

Featured Speakers:
Renewable Energy Panel Discussion

-Rich Feldman, Apollo Alliance, Washington Coordinator

-Larry Owens, Shoreline Solar Project, Washington Solar Project

-Jackie Minchew, Democracy for Snohomish County

Agenda Items:

-Renewable Energy Panel Discussion

-Endorsements may be considered

-State Convention News

Saturday, June 3 9:00AM Tacoma

-Discussion on Upcoming Events

July 4th Parade

38th LD Summer Picnic August 7, 2006 Langus Park

Marysville Strawberry Festival

Evergreen Fair
******************************************************************************
As you can see the notice that "Endorsements may be considered" was part of our general Call to Meeting which is sent out to the entire 38th LD membership. Now, I am not sure how other LDs are but, here in the 38th, we cannot compel folks to attend our meetings. As it was, we had a larger than usual turnout due to the panel discussion. There is some question as to whether I should have gone out of my way to announce my intention to consider the endorsement for Mark Wilson prior to the meeting. To this point I will plead to some political maneuvering (Go figure!) and will simply say that I did not feel any sense of duty to orchestrate my own defeat. In doing "whip counts" during the evening, I felt that the vote could have gone either way. As I point out in my Blog (The Left Shue), the abstentions could have turned the vote. If, on the other hand, I would have known for certain that the vote would fail by a large margin, I would not even have made the motion. I am amazed that people who engage in the type of political discourse common to this publication, somehow see something bad about Wilson supporters "stooping to that level". In fact, I abided by the rules of the organization in every way. As a matter fact, it was I who pointed out that one of our members (a strong Wilson supporter) was no longer eligible to vote because he had sold his house and moved from his precinct. Finally, those opposed to the motion could have moved to refer the endorsement back to the Executive Board or requested an amendment to request a dual endorsement (something also allowed in the 38th). While it was suggested and requested of me to do so, no such motions were made.
In the end what is really sad about this episode is that there is still no debate about the merits of Mark Wilson's platform or the issues on which he is running.

Peace,

Chad Shue
Vice-Chair 38th LD Democrats

Erm, not to pick nits, but I know the former state chair candidate is Phillips (two l's). Secret crush cuz the man can bring fire down when he speaks! As for this Wilson guy, um...no.