Politics “Cynical & Salty”
I’ve been giving Sen. Maria Cantwell a drubbing for prioritizing out-of-state operatives to run her campaign…flying in Kerry “talent,” at every turn, for example.
I know it’s kind of provincial of me, but seriously, I do think it represents a bad impulse: A drift away from local sensibilities in favor of a pour & stir DNC-style campaign…which tend to be skittish and lackluster.
So, I’m happy to report that Cantwell just hired Kelly Wicker as her campaign’s political director. Wicker is a longtime local Democratic hack, and most notably, did political outreach during Locke’s 2000 campaign (I know, I know…but still, Locke won that one w/ 58% of the vote) …And she was also the external affairs point person in his administration. Most recently, Wicker worked for Secretary Valoria Loveland at the Washington State Dept. of Agriculture.
I don’t know a lot about Wicker, she’s been described to me as “cynical” and “salty” … but it’s nice to see Cantwell tap a local for such a key spot. Although, I hear a number of locals also turned the spot down.
Sucks. The homogenization of America extends beyond media and pop culture and spilled over to politics a long time ago.
A tool used, in addition to the funneling of national party money on a campaign by campaign basis, is this concept of "bringing in an outsider for a fresh perspective". Sure, it might be ok in the corporate world, but it should never have been ok in the political world to begin with. Not to the extent it is practiced today anyways. It really needs to stop; local elected officals should hire local talent. No, it should not be about hiring "who you think is best for the job".
It should be about support for the community that put the elected offical in the position of influence to begin with, by hiring the best person for the job from the community (at all levels within the offical's office, and not just the admin assits.). No community in America is so poor in talented people that an elected offical needs to hire from somewhere else. No good reason at all.
But, however unfortunately cynical I feel about this, homogenization is part of the beltway culture, and when both parties in a two party system participate in the action, the option for a citizen to vote for the candidate agreed with the most (especially on this point) is moot.
fuck, at least the republicans are so far removed from anything I remotely consider good behavior for an elected offical, that I would rather eat broken glass then put my vote next to anyone with an (R) on a ballot.