Comments on Meet the Candidates

wow am I glad I don't live in the 36th anymore...

And he blames “conservative opponents of any taxes” for the resounding loss of his latte tax in liberal Seattle.

How about opponents of taxes that make no sense, douchebag? If you're going to impose taxes, do it in a way that is fair, equitable, and logical. Taxing coffee drinks doesn't seem like any of that.

This is the type of guy that gives real liberals a bad name.

Yeah, I could forgive the condescending, judgmental, and off-target latte tax if he would admit why regular liberals like me hated it. But blaming conservatives is a sign he doesn't get it.

If you think the Latte Tax was goofy, you should ask Burbank about his income tax ideas.

Groovin' Reuvyn!

Dude, the guy is running for state legislature, and he's calling for the impeachment of George Bush. That alone would lead me to believe that the guy is a tool.

And even after all that, thanks to the Party’s byzantine rules and procedural bylaws,

Every Democratic Party Legislative District organization has its own set of endorsement rules.

Those rules are for active Democrats who put in the time and effort to practice politics. We think putting in that time and effort is worthwhile. They're only byzantine to dilettantes who have the attention span of fruit flies, and hipsters who are just too cool for all of that.

The 36th has its own procedures, its own questionnaires, and its own vetting process. Democrats in the 36th consider that worthwhile. Most of the rest of the King county LDs use the King County Democrats' questionnaire.

The insiders who wrote the rules consider them worthwhile. Active Democrats deserve cookies and a T-shirt, nothing more. Especially if one realizes how much better a process we'd have if they didn't try so hard.

The Democratic Party is open to all, Elenchos, even to smug know-it-all fucks. Come on and try your hand at creating a better process -- or you can just post on Slog and whine about the people who do the work.

@7: Just because something is local doesn't make it democratic.

In the 43rd district, the endorsement process has been so streamlined that much of the work is done by an endorsement committee behind closed doors. They share few of the materials they review with the membership, give a cursory report on candidates generally lacking substance, leave almost no time for speeches or debate among members, do not let people speak on behalf of issuing "no endorsement", and push through blanket endorsements of all unchallenged candidates at once without even debating whether these individuals deserve endorsement. That's Democratic, but it's not very democratic.

ivan, you're hilarious. You and Will in Seattle are my poster children for typical Seattle Democratic activists. Goes a long way to explain how things got this way.

A better process would include talking about political issues that affect the state. How, pray tell, do:

Res. 096 - Diplomacy with Iran
Res. 104 - Banning Cluster Bombs
Res. 125 - Lifting the Cuba Embargo
Res. 255 - Anti-Torture Resolution
Res. 358 - Abolishing Nuclear Weapons
Res. 343 - Resolution on Population Control
Res. 098 - Resolution on Establishing a Department of Peace

have ANY damn thing to do with state issues? Heck, letting the crackpots roam free gives the state Republicans entirely too much fodder at this point. (Abortion for population control? Might as well write the attack ads for the GOP and save time.)

Although I'm proud to be a liberal, I'll never be a Democrat!

Trevor @ 10:

You'd probably prefer how we do it in the 34th. There are no "endorsement committees." All endorsements go right to the membership.

Every candidate up for endorsement gets exactly the same time as any other candidate for discussion, which is finite and enforced to the second.

Motions for sole endorsements are not allowed. Motions for "no endorsement" certainly are.

Candidates get one and only one endorsement vote for meeting. No two-thirds vote, no endorsement, try again next month.

Our message to the candidates is: If you want our endorsement, work for it. Don't just waltz into our meeting with a questionnaire.

Elenchos @ 11:

Thanks for demonstrating, as always, that you have nothing to offer to this discussion.

Had been told by a friend that I should support Rueven's campaign. Wasn't sure until I read your article. My friend was right, the check is in the mail. Thanks for the info Erica.

I agree, the latte tax would have severely cut into CEOs outrageous profits.

Best that we send it to Iraq as they wanted.

oh, and @10, in the 36th the exec board has a lot more power in endorsements than the 43rd does, where all the KCDCC questionnaires are available on the King County Democrats website ....

JB is the man with the plan!
Reuven will be a losin'!

Thanks, Erica. I was a bit i n the dark as to who to vote for but i had no idea Burbank was the Latte Tax asshole!! Go Reuven!!!

as a washington state outsider, i can clearly see that the latte tax was a political blunder, compounded by his insistence that "conservative opponents" were the agents of its demise. burbank will probably lose, no?

Carlyle sounds great. Why can't we get smart Dem candidates like this on the Eastside?

A new payroll tax for paid family leave? Is he kidding?! Fucking breeders expect the working poor to pay for all of their indulgences (or mistakes). What a joke.

Memo to Burbank: It's 2008, not 1968.

Note that for Burbank "working in the public sector" means ceaseless fundraising, punctuated by the occasional unreadable position paper submitted to, and ignored by, the press.

The latte tax was pure Class War. It had nothing to do with public services, and everything to do with exploiting class resentment against an imaginary "latte class" of Capitalist CEOs. Ignoramuses Will up there proves that this muddled idea has some appeal still, but most people correctly thought it was ridiculous on the face of it.

Carlyle is smart, focused and enthusiastic. Picking a state legislator based on the amount of information we have is something of a crapshoot, but I'm going to be giving Carlyle a shot.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE NO SALES TAX ON FOOD IDEA - LET ALONE MORE TAXES

LATTE TAX WAS CRAZY - OF COURSE IT FAILED - AND IF THE GUY WHO HAD THE BAD IDEA CLINGS TO IT, HE IS IN NEED OF SOME HELP ON A COUCH

Carlyle came to my door kindly asked if he could plant a yard sign. Now I'm in a yard sign war with the peeps across the street!! GO REUVEN!

The 36th already has two legislators who are liberals in that vague, hippy, up-with-people sort of way. I'm happy to vote for them, but we don't need a third. Carlyle is the kind of liberal who will win the knife fights in Olympia, and agitate Chopp et. al. to get off their asses and start acting like Democrats.

And Burbank criticizing Carlyle for daring to earn a good living in the private sector-- that just demonstrates how incompetent he is.

Abortion for all women? Won't that lead to some sort of gender imbalance in 20 years?

Carlyle is a serious local businessman who wants to get into doing some public service. He has worked with and understands new technology, an area the state is sorely lacking in and most career "public servants" like Burbank don't get. Carlyle has real world experience, has executive level management experience, has created businesses (which he was successful at). He's a progressive businessman, thoroughly understands tax policy and how to use it to support small business. He'll help streamline government, or at least try to.

The reality is that the old school Dems have a majority and can't get important thing done. Carlyle is the type of new school dem we need in office. He is running against an old school dem. The dems already made a decision about how they want new blood repping us at a federal level (between Obama and Clinton) and this race is similar. Burbank is the Dem establishment, old school Dem who will do more of the same of what we are getting from the Dems now. Carlyle will at least bring a fresh perspective.

Hi All,

I am a moderate Republican and I am also in this same race. I am pro-choice and for marriage equality. I am also for fiscal responsibility. I would like to see common sense and fairness in Olympia--and we do need balance and people that actually want to work together and accomplish goals!

You can check out my website at: blossforthe36th.com

You could say I came from an impoverished upbringing (my folks were so careful with their money that they could make the eyes of the eagle on the quarter bulge). I am not complaining--they taught me to be honest, work hard, plan for the future and care about people.

I have a degree in Business Administration. I have worked at The Boeing Company for 23 years (Facilities, Long Range Planning, and Human Resources etc.) and now have been a real estate agent for nearly 5 years.

I believe in volunteer work. I have worked on the Seattle Crisis Line; been a Rape Relief Advocate; worked at the Puget Sound Blood Center and currently help out at the Wallingford Senior Center. I have worked for almost a year trying to get Katie's Law (katieslaw.org) into Washington State. I have spoken with many State Senators and Representatives and learned how gridlock is not only on our roads and highways! It is quite clear that some lawmakers enjoy standing in the way of progress.

I am not a politician; I am a proud grandmother that wants to work on Education, Transportation, Property Tax Reform and Cleaning up the Environment. I do not want to raise taxes--I want to see our tax money spent more wisely.

I have some good endorsements starting with former Governor Daniel J. Evans and our own Suzie Burke (Fremont Dock Company).

Our State and Local Government has not been listening to what voters want and many times not making decisions that are for the greater good (instead of the privileged few).

Two of my best traits are that I am a great listener and know how to ask the right questions to get to the bottom of the issues. I care about Washington and our future.

Thank you for reading,

Leslie Bloss