On Monday, May 1st, after a sometimes heated discussion, the 38th LD Democrats voted to endorse the candidacy of Mark Wilson for US Senate. The vote was very close (the abstentions could have easily turned the outcome) but, in the end, the 38th became the first LD to endorse the controversial challenger to incumbent senator Maria Cantwell.
The pre-announced agenda for the meeting featured a panel discussion on renewable energy to be followed by the regular LD business of E-board reports, old business and, under new business, a note that mentioned “endorsements may be considered.” When that portion of the meeting came, the motion was made and seconded to consider the endorsement of Mark Wilson for US Senate. The ensuing discussion was very much in line with what I have come to expect on the blogs and other message boards. While those who stood in favor of the endorsement spoke of their values and how they felt they had been betrayed by the incumbent over some very important issues, the two persons who spoke in opposition to the endorsement centered most of their argument on being caught off-guard by the motion and felt that there should have been a broader announcement of the motion to endorse Wilson (I am assuming that this would have produced a larger turnout by the folks who normally come out just for these occasions – to staunchly defend the status quo). There was one comment about not trusting Wilson to remain loyal to the Democrats because of his previous 3rd party affiliations and the assertion that “we” already have a good candidate. At no time did I hear any quarrel with Wilson’s platform. Once again to her credit, 38th LD Chair Marian Harrison (who, as is her habit, was one of the abstentions) allowed all who requested time to speak the opportunity to do so. When she finally called for the vote the motion carried by two votes (As I mentioned, the three abstentions could have easily turned the vote).
What this means for the Mark Wilson campaign, first and foremost, is a sense of legitimacy within the “party machine”. With this endorsement, Wilson gains access to the 38th LD website and, via links, the Snohomish County Democrats website and beyond. Being endorsed by the LD also allows the inclusion of Wilson’s campaign literature in future doorbelling of the precincts within the LD for so long as he is a candidate. I have contacted Missy Luft, our Regional Coordinator for the Coordinated Campaign to see if the endorsement by the 38th LD will entitle Mark access to that office as a place to distribute literature and other campaign materials. I have not heard back from Missy as of yet.
Whether or not this endorsement will lead to others is anybody's guess but I believe it is fair to say that it takes the pressure of any other LD that was concerned about "being the first."
Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue
Mike's Blog Round Up
49 minutes ago
4 comments:
It seems that the Democrat party in Snohomish county is more democratic than the one in King County where Mark Wilson has been 1) denied the chance to speak 2) where party leaders are already wearing Cantwell buttons 3) where the King County Democrats website only lists Cantwell as a candidate.
Have some King County Democrats have already decided that the Primary votes should not be counted?
As a follow up to the question about inclusion of Mark Wilson at our Everett Coordinated Campaign Office, the following is an exchange between me and Missy Luft, out Regional Director:
***********************************
"Missy,
...As you may know by now, the 38th LD voted to endorse Mark Wilson for US Senate at our meeting on Monday. I am wondering if I might be able to bring some rally signs and literature by the office for dispay and distribution. I believe that when word of the endorsement gets out a bit more, folks may want to come find out more about this candidate in our September primary.
Peace,
Chad Shue
Vice-Chair 38th LD Democrats
**********************************
From : Missy Luft
missy@wademocrats.org
Reply-To : missy@wa-democrats.org
Sent : Wednesday, May 3, 2006 6:04 PM
To : "Chad Shue" chadshue@hotmail.com
Subject : Re: Campaign Lit
"Hi Chad,
...Per your request about Mark Wilson
materials, the coordianted campaign will not be able to accomodate any Mark Wilson materials in the office. I would suggest getting in touch with county party and seeing if they can accomodate your request.
Sincerely,
Missy
****************************
When I replied asking why this was, I was referred to the Seattle Office. More to come......
Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue
Just wanted to correct the comment from j leonard... Mark Wilson IS on the agenda to speak at the KCDCC convention tomorrow. Whether he actually has the balls to get up and speak following Jay Inslee remains to be seen.
Snohomish County seems to be full of a bunch of hotheads this election cycle. First you have the 44th LD not even giving their two candidates time to get their websites up and running before holding their endorsement meeting (endorsements are typically done in August for a reason... no one has even filed with the auditors office yet!!) and now you have the 38th, either not having any sort of endorsement process or just suspending all of their rules to endorse some guy (just some ordinary joe off the street) that no one even knows anything about, for the US Senate!
I know the 38th did not even obtain a standard candidate questionnaire because Mr Wilson will not answer those kinds of questions- regarding his fundraising & campaign plans, lack of a campaign manager, doesn't have a resume, no list of endorsements, no prior political experience whatsoever... Hopefully some rational members in that LD will make a motion to rescind the endorsement at the next meeting.
Mega,
Thank you for your insightful comments. You are indeed correct in saying that Mark Wilson will have the opportunity to speak at the KCDCC Convention. You do fail to mention however that it took emails and phone calls from dozens of supporters to Ms Sheary (the Chair of that organization) requesting that she allow for this to happen. Her original stance was that Mark would not be allowed to speak because SHE was the decider of who is a Democrat and who is not.
As for your chacterizations of the 44th and 38th LDs, perhaps you should attend these LDs to see how they operate in person before you offer your advice. Or maybe you don't believe that each LD should operate under its own Bylaws and Standing Rules. I can assure you that, at least in the 38th (where I am the Vice-chair), we followed our rules as decided by our membership. Perhaps we need you to travel around the state to straighten out all the wayward LDs?
Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue
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