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Dear Group,
In 1994 George Nethercutt (R) edged out Tom Foley (D) by a mere 4000 votes out of roughly 200,000 votes cast. Tom Foley was the long term incumbent of Congressional District 5 (eastern Washington). He had done great work for Eastern Washington on the House Agriculture Committee (the same Committee Lisa Brown wants to join). In 1994 when he was nudged out, Tom Foley was Speaker of the House. In that same election Foley was endorsed by the Spokesman Review, likely extolling his “pull” in Congress.
In a way, those 4000 votes here in Eastern Washington changed everything. (Or was it just 2001 votes? After all, if 2001 of those folks had voted for Tom Foley instead of Nethercutt…) On a national level, Newt Gingrich, a political pugilist and (arguably) the architect of the political polarization from which we now suffer became Speaker of the House.
Regime Change and the Power of Incumbency
On a local level, we experienced regime change in1994. George Nethercutt overstayed the term limits he touted in his run against Foley. Then he spread out his incumbent coattails and McMorris Rodgers rode them into Congress in 2004. McMorris Rodgers, her annual 1.3 million dollars from the federal treasury, and the backing of the Koch-funded Washington Policy Center have facilitated the rise and election of the likes of Jaime Herrera Beutler, now the U.S. Representative from WA CD3 (Southwest WA), and Spokane Mayor David Condon, a former congressional staffer for McMorris Rodgers, and provided a springboard for the careers of others. An infrastructure has grown around her incumbency.
If 2001 voters had gone for Foley instead of Nethercutt (or if 4001 more Democratic voters had turned out) in the 1994 midterm election, the tenor of Eastern Washington might now be very different. Votes matter.
Incumbency is powerful. It is supported with our taxpayer dollars and by powerful interests (like the Spokesman Review) that dislike any disruption of relationships they have worked hard to develop.
Regime change, like the takeover of a Congressional District from an incumbent, nearly always depends on a small margin of votes. Incumbency, once established, is like a hill over which a challenger must push a large rock. Once over the crest, the effort will roll down the other side to a whole new political alignment. It is the time for that to happen in Eastern Washington.
The margin that elects Lisa Brown over McMorris Rodgers will be narrow. Every vote will count. We need to scrape for each vote that might make that margin.
Many voters who could help are discouraged, disconnected, and uninformed
Mind you, many of us have been canvassing a select group of potential Democratic voters who often don’t vote in the midterms. “I don’t vote.” or “My vote won’t make any difference” or “I’m a registered voter, really?” or “I just want to be left alone, I can’t bear to pay attention to politics” or “I don’t know if I have my ballot or not” or “Who is Lisa Brown running against?” are phrases commonly heard.
Many of these people may well cast a favorable vote in response to a friendly conversation at their doorstep. Sometimes that conversation is as rudimentary as explaining the basics:
A vote isn’t required on every issue to turn in your ballot. If you don’t feel you can make an informed choice with which you are comfortable don’t vote that candidate or issue. The ovals you fill in will still count.
No stamp is needed. That’s new this year. Just put it in the mail in time to get it postmarked before 8PM on Tuesday, November 6, or drop it in the box at the local library.
Once the ballot is received by the County the campaigns know. Soon people will quit calling and knocking on your door. (It is known that you voted but NOT for whom you voted!)
Can’t find your ballot, it got ruined, or you didn’t receive one? For Spokane County residents, just call the Spokane County Elections Office at 509-477-2320 and they’ll mail you a replacement to your address of record. Or visit them at 1033 W Gardner Ave and pick up a new ballot between the hours of 8:30AM and 4PM Monday through Friday. The people working there are friendly, pleasant folk in spite of a stressful job this time of year. (The barcode system on the envelope prevents duplicate ballots from the same voter.) OR go on line to MyVote.wa.gov, enter your name and birthdate, click “MyBallot,” print it out, follow the directions, and turn it in.
You can look yourself up at MyVote.wa.gov and learn all sorts of things about voting and your particular ballot. You can even find out if the Elections Office has received your ballot.
Several times I’ve heard, “I can’t vote. Many years ago I was in jail.” These are people who are self-disenfranchised. They’ve been listening to the national news and assume the controversy they hear there extends to Washington State. Some of these people even received ballots, but are afraid to vote. In Washington State if you have served your time and you’re not on probation you can register (up until last Monday). If you received a ballot you can and should vote.
So get out and canvass. A whole lot depends on it. (See the box above for details and links.) There is a small army engaged in this ground game, but the result is not certain. Every vote counts. Don’t awaken the day after and wonder if you could have done more.
Keep to the high ground,
Jerry
P.S. I just learned this morning that there is even an option if you can’t find you ballot on Election Day. On that day, Tuesday, November 6, there will be six Voter Service Center Locations open from 7AM to 8PM around Spokane County where you can:
- Drop Off Your Ballot
- Get Replacement Envelopes
- Vote a Provisional Ballot
- Use an Accessible Voting Unit
- Get Answers to Voting Questions
I’ll post this all again Monday and Tuesday. The locations are:
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