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Dear Group, I used to think voters, especially local voters, were paying enough attention so they would identify undue influence when presented with it. Surely everyone checks the legally required line at the bottom of those campaign mailers that identifies who is funding them, and surely they research the funding of the PACs? Surely people can see through the motives of the folks directing the money, like Mr. Hormel and his committee at WA RPAC (WA Realtors Political Action Committee). Certainly a well-worded Letter to the Editor in the Spokesman will counteract the effect of $175,000 spent in Denver on mailers and internet ads and then rained on the Spokane municipal elections, won’t it? I wish I still believed that, but I do not. I was naive. Even if all those who will vote in the General Election in November read the Spokesman each day (they don’t), and even if all of them read that well-worded Letter to the Editor (even I don’t read every one), that letter is just one more drip in the drip, drip, drip of material that passes by the eyes and ears of the average voter in the pre-election season, a drip, drip, drip that tugs at or feeds all the pre-judgements each of us carries around with us. There is only one way to counter-influence those eyes and ears reached by the outside money controlled by a few political operatives in the WA Realtors PAC and a few big money donors funding other PACs. That is to mount a counter campaign. I wish everyone were paying close attention and there were no need to spend money to counteract those put who put their big thumbs on the electoral scales, but I am no longer naive. Please read the piece below and make a donation. I have done so.
Outside Interests are Influencing Spokane’s Election Here’s your opportunity to fight! Outside special interests (click here, here, and here for details) have already spent a record $255,000 to buy Spokane’s next mayor and city council. Their primary goal is to elect a very Republican TV personality, Nadine Woodward, as our next Mayor. Other staunch Republican beneficiaries of these “independent expenditures” are Cindy Wendle for City Council President, and Andy Rathburn and Michael Cathcart for City Council. Woodward’s messaging is divisive and her policies very conservative She has a blatant disregard for facts, and is using hate and fear to turn members of our Spokane community against each other. She has proposed illegal or outlandish proposals like banning homeless people from the library. She supports Border Patrol racially profiling passengers at the Greyhound station and opposes the city council’s resolution on climate change. In a nod to the developers who have contributed the limit to her campaign and prop up her message with “independent expenditures,” Woodward has “expressed an openness to partnering in development outside the city limits“ according to the Spokesman. In other, more direct, words, she is open to subsidizing sprawl, creating more traffic and higher utility rates for current residents while padding the profits of developers. This is how she will “preserve what’s made Spokane so great,” Sound familiar? It’s critical that the progressive community fight back! We need to fight back against these outside influences on this election and make sure we elect Ben Stuckart for Mayor and help progressives up and down the ballot to win. Spokane is a progressive city where Rep. McMorris Rodgers lost by 17 points in 2018. We know that when we work together, we can win these critical races for the future of our community. Here’s how we fight back! Fuse, is working with a strong coalition of progressive partners locally to counter these big businesses. Partners include the Firefighters, Planned Parenthood, SEIU, Washington Conservation Voters, other labor union and many individuals.The goal for this project is to raise at least $200,000 to educate voters about the candidates and mobilize progressives to vote. The campaign will include polling our community on key issues, developing the most effective messaging based on the polling, and implementing the most powerful communication plan possible with the available funding. We can’t do it without your support! Donate here to make sure special interests aren’t running our city in 2020. Fuse will cover 100% of the overhead so that all of your money will fund the campaign to connect with voters directly. Please share this with your friends and family who don’t want outside interests to influence the direction of our great city. Thanks for all you do! Jim and the entire team at Fuse P.S. Also, go to the Progressive Voters Guide to get the best information on all the elections in Spokane. Keep to the high ground, Jerry
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