This round goes to McKenna and Dunn!
I am surprised and happy to hear that Jay Inslee and Rob McKenna will debate this PM
Before that debate the candidates for attorney general .. Ferguson vs. Dunn, will debate.
If you can I urge you to watch but I will, if I can also post the video here.
Here are five things to watch for:
1. WHO SHOWS UP?
Contrary to the Seattle media.. Inslee and McKenna are not the only candidates. For example, last week at the Republican convention I met Shahram Hadian. Mr. Hadian is an articulate Christian.
Shahram Hadian running for Governor
Both politically and as a religious belief, Shahram is a fundamentalist. He is, however, very well spoken not just about econiomics but about his conversion from Iranian Shia Islam. A number of impressive people seem to support him, including UW faculty (so he claimed).
Here are the other candidates for Governor.
Jay Inslee (D) – Ex-Congressman, Ex-State Rep. & Ex-Selah Prosecuting Attorney
Rob Hill (D)
Shahram Hadian (R) – Christian Pastor, Ex-Muslim & ’10 State Rep. Candidate
Javier Lopez (R) – Minister, Security Company Owner & ’08 Candidate
Rob McKenna (R) – Attorney General & Ex-King County Councilor
Max Sampson (R)
Mary Martin (Socialist Workers/Write-In) – State Party Chair & Communist Political Organizer
Christian Joubert (Independent)
Dale Sorgen (Independent) – Computer Programmer & Baptist Minister
James White (Independent) – Factory Airplane Inspector & Ex-Correctional Officer
2. How doctrinaire honest are Inslee and McKenna?
While I believe that both candidates suffer from commitments to the “core of their parties”), McKenna carries the bigger burden given the exteme bigotry and antipathy toward science of his party.
McKenna: I think McKenna has two huge liabilities.
The first is Romney. How does McKenna deal with Romney’s doctrinaire commitments to Ayn Rand and dropping federal support for the states? Does he support dropping ExIm support for Boeing? What about Romney’s claim that the states should lay off teacher,s cops and fire fighters?
The second is the reality of the budget. McKenna has made very impressive commitments to the UW, but no one believes he can keep these commitments without raising taxes.
Inslee has his own liabilities:
The first is the teacher’s unions. The unions in this state have opposed reforms, even those backed strongly by Obama. Does Inslee stand with Arnie Duncan, the Secretary of Education, or with the unions on issues like charter schools and merit pay?
The second liability for Inslee is also the reality of the budget. Inslee has not come out in support of meaningful strengthening of higher education but he has said he will not raise taxes. He and McKenna share this liability and a need to explain how they can keep the UW (and other higher ed) viable without raising taxes.
3. Will Reagan Dunn go hardline with his Tea Party comrades?
Delegate to WASTATE GOP Convention
Mr. Dunn’s speech at the Tacoma convention was among the most extreme. He berated Persident Obama and promised to overturn ALL of the Obamacare law. Dunn also echoed anti immigrant policies that should frighten many immigrants … not just the illegal folks looking for jobs outside Home Depot but UW faculty and students and immigrants at Microsoft , Boeing and Amazon.