By Manny Frishberg, JTNews Correspondent
Three Democratic
hopefuls with already-assured spots on the November ballot had
an informal get together with a group of Jewish residents on
Bainbridge Island the weekend before the primary vote.
The Sunday
afternoon session, set for a few days before the start of Rosh
Hashanah, was a chance for Phil
Rockefeller, Sherry Appleton and Laura Ruderman to mingle with
a few dozen committed party loyalists and to drum up donations
and support for the final run. Rockefeller, who represents the
23rd District in the state House of Representatives, is giving
up that seat to make a run for the upper house from the same
district. Appleton, a former Poulsbo City Council member and
an Olympia lobbyist for progressive causes, including the
Coalition for a Jewish Voice, is seeking the seat that
Rockefeller is vacating. Laura Ruderman, the first Democrat
ever to win re-election to the legislature from the
traditionally Republican 43rd District, is making her first
run at statewide elective office, challenging one-term
Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed.
"This was
originally intended to be an event for the Jewish community,
but the invitation were expanded somewhat," said Appleton’s
campaign manager, Laurice Riekki.
Riekki said
Appleton, who is making her second run for the state House
this year, is doing very well, having raised more than $57,000
for her campaign coffers and visited some 4,000 homes. Riekki
said they had set a goal of ringing between 8,000 and 10,000
doorbells in the district before Nov. 2. She said neither of
the two Republicans who squared off in the September primary
vote "has much experience."
Riekki said the
main point they are trying to get across when talking to
people about Appleton’s professional credentials is that she
has always represented the nonprofit sector and fought for
causes and organizations that she genuinely believes in
herself.
"The issues here in
Kitsap County are jobs, health care and education … and the
environment, because we are a very big environmental
community. So those things really resonate [with the voters],"
Appleton said. "And that includes traffic and everything else
that goes with it."
As for budget and
tax issues, she said the state will be starting out with a $1
billion deficit for the coming biennium, so Appleton said she
believes the legislature will have to take a fresh look at
Washington’s tax structure.
"People want to say
the IT word,’" she said, referring to the income tax, one of
the traditional third rails of Washington State politics. "But
I don’t see any other way out of the future. My personal
belief is that until we have steady revenue flows where it’s
not up-and-down, up-and-down, we will never get a hold of this
problem. Eventually we’re going to be so far in the hole that
we’ll never get out."
Appleton said she
favors re-establishing the Gates Commission to take another
close look at how the tax system could be reformed.
"We don’t have to
take every one of their suggestions, but we have to get a
handle on what we are doing," she said.
Laura Ruderman took
the first turn addressing the group who gathered around a
large flagstone fireplace to hear what the candidates had to
say.
"After people hear
me talk about the role of Secretary of State, they think this
is a really, really important election," she said, thanking
Rockefeller for allowing her "to piggyback" on his event. "But
before they hear me talk, they don’t think it’s important
enough to come hear me talk."
She said whenever
she tells people at political meetings and events that she is
running for Secretary of State, their reactions are always the
same:
"People look at me.
They smile ever so politely and they say, Secretary of State,
how nice.’ You can watching their eyes glaze over and they’re
reaching way into the back of their heads, thinking,
Secretary of State – right. I’m pretty sure Colin Powell
wasn’t elected.’"
Others ask her why
she’s running against Ralph Munro.
"I’m happy to say,"
Ruderman continued, "that Ralph Munro isn’t our Secretary of
State. He hasn’t been for the last four years – and if you
don’t know the name of the guy who is, that’s a vote for me."
What makes this an
important race, she said, is that the Secretary of State is
the senior elections officer of the state. "If you don’t think
that is important," Ruderman said, think about what happened
in Florida in 2000. She said during Reed’s tenure both voter
registrations and average voter turn-outs had declined, and
called him the wrong man for the job at this time.
One of Ruderman’s
principal issues is the need for a "paper trail," or receipt
for voters using electronic voting machines. Reed has
certified machines for use by Washington counties that do not
print a paper receipt. Those demanding the printed copy say it
is the only way to prevent hackers or other tricksters from
altering the software codes to change the ballot count without
being noticeable.
Phil Rockefeller
said he is driven to do what he is doing by "a passion for
advocacy," adding that "there are a lot of issues that need
that advocacy.
"The reward that I
get is in seeing that I’ve made a difference," he said. "I’ve
done that in education, I’ve done that in the area of natural
resources." He said he is working to "recover this Puget Sound
of ours, which is, in some areas, a dying body of water."
He said the oxygen
depletion in the waters of Hood Canal "is not just a chemical
problem. It’s a result of the build-up of nitrogen, and
nitrogen is coming from failed septics, from non-point-source
pollution that has led to the leaching of nitrates into the
water and poor forestry practices" like aerial spraying of
fertilizers.
After finishing
their prepared talks, the candidate took questions from the
assembly, concentrating much of the time on local issues. The
areas of discussion ranged from transportation options for
Bainbridge and the Kitsap Peninsula, the Bremerton Airport and
the laying of fiber optic lines and a wireless network in
Kitsap County.
Finally, when
enough meatballs, tiramisu and fudge cake had been consumed to
judge the event a success, the party drifted apart.