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Posts published in January 2008

Not so unknown

January 31, 2008

The Talking Points Memo site has an excellent rundown of the prospects in the Democratic contests next week in the many Super Tuesday states, which include (alone in the Northwest) Idaho.

TPM's take: "Idaho — Unknown: There has been no major polling here, but Obama should probably run well in Boise, the closest thing this deep-red state has to a Democratic stronghold. Total Delegates: 18"

Based on our observation and what we've heard around Idaho, the outcome is clearer than unknown. Barack Obama is likely to win the Democratic caucuses in Idaho very strongly. (The most recent indicators: Endorsement from all the Democratic candidates for the 1st district House, and from former Governor Cecil Andrus.)

Whither the law library?

January 31, 2008

Things are moving around these days in the Idaho capitol mall, not limited to the shifting resulting from the Statehouse renovation. A bill just passed without opposition in the Idaho Senate touches on one of those: Moving the state law library.

The bill itself (Senate Bill 1271) is innocuous; the statement of purpose "provides that the State Law Library will continue to be in Boise, but removes the requirement that it be located in either the State Capitol or the Supreme Court building. This will allow greater flexibility and efficiency in the use of the Supreme Court building and open up additional options for housing the State Law Library."

The library has for decades been located in state Supreme Court building, has been ever since that building was built. The plan now apparently is to move the state Court of Appeals into the first-floor space where the law library has been. That court has been renting nearby private space for years; the shift makes sense.

But where will the law library go? That's a little unclear. There's some talk that, for a while anyway, it may be packed up and stored (an odd prospect). There are options. One we heard suggests moving it to the old Ada County courthouse after the state legislature moves back to the renovated Statehouse; a nice thought.

Is the state law library needed? It is. It provides a core base of legal information and resources not just for attorneys but for others as well (we've gotten plenty of use out of it, and other public law libraries in the region, for years). In passing this new bill on the library (the House presumably will soon pass it as well), the Idaho Legislature has a kind of moral obligation to track its progress, wherever in Boise it may go.

The Edwards portion

January 30, 2008
John Edwards

John Edwards

Of the recent dropouts from the presidential race, the one with the largest contingent of "name" support would be John Edwards, the Democratic former North Carolina senator.

Before wrapping up his role in the presidential - which entails the highly pertinent question of where his backers go now - we should point out that Edwards had a support base worth the pondering. Not so much in Idaho, to be sure, and significant but not especially high-profile in Washington. But in Oregon, the list is significant.

Both major Democratic candidates for the U.S. Senate, House Speaker Jeff Merkley and Portland activist Steve Novick, were Edwards backers. Others include state Senator Margaret Carter, D-Portland; Portland attorney Robert Stoll; Peter Bragdon, a major Democratic political figure now with Columbia Sportswear; developer Homer Williams; Beth Bernard of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association; Jesse Cornett, vice chair of the state Democrats; and Kari Chisholm of Mandate Media. Among others.

The push and pull, Clinton and Obama, must already be underway.

Crafting an appearance, shielding reality

January 30, 2008

Imagine a candidate for office, maybe one seeking a newspaper's endorsement, saying something like this: "No, I'm not going to tell you what I really think about that hot-button topic. I'm a politician. So I'm going to craft a stance that artfully straddles the issue to avoid offending anyone, while carefully dodging any disclosure of my real thinking. That bit of truthiness is good enough to pass, right?"

And of course it wouldn't be: Reality is what's important to journalists, not just image, right?

Well, tell that to Seattle Times news management, which is (not that this is unusual among American newspapers) discouraging news employees, especially those having anything to do with political coverage, from any political activity which might go public and indicate - gasp! - what personal opinions they might have.

The Times' political editor, David Postman, writes that Executive Editor David Boardman has posted a memo which begins: "Our profession demands impartiality as well as the appearance of impartiality." And goes on, "Staff members should avoid active involvement in any partisan causes that compromise the reader’s trust in the newspaper’s ability to report and edit fairly."

Let's rewrite that unkindly: "We all know you guys have opinions, at least we hope so, since if you didn't that would indicate you're not informed or smart enough to be here. The reading public is obviously aware of that too. We just don't want to level with the public; we'd rather pretend that you've all somehow managed to deaden the opinion-making parts of your brains."

(more…)

Next in line

January 29, 2008
Dirk Kempthorne

Dirk Kempthorne

Seems as if someone in the Northwest should make notice of this. So here we are (with a hat tip to the reader who pointed it out). Anyone watching the State of the Union speech last night might, if especially sharp-eyed, have noticed that while most of the high-ranking United States officials were there, a member of the cabinet was not, that being Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, formerly governor and senator from Idaho.

An Associated Press report explains: "By long-standing tradition, a member of the president's Cabinet misses the speech to Congress as a precaution against the entire administration's being wiped out and to maintain the presidential line of succession. Last year, then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales did not attend. It was the Veterans Affairs secretary the year before."

One way to look at it is what might have happened if there had been a catastrophic attack. Another is by reflecting on the last two absentees; our reader ponders, "and we know what happened to them . . ."

ADDENDUM Someone else, it turns out, did make note of this - the New West Boise blog. Duly noted.

Blogging from inside

January 29, 2008
Raul Labrador

Raul Labrador

Somebody needs to start keeping track of all the blogs being started by state legislators around the Northwest. Maybe we'll do it.

Just noticed a promising new one today by Idaho Representative Raul Labrador, R-Eagle, a House freshman, hosted by the Idaho Statesman. It joins one started not many days ago by Democratic Senator David Langhorst.

A blog is, of course, only as useful as it is used, and contributed to. But these legislator views could be good reading as the sessions roll on. We're not entirely convinced, though, of the case by Representative Brandon Durst, D-Boise (whose blog we noted last year), who after running an analogy to Martin Luther concludes blogging is "the new horizon in which the truth, from the perspective of the author is only a few keystrokes a way. In short, blogging is the political reformation."

But it does indicate some ambition . . .

Rolling in foreclosures

January 29, 2008
foreclosure map

foreclosure map/RealtyTrac

The real estate market has been taken its long-predicted (here, among other places) hit, and foreclosures are rising fast. You see the headlines all over; but how do various areas compare?

A national firm, RealtyTrac (which is in the business of sales of foreclosed and distressed property), has answers including a national by-county map visible here. The areas where foreclosure rates are lowest are some of the more rural and least growth-prone around the Northwest, notably much of eastern Oregon and central Idaho

Remarkably, the three Northwest states are bunched together among the nation's 50: Idaho ranks 20th, Washington 21st, Oregon 22nd.

Could be, though, that the trend line may push them apart. The one-year increase rates in foreclosures were quite different: Oregon 12.2% higher, Washington 27.9%, and Idaho 140.5% (though there is a note that rate might be somewhat inflated because of measurement changes).

See also a Seattle Times piece on this, noting the state's high increase was in Pierce County.

Obama at Boise

January 28, 2008

And why not? Illinois Senator Barack Obama already is heavily favored for Idaho's February 5 Democratic caucuses, but a simple, short stop in the state could produce a wipeout win. The time and money investment for a short stop would be minimal; the PR and delegate gain could readily justify it.

Another thing. There ought to be a generally accepted standard that during the course of a campaign year, anyone who becomes a major party nominee for president ought to visit, even if briefly, all 50 states, not just the swings. Consider this a suggestion: Both party nominees should be pressured to do it. Among Republicans, Mitt Romney has (are there others? can't recall) and this week Obama among the Democrats. Figure that they're two who, in this regard, will be pre-qualified.

Stickers from the road

January 28, 2008

Some of the most useful online Northwest blogging has been David Postman's, in his reports from the road in eastern Washington, starting on January 23 and still ongoing. Not that he isn't welcome back to Olympia, but here's a reader who hopes he stays out there for a while.

We spent a fair amount of time on the road in eastern Washington (and Oregon) last year, and while there were limits to the political insights to be pulled up - almost all of these areas are deeply red, differing mostly by subtle shades - the attitudes and underturf of what makes them so is surprisingly varied. And Postman's interviews and reviews seem to be getting, helpfully, at that.