Washblog

First let me say what a great event this was and how good it was to see respect and representation for so many sub-caucuses of the central committee.
This event was a watershed moment and additional forum's will only build on this good idea. In our democracy we elect people and campaign for office and just as those who are elected benifit from the campaign, our next chair will be better for having participated in these forums. The short race for chair could have been a very detached process with no real diolog both between the candidates and here on the net.
Thanks to those who put this thing together we have a real chance to base our vote, not on speculation and inuendo but on the qualities each candidate will bring to the job.

by Particle Man on Fri Jan 13, 2006 at 12:01:28 AM PST

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Well, in response to Greg and in the spirit of "frank discussion" cited above, I don't know who's ramming anything down State Committee members' throats.  Last time I checked, State Committee members are free to vote however they please.  And they do.

Paul Berendt won a lot of elections.  We need a new Chair who is going to continue that success.  Hopefully the new Chair will also make improvements and bring in a fresh perspective, but I don't think anyone's going to get elected with the attitude that the State Party needs radical change.

I think the blogs are great for keeping everyone honest -- not just the State Party but also elected officials, corporations, and everyone else.  News traveling extremely fast is a good thing.  I also think bloggers are good about applying their tough standards to fellow bloggers as well.  People are smart enough to distinguish legitimate complaints and substantive policy differences from boring, boilerplate bomb-throwing.

As for whether to post state committee meetings on the webpage, first, let me give Greg Rodriguez a big, huge, tearful apology for forgetting to post whichever state committee meeting he's talking about.  I was probably Tech Director at the time, so mea culpa.  Since we can never move on from any staff mistake, however minor, I'll try to remember to write to Greg on the first of each month to continue this apology.

As for the question that led to this thread -- the posting of the Unity Coalition forum (which, for full disclosure, I was a participant in) on the webpage, I think posting it was the right choice.  The central party staff (which I'm not a member of anymore) are trying to walk a fine line between promoting interest in the chair's race and not becoming actually involved in it.  It's a difficult position and I appreciate their efforts to balance it.  We're not always going to agree on the best response to each situation, but hopefully we can keep our eyes on the ball of winning elections instead of throwing around a lot of baseless vitriol.

Jeremy Sher

by jdsher72 on Thu Jan 12, 2006 at 11:42:12 PM PST

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Or FFAristocrat, or whatever you call yourself, Micheál.

Your pissant job is almost over. After all the stupid things you have been saying on blogs, who would want you?

by eastside lib on Thu Jan 12, 2006 at 06:59:19 PM PST

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UW Alumni Assn: Sharks in Perspective
Author's Hour: Strike a Woman, Strike a Rock
Liability Reform Coalition
Pacific Northwest Technology Tour
Rotary Club of Seattle

The bar is pretty low.

by Aexia on Thu Jan 12, 2006 at 05:36:23 PM PST

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Raise your hand if you want future state party staff to "promote and guide the discussion" about future state chair races. Think hard.

by Aexia on Thu Jan 12, 2006 at 06:31:14 PM PST

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Mr. Sher:

If you haven't learned anything else at that fancy school that your parents foot the bill for, you should have at least learned to respect your elders and your betters, Greg qualifies as both of those.  Next time you start slinging mud around, you may want to make sure your own pen is clean first.

As we learned from the Stranger article published on 12/8/05, (http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=25509) that Mr. Berendt covered up 50K worth of over billing for "computer networking services." That was during the time your were the IT Director for the state party, Jeremy. Do you expect people to believe that with the MIT education your boss kept reminding people about that you were unable to tell the difference between 10K worth of "computer networking services" and 60K worth?

Tell us Jeremy, did you turn a blind eye to the situation or are you just plain stupid? Enquiring minds would be interested in an answer. In the meantime, until you are willing to stand up like a man and explain your role in the situation, you may want to sit the heck down and shut the heck up. Oh, make sure to pay extra attention when they reach the ethics portion of your rabbinical training.

by BluDonkee on Mon Jan 16, 2006 at 10:12:53 PM PST

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Not only is Luis correct on this race, but we need a State Party that will be more transparent and forthcoming in a number of areas (PDC violations; consultants still under contract that are said to have been not; and at least psoting the date of State meetings on the web).

That is why the election of State Chair is so important. We must elect someone that is not going to keep the status quo of secret back room deals and trying to ram things down State Committee person's throats.

by Greg Rodriguez on Thu Jan 12, 2006 at 08:13:29 PM PST

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