Article by Erik Smith. Published on Monday, June 27, 2011 EST.
Offers Little Critique of State Government, Emphasizes Vision Rather Than Specifics
U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., awaits his turn to speak at Monday’s campaign kickoff.
See Also: Full text of Inslee’s speech.
By Erik Smith
Staff writer/ Washington State Wire
SEATTLE, June 27.—Democrat Jay Inslee kicked off his campaign for governor Monday with what you might call a soft touch – he touted job creation and education, and he didn’t offer much criticism of the way his party has led state government during the 27 years it has occupied the governor’s mansion.
And with what he didn’t say, Inslee managed to set up one of the sharpest election conflicts the state has seen in a generation. The 1st District congressman, the first and perhaps the only major Democratic candidate to announce a campaign for governor next year, faces a strong challenge from Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna. Inslee, 60, is the automatic Democratic front-runner. Yet because Inslee represents the party in power, he can’t run a platform of change.
Instead, Inslee vowed to promote jobs, improve the state’s business climate, elevate the profile of education, and bring fashionable business-management practices to state government. But overall it was a speech that was big on vision and offered little in the way of specific proposals.
“We need some new blood in Olympia,” he said. “I will be committed to bringing that new blood to Olympia, and having not been there as a part of Olympia, I think that it will be a little easier for me to make sure that we get the job done.
“We do not need a status quo governor. I’ve never been a status quo leader and I don’t intend to start right now.”
The positions? They come later.
Warm and Fuzzy
Inslee’s kickoff offered a sharp contrast with that of McKenna, who opened his own campaign at a crowded Sammamish High School auditorium three weeks ago. It’s not that McKenna is against jobs and schools. He spent plenty of time talking about them as well. But he also outlined some fairly specific goals for changing the direction of state government, saying that he would direct future growth in state revenues toward K-12 and higher education. He argued that massive increases in state employment, salaries and benefits over the last decade could no longer be sustained.
McKenna may be looking to break the longest Republican losing streak in the country, but at least where the pitch is concerned he has the easier job. He can run as a challenger against the record of state government, which has been haunted by big-spending decisions during the boom years that left the state billions of dollars short when recession hit.
Inslee didn’t touch that argument. He kicked off his campaign on a warmer and fuzzier note, announcing that he would make job creation his number one priority. And judging by the amount of time he spent on education, you might have gotten the impression it runs a close second.
But the only major proposal Inslee mentioned was a plan to divert some of the state’s vast pension fund investments to Washington-state startup businesses, a proposal he said would make more capital available for business here.
Inslee spoke to supporters at the Seattle offices of Targeted Growth, a biotech company at the leading edge of efforts to develop organic jet fuels. Inslee said he chose the location to make the point that job creation is his focus – and that the tech industry is Washington’s brightest hope.
The Dems’ Strongest Candidate
He finished by saying: “I just want to say we are committing ourselves today to nothing less than working together to build a permanently viable economy that will form a lasting prosperity for our communities across the state, east and west, north and south, to reform a state government that is going to do more with fewer resources and do it well; to build an educational foundation that serves both as personal enrichment for our children and as an engine for economic growth in our state. I’m going to give this everything that I have.
“I hope you will join me. Thank you, and let’s do it together.”
Inslee enters the race neither a minute too soon nor a minute too late. His way was cleared two weeks ago when Gov. Christine Gregoire announced she would not seek a third term. And while the election is 16 months away, it is a race with a high national profile, meaning there’s no time like the present to start building the campaign treasury.
Though other Democrats are said to be eyeing the race, state party chairman Dwight Pelz says it’s Inslee’s ballgame.
“I have not heard anything specific from any specific individual, but I think it’s clear that Inslee’s up and running, and I believe he is the strongest Democratic candidate we have.
Looking Forward to Battle
“I know the Democratic Party is very excited about an Inslee-McKenna matchup,” he said. “We think we’ve got a great candidate in the race, and Jay demonstrated today he’s got a positive vision for the future of the state. He is a proven vote-getter on both sides of the mountains and we are very excited about Jay Inslee as our candidate for governor.”
McKenna is hitting the trail himself: He’s made a swing of the state since his announcement, and just a couple of hours after Inslee launched his campaign McKenna faced a packed audience for a fund-raiser a few blocks away at the Washington Athletic Club in downtown Seattle.
Of Inslee’s candidacy, McKenna said, “I welcome Congressman Inslee to the discussion I have started with Washington voters about how the next governor can spur job creation, lead innovation in public education while strengthening the state’s commitment to K-12 and higher education, and streamline state government. Like many voters, I’ll be interested to hear how his 15 years in Congress has prepared him to run for governor.”
Has Switched Sides Twice
Inslee actually does have a bit of background in state government, but you might say his defining experience in political life is that he has switched sides twice. Not parties, but the other dividing line that means so much in Washington politics, the Cascade Range.
Raised in Seattle, Inslee and his wife Trudi settled in the Yakima area when Inslee was building his career as a smalltown lawyer and prosecutor. Back in the ’80s the conservative rural towns of Eastern Washington still occasionally elected Democrats, and in 1988 Inslee won a seat in the state House. The boyish lawmaker was quickly tabbed as a rising star within the House Democratic Caucus. His chance at higher office came when Republican Congressman Sid Morrison stepped down to run for governor in 1992.
Inslee charmed voters and won that first congressional race, but he lost two years later amid the Republican sweep of 1994. At the time he said it was the national tide that did him in, not anything he’d done in office, though his support for Clinton Administration initiatives in a conservative district certainly didn’t endear him to many of the district’s powerful constituencies.
The following year Inslee and his family moved back across the mountains to Bainbridge Island. After an aborted run for governor in 1996, he made it to Congress again in 1998 – this time representing an entirely different district and one far more hospitable to Democrats. Inslee’s 1st Congressional District covers north King County and south Snohomish.
Gives Greater Understanding
Inslee made several references to his Eastern Washington experience during his speech, saying it made him more sympathetic to the needs of people outside the major urban areas. And he turned the loss into a plus – he said it shows that he stands up for his beliefs.
“People said a lot of times that I have said some things that that are controversial. I know when I was in Yakima I took some positions that were controversial. They said, well it’s just not the right time. I believe that is never the wrong time to do the right thing.”
At a press conference after the speech, reporters got him to expand on a few points.
* Gay marriage: Count Inslee as a yes. Says Inslee, “I fundamentally believe that no government and no politician should deny any of my fellow Washingtonians the right to have what I have, which is a stable committed meaningful relationship, so I am going to support the legalization of that equality in the state of Washington.”
* Marijuana: He supports access to medical marijuana, but doesn’t support decriminalization. “I’m not there yet. I’m a parent. I’m just not comfortable right now.”
* Streamlining government: He advocates the use of the “Six Sigma” business-management technique in a top-to-bottom review of government programs and regulations.
* Taxes: Inslee would end a tax-break on mortgage interest for out-of-state banks, “a loophole that seems to be bothersome to me.” As for a general tax increase, he says now isn’t the time, “though we don’t know what the future brings. That’s one of the things that makes the future so interesting.”
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