As a former University of Puget Sound student who worked on the “Yes on Three” campaign to bring ranked choice voting (or, as we called it during the campaign, instant runoff voting) to Pierce County in 2006, I was disappointed to hear the news that the Pierce County Council voted put a repeal measure on the ballot this fall. Its action flies in the face of how well ranked choice voting (RCV) is working in other states and the rising support for the system, which now includes President Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain.

Talking to friends back in Pierce County, the perception is that not enough voters understand the system. This comes as a big surprise to me. Of the countless number of voters that I talked to in 2006, only a single person objected to the system because they thought it was confusing. In the nine other municipalities that have run ranked choice elections this decade, voters have handled it quite well – in fact the number of invalid ballots was very low in Pierce’s RCV races as well. I have faith that people in my former county can handle ranking candidates just as well as they can in any of the other places using RCV.

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I’ve spent the past six months working for the Democrats on a daily basis.  And when I say daily, I mean seven-days a week, without more than one 3-day break in August to go to a friend’s wedding.  It’s been rough, especially because the pay worked out to less than minimum wage.  To add insult to injury, some of my co-workers (who were paid more than me) didn’t have to endure the same kind of labor as myself.  In particular, I had four jobs: to doorbell until my shoes filled with blood; to phone-bank until my ears went deaf, to recruit other poor-saps to join me at the oars; and to determine how private individuals planned to cast their ballot.

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Yesterday, the Dems rallied it Tacoma for Gov. Christine Gregoire, in what is potentially the closest Gubernatorial race in the nation.  With the likes of Mayor Baarsma, Tim Farrell and other local Democrat politicians in attendance, the rally featured speeches from Gov. Howard Dean, Gov. Chris Gregiore, Sen. Patty Murray, Sen. Maria Cantwell, Congressman Adam Smith and more. Here’s The Melon’s brief recap.

Democratic Rally in Tacoma 11/02/08 from The Melon on Vimeo.

Few Democrats are so undeserving of their seat as Congressman Norm Dicks. Here are seven reasons why he should not be reelected.

1.  Elected to the United States House of Representative seventeen times (34 years) he has still yet to secure a chairmanship for himself.  If someone you knew had been working for a company for over thirty-four years and still wasn’t trusted with even a middle-management position, wouldn’t you be a little suspicious of his character, conduct or convictions?

2. In 2003 he voted to authorize the president to use U.S. forces to preemptively invade Iraq.  Although publicly he has subsequently changed his position on the subject - he has continued to vote in favor of bills related to funding the war, even at times by breaking rank with his Democratic colleagues.

3.  Despite a legal background marked by a JD from the University of Washington, Congressman Dicks Voted for the USA Patriot Act.  He also voted for the Military Commission Act that effectively rationalized the suspension of habeas corpus as a tool to fight terrorism (He was one of only 32 House Democrats to vote for this.  The remaining 162 Democratic members of Congress voted NAY on the bill).  It remains uncertain as to whether or not US citizens – in addition to alien combatants – are also subject to the laws outlined in this bill.

4.  Continues to support free-trade legislation, despite a worsening economy.

5.  Voted for the Bush Bailout, despite countless polls that suggested that the overwhelming majority of both Democrats and Republicans opposed the legislation.

6.  Voted for the FISA Amendment Act of 2008.

7.  Crapped out of his first Melon Interview midway through a radio recording because he suddenly remembered he had “a dentist appointment.” The subject of the interview was veterans suffering from PSTD – a topic which both Elliot Trotter and Peter Braun were shocked to discover that the congressman was unwilling to discuss or knew relatively little about.  This was very disturbing given that Congressman Dicks represents one of the largest military districts in the United States.

These are only a few highlights into the career of one congressman who went too far and was kept for too long. Therefore, I would encourage you all to either vote for the Republican candidate, Doug Cloud, who – if nothing else, is not Norm Dicks and would have opposed the bailout.  If you, as a Democrat, can’t move yourself to vote for a Republican, then write-in Paul Richmond, a fellow Democrat who would have been a vast improvement had he won the primary.  If neither of these options sound palpable to you, then you can write in Harvard West: The Lesser of Three Evils.

The “American Issues Project”, under the leadership of a paid consultant of John McCain has recently decided to air a negative attack ad condemning Obama’s link to Bill Ayers.

The ad paints Bill Ayers as a terrorist, rhetoric which has been picked up by conservative pundits and figures. The democratic response to this campaign has left out one key argument. They prefer to point out that Obama does not have a close relationship with Ayers, and that he was eight years old when the attacks occurred, and that he has condemned the attacks. These arguments serve to distance Obama from Ayers, which is fine. However, why is this man so deplorable that one needs to claim he is not friends with him?

The terrorists we are fighting against, and whose hijacked plane is contrasted with Ayers’ deeds in the advert, are conservative Muslims who do not believe in freedom of thought and action. They believe in a theocratic dictatorship without personal rights governed by Sharia law.

Let me tell you a bit about Bill Ayers:

• He comes from a wealthy family in Chicago. Instead of taking the standard corporate route like many of his wealthy peers, he decided to live his life so that it did not become a mockery of his values.
• In 1965, Ayers joined a picket line protesting an Ann Arbor, Michigan, pizzeria for refusing to seat African Americans.
• At the age of 21, Ayers became director of a preschool based on the “free school movement”, encouraging cooperating and communication instead of test scores and grades
• Ayers became militant and participated in several bombings: the New York City Police Headquarters in 1970, the United States Capitol building in 1971, and The Pentagon in 1972. No one was killed as a result of this.
• After his radical days, he worked with Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley in shaping the city’s school reform program.
• He is a distinguished professor of the University of Illinois at Chicago.
• He believes in the downfall of US imperialism and the achievement of a classless world.

Does this sound like a dishonorable man? Does this sound like a man with intentions to hurt the “American dream”?

Ayers’ mistake was going militant. As a pacifist, I realize that non-violent action is the only way to force meaningful, credible change. Everyone makes mistakes. Ayers is quoted in the advertisement to have said “we didn’t do enough”. This claim is in reference to everyone in America at the time not doing enough to stop the war, not in reference to how many bombs he built.

Bill Ayers questioned America’s government at a time when it most needed to be questioned. Ayers tried to save innocent lives, both of our servicemen in Vietnam and of the Vietnamese people, some of whom were probably unjustly killed in the 23 bombing runs flown by John McCain. Bill Ayers is not a terrorist, at least not in the sense that the attack ads paint him out to be. He is not a Muslim who wants to limit women’s rights and implement Sharia law. Bill Ayers is a freedom fighter, and should be considered an American hero for his exemplification of the founding fathers’ idea of questioning one’s government.

Traditionally
January in Olympia is a joyous advent when legislators return refreshed
from a long holiday season spent in their respective districts,
bringing back with them an unbridled sense of optimistic enthusiasm as
they arrive ready to do the People’s work.  For a brief few weeks,
Olympia is truly a place were literally anything seems possible, and
even hardened veterans kid themselves into believing that something as
insignificant as a floor-vote on a house resolution could actually
“change the world.”  Politicians talk about “bipartisanship” without
forcing back a smile, and starring “across the aisle” seems
significantly less far than last session.

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