People are really fed up with Congress, and it’s easy to see why. They put two wars on our Chinese Express credit card and then wonder how the deicit got so bad. They fail to set the rules for Wall Street and then throw the keys to the Treasury at Goldman Sachs when it all blows up. You kind of wonder if, say, a icus plant might have done better.
And that’s just what rabble-rouser Michael Moore was thinking back in 2000 when he put a ficus on the ballot in New Jersey to run against an unopposed Congressional candidate. With a slogan of “Because a Potted Plant Can Do No Harm,” 22 more ficus insurgencies were mounted around the nation. Of course the local election committee in New Jersey disallowed the write-in campaign, but the point was made: A ficus has a better chance against an incumbent than most humans.
Since 1996, between 94 percent and 98 percent of Congressional incumbents are reelected. Remember that “revolution” year in 1994? That time “only” nine out of 10 incumbents were safe.
Polling also routinely shows that while people loathe Congress in general (at the moment, its approval rating is in the low 20s), they tend to give their own representative a pass. Weird.
Now comes the news that there probably won’t be a Democratic challenger to Cathy McMorris Rodgers and her bursting-with-lobbyist-money war chest. The Democratic Party is conceding the 5th District. Which has me thinking about our old friend the ficus.
The opportunity is ripe for a beauty of a protest — an absurd, humor-based, so-crazy-it-makes-perfect-sense campaign. The genius is that you start out planning to lose, so you can say whatever you want to challenge the system that sends back the same people who got us into this mess nearly 100 percent of the time.
So let’s see an Independent, a Green or even a Rodent third-party effort. (Wouldn’t Marty the Marmot for Congress be the cutest thing ever? T-shirt sales alone could fund the entire campaign.)
Or maybe let’s make it legit and ind a longtime 5th District human resident, who’s not with any party, to lead us to symbolic defeat by carrying the tattered banner of the citizen legislator against the iron boot of the professional politician’s machine.
If you’re out there, let us know; we’d love to report on a campaign of some kind over the coming months.
Ted S. McGregor Jr. is the Editor and Publisher of The Inlander.
Good stuff here Ted,
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Here are the list of people that should run.
Donald K Barbieri, Mark Mays, Steve Corker(best candidate), Amber Waldref (my favorite is Bonnie Mager)...many talented Democrats here...but they all know the chances of beating McMorris are slim. Mostly for two reasons. She has a huge warchest and the "incumbent factor". But, the more interesting factor is the power of media. Kathy is beloved by the Cowles family, which controls 81 percent of local media advertising revenue. Potentially even a tad more according to the analysis by the old "Fancher Report"(1977, Harvard).....SOOOOO
Kathy is going to get the Spokesman Review endorsement from the Children of Cowles Greatness (until 1992 the family was great). So the question becomes, how many democrats have courage...gonads.....backbone.....cash ??? There are a few, but Don was smart enough not to blow a wad on a campaign. Mark Mays is a little on the(brilliant but)boring side and his 350 pound frame hurts the aesthetic of having to look at him on-camera (Medussa Factor). But there are a few exceptions. Steve Corker is tall and handsome and he speaks russian and has a Stanford MBA. He and his wife have a nice sum of money in the bank....Steve has brains and wisdom that Kathy will simply never attain.....STEEEEVE ? I am quite certain Steve will run for city council President in order to show Spokane that council presidents are not always stupid...ugly...bald....impatient.....mean spirited....liars...you know, like Joe ("Flintstone") Shogan. Actually, the more correct and accurate comparison would be Homer Simpson. But, I like to save that for our drunken (with power) prosecutor, Steve Tucker (who might be drinking beer and golfing today...if it is either Friday.....or any day other than Sunday (drinks wine on that day). BTW, I am determined to teach Steve how to play golf, since he spends more time on the golf course than the prosecutors office. The guy spends all his time and energy on golf and beer and he can´t even break 80 at Meadowood. Sad...But he has mastered beer. He can drink 2 pitchers for lunch and drive back to his governmentasl office with a nice and tasty buzz (according to his three fave bartenders...one of whom is a close friend of mine)......So Steve, guzzle down that beer and forget about OTTO ZEHM you pile of steaming cow dung.
NOW...back to Kathy (I want to avoid my child) McMorris. What kind of a mother spends all her time with politicians and none with her family. She is not "focused on the family". She could never be a good Mormon or Italian. She is so darn ambitious, she has forgotten that she has a child who needs her love and attention. BUT, I digress and I speak about holy and sacred cows. They say you can never comment about parents of "special needs children". What about Sarah Palin and Kathy McMorris ? Do they have a right to a political career ? Of course...the question becomes, are they narcissistic and ambitious to the point of handing off the kids to the spouse and nanny ? Kathy does that... So does Palin. Later on when they both turn 55 years old, they will look back and realize how selfish and self-indulgent they were. When their kids needed them the most (formative years)...they were both satisfying their massive egos.
Now, to be fair to Kathy McMorris, the comparison is unfair and unbalanced. Sarah Palin is an absolute bimbo and a huge idiot. Thank GOD for the brilliant Katy Couric. She showed us how slow minded Palin was and still is. Kathy McMorris is much smarter than that. And that is what makes her dangerous. In her heart and soul, Kathy McMorris knows she should be tending to her baby. NOT her ego and ambition.
Any feminists out there agree or disagree ? Since only 27 people read this blog...there will be few responses. But before you respond with righteous indignation about some guy with the gall to write about how Kathy cares more about politics than her own special needs baby..think about this....Ask someone who knows the family well...ask them precisely...EXACTLY how much time Kathy spends with her child. The fruit of her own loom.
Kathy McMorris brings shame to mothers of special children everywhere. She should resign or retire now and become a mother. A caring and loving mother. But she will not. She will continue to be a selfish policy wonk who would rather debate issues than breast feed her own beautiful baby.
Sad.
Very....very....just sad.
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May 14, 2010 | Reply to this commentI haven´t liked anything Cathy McMorris said so far. She voted for Bush´s budget with all of its deficit spending and then blasts the Dems for us having such a large deficit. There are so many issues to blast Cathy for that one does not have to pick on her family life too. May 18, 2010