136or142
Adam T
Junior Chimp
Posts: 7,434
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« on: June 02, 2016, 05:04:35 AM » |
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« edited: June 02, 2016, 05:13:41 AM by Adam T »
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There probably is a thread for this primary already, but I can't find it right now.
The local PBS affiliate KCTS held a 'debate' yesterday with six of the nine candidates in the jungle primary attending. http://kcts9.org/programs/vote-2016/live-stream-7th-congressional-district-primary-debate
These are the candidates:
from the politics1.com website: Carl Cooper (Independent) Arun Jhaveri (D) - Ex-Burien Mayor, Scientist & Engineer Pramila Jayapal (D) - State Sen. & Immigration Rights Activist Craig Keller (R) - Businessman, Financial Advisor, Conservative Activist & '14 Candidate Joe McDermott (D) - King County Councilman, Ex-State Sen., Ex-State Rep. & Ex-Budget Analyst Leslie Regier (Independent) - Transgender Activist & Recent College Graduate Don Rivers (D) - County Employee, Bishop, Community Activist & Frequent Candidate Scott Sutherland (R) - Computer Programmer & Frequent Candidate Brady Walkinshaw (D) - State Rep. & Ex-Non Profit Group Program Officer
Carl Cooper and the two Republican candidates didn't attend. In general, the five Democrats had similar views, but their presentations differed significantly. I found it interesting how their presentation was similar for all their answers.
The questions asked were on national issues and not on the local concerns of Seattle and its inner suburbs included in the district. The most local issue asked about was whether the candidates supported NAFTA and TPP as, according to the moderators, Washington State is the most trade reliant state in the U.S.
In order of the candidate listing.
Arun Jhaveri (D) - Ex-Burien Mayor, Scientist & Engineer His PhD is actually in educational leadership, but he has a masters in atomic and molecular physics. I like his campaign slogan of " Because Science Belongs in Congress" and I guess like a lot of engineers and scientists (he has an engineering degree) he has a practical bent and frequently said 'results matter.' He also never referred to himself as a PhD or asked to be called 'Dr.' So, a modest person with some genuine achievements.
That said, he clearly was only the mayor of a small suburb as his answers were largely generalities which disappointed me because I would have like to have seen a person with a masters in physics elected to Congress (I believe Bill Foster in the only person with a PhD in physics remaining in Congress).
Pramila Jayapal (D) - State Sen. & Immigration Rights Activist The most 'progressive' candidate in the race based on her answers, which, I suppose, is reflected by her claim (which I'm sure is true) that 30 labor unions and umbrella labor organizations have endorsed her. I believe she said that she is the only candidate to have received a union endorsement, but I can't remember that 100%. She gave as detailed answers as can be expected in the one minute time allotted and clearly knows the issues.
Joe McDermott (D) - King County Councilman, Ex-State Sen., Ex-State Rep. & Ex-Budget Analyst Knowledgeable on the issues and he claims to have been a leader in both King County and in the State Legislature in getting legislation passed (which I suspect in his case may be mostly boasting, but I don't know for sure, of course.) Knowledgeable, but all his answers were dominated by soundbites/talking points.
For instance, on the issue of gun control, he referred to 'military style assault weapons,' which I believe is a meaningless term, rather than say, 'semi automatic rifles that can be easily modified to become automatic.' I think that's more accurate, but it doesn't sound as dramatic. On the same issue of guns, he also referred to something like the '30,000 Americans who die annually from gun violence on the streets.' Of course, 30,000 die every year, which is a tragedy, but roughly 20,000 of them are suicides, which, though they should still be prevented, is, I think, materially different from one person murdering another person.
I agree with a lot of his positions, but I found him to be somewhat obnoxious and not entirely honest.
Leslie Regier (Independent) - Transgender Activist & Recent College Graduate Only in a place where the idea that all opinions are equally valid is taken on faith did this person belong in the debate. Knew practically nothing about any of the issues and kept falling back on the line that voters should support her because she is 'independent.' Her presence did nothing but take time from the other candidates. Interesting hair though (reference to the recent Canadian election.)
Don Rivers (D) - County Employee, Bishop, Community Activist & Frequent Candidate From listening to him speak, I assumed he had served in the Washington State Legislature. Frequently entertaining and humorous, but I honestly had no idea what he talking about on most of his answers.
Brady Walkinshaw (D) - State Rep. & Ex-Non Profit Group Program Officer In my opinion, he is by far the best candidate. Knowledgeable, extremely articulate and clearly very intelligent. It's apparent he's very intelligent just from watching this debate, but on the KCTS website, it mentions that he was a Fulbright Scholar. He mentioned that he has the endorsement of around 35 Washington State Legislators, which is no surprise to me. (25 current Washington State Legislators are listed on his website as endorsing him, including 23 state representatives, or roughly half of the 50 Democrats there.) I would assume he'll get most of the newspaper endorsements as well, for whatever that's worth.
The closest thing to an error that he made was when he said something like "America would be a better place if more Americans shared our (Seattle and the 'Central Puget Sound' areas) values, which social conservatives, especially those in 'middle America' might regard as condescending. (As is their claim that they live in the 'heartland' and represent the real American values isn't also condescending.) That said, despite his intellect and, likely, considerable skills, other than that one sentence, I never got the sense that he was talking down to anybody at any other time.
Here is a new story on the debate: http://www.queenannenews.com/Content/News/News/Article/Up-for-debate/26/337/38670
It would be interesting to see polling here. My guess is the three serious candidates competing to make the runoff in this heavily Democratic district are Pramila Jayapal, Joe McDermott and Brady Wakinshaw. Joe McDermott will likely benefit somewhat from having the same last name as the outgoing 14 term Representative Jim McDermott, but, of those three, I would be most disappointed if he was the one elected to the House.
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