Opinion
Last Night: Antsy Republicans
Tuesday's Fizz mentioned that I was on a panel at a GOP forum on Monday night. That's correct. Attorney General Rob McKenna hosted the Farm Team Post-Election Panel (the Farm Team is a group McKenna and a crew of young Republicans founded in the late '80s to cultivate leaders in the party), and he asked me to be one of the panelists.
It was at the Puget Sound Energy building in downtown Bellevue and the room was packed with, among others, GOP chair Luke Esser, former chair Diane Tebelius, newly-elected state Rep. Hans Zeiger, and staffers for U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert.
It was a fun discussion—former Seattle Times chief political reporter (now Vulcan PR guy) David Postman and GOP consultant Todd Myers were also on the panel.
The hottest topic came late in the forum when we were asked "Is Sen. Maria Cantwell beatable?" All of us said that while Cantwell was formidable, she was obviously beatable, and noted her pointy-headed personality (as opposed to the the affable Sen. Patty Murray.)
However, the crowd seemed antsy, and I will say Myers was a bit dost protest too much about Cantwell, stressing that she was "a nobody" in 2000. Mostly, what the crowd was antsy about wasn't Cantwell per se, but this: Who the hell is going to run against her? Tellingly, all eyes fell on McKenna, who seems to be the GOP's only candidate. McKenna isn't a likely choice to take on Cantwell in 2012, though, as he's widely perceived to be running for governor.
The GOP's lackluster bench was the underlying story of the 2010 election for the GOP—Dino Rossi? Clint Didier? Just, wow. And so, the Cantwell question was a perfect metaphor for the topic at hand, particularly at a meeting of a group called the Farm Team that was founded to promote new leaders. Here we are 20 years on, and the guy who started it, Rob McKenna, is still running the discussion.
I suggested Reichert, who I think could cut into the King County base (which crushed for Murray). Among Myers' suggestions—including Port Commissioner Bill Bryant and Susan Hutchison—he had a noteworthy aside: "I don't know who's out there," he said. "There's always a business person that could step up."
Yeah, that worked so well for the GOP against Cantwell in 2006 when Safeco CEO Mike McGavick ran and didn't crack 40 percent.
Look, the GOP did have a few more promising candidates than usual this year—now-U.S.-Rep.-elect Jaime Herrera in the 3rd Congressional District and state Sen.-elect Steve Litzow in the 41st state legislative district. But clearly, when the GOP couldn't field a candidate to take out Murray in 2010, they should be worried about another six years for Cantwell.
It was at the Puget Sound Energy building in downtown Bellevue and the room was packed with, among others, GOP chair Luke Esser, former chair Diane Tebelius, newly-elected state Rep. Hans Zeiger, and staffers for U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert.
It was a fun discussion—former Seattle Times chief political reporter (now Vulcan PR guy) David Postman and GOP consultant Todd Myers were also on the panel.
The hottest topic came late in the forum when we were asked "Is Sen. Maria Cantwell beatable?" All of us said that while Cantwell was formidable, she was obviously beatable, and noted her pointy-headed personality (as opposed to the the affable Sen. Patty Murray.)
However, the crowd seemed antsy, and I will say Myers was a bit dost protest too much about Cantwell, stressing that she was "a nobody" in 2000. Mostly, what the crowd was antsy about wasn't Cantwell per se, but this: Who the hell is going to run against her? Tellingly, all eyes fell on McKenna, who seems to be the GOP's only candidate. McKenna isn't a likely choice to take on Cantwell in 2012, though, as he's widely perceived to be running for governor.
The GOP's lackluster bench was the underlying story of the 2010 election for the GOP—Dino Rossi? Clint Didier? Just, wow. And so, the Cantwell question was a perfect metaphor for the topic at hand, particularly at a meeting of a group called the Farm Team that was founded to promote new leaders. Here we are 20 years on, and the guy who started it, Rob McKenna, is still running the discussion.
I suggested Reichert, who I think could cut into the King County base (which crushed for Murray). Among Myers' suggestions—including Port Commissioner Bill Bryant and Susan Hutchison—he had a noteworthy aside: "I don't know who's out there," he said. "There's always a business person that could step up."
Yeah, that worked so well for the GOP against Cantwell in 2006 when Safeco CEO Mike McGavick ran and didn't crack 40 percent.
Look, the GOP did have a few more promising candidates than usual this year—now-U.S.-Rep.-elect Jaime Herrera in the 3rd Congressional District and state Sen.-elect Steve Litzow in the 41st state legislative district. But clearly, when the GOP couldn't field a candidate to take out Murray in 2010, they should be worried about another six years for Cantwell.
