Morning Fizz
We are going to have a tough, close Governor's race.
Watch for Think Tank later today. Josh and Erica reminded us it runs on Tuesday. Sorry! The writers? City Councilmember Bruce Harrell and his opponent Brad Meacham. Should be good.
1. Secretary of State Sam Reed announced he was retiring after three terms, not really news, Fizz figures after beating cancer and the 2004 Governor's race recount(s) he has earned it. The real news is that the Democratic majority in the state senate might tighten because of his taking a bow. Sen Jim Kastama, D-Puyallup, told the News Tribune he would run for Secretary of State only if Reed retired. Game on Senator Kastama.
Kastama's district is fairly Republican and both House seats are held by the GOP. On top of that, there are other Senators that have not announced they will seek reelection such as Senator Haugen in the 10th district. Another Republican area hard to hold for the Dems. Should Senator Haugen not run, and the Democrats fail to hold these two seats, it would put the Senate Democrats at a slim one vote majority. Fizz assumes the Senate Republicans will be looking for more seats besides these two. All the Democratic talk about the conservative Democratic Senators such as Kastama and Haugen working with Republicans pales compared to effect of losing the actual majority.
Should be a busy 2012 election cycle for both sides of the aisle in the Senate.
2. Governor Gregoire's Chief of Staff Jay Manning sent out an unexpected resignation email yesterday afternoon. In it he said he is not leaving because the Governor decided to not run again, which strikes Fizz as odd, particularly because he is only giving two weeks notice. The last time Fizz only gave two weeks notice it was at Kinkos. Given all Governor's staff know that their jobs now have a shelf life, Fizz wonders who on Gregoire's team would not be looking for a new job and how this potential turnover will affect her last 18 months in office.
3. King 5 did one of their famous Survey USA polls for the 2012 Governor's race. The alleged news is that Inslee had 47% to McKenna's 44%. These results should not be taken too seriously as it is within the margin of error, 18 months before Election Day, a robopoll, etc etc. A wise woman once said, "Let's see what happens after we get some TV ads on them."
The real takeaway from the poll is that both candidates are generally known, McKenna a little better, and with some variances, most regions of the state lean where you would expect them, but not demolishing the opponent either. Both candidates are starting in fairly equal positions.
So what does Fizz get from this poll? We are going to have a long, tough, close Governor's race. Oh, and EXPENSIVE. If you were running either campaign, you would get your recount lawyers on retainer now.
4. Finally, Fizz is happy to report that the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Index folks told us oursinkholes homes are going up in value again, mostly attributed to the spring home buying season.
Given that there is so much conflicting economic data thrown at us from the news, Fizz wants to ask:
Do you think the economy is improving?
Why or why not?
1. Secretary of State Sam Reed announced he was retiring after three terms, not really news, Fizz figures after beating cancer and the 2004 Governor's race recount(s) he has earned it. The real news is that the Democratic majority in the state senate might tighten because of his taking a bow. Sen Jim Kastama, D-Puyallup, told the News Tribune he would run for Secretary of State only if Reed retired. Game on Senator Kastama.
Kastama's district is fairly Republican and both House seats are held by the GOP. On top of that, there are other Senators that have not announced they will seek reelection such as Senator Haugen in the 10th district. Another Republican area hard to hold for the Dems. Should Senator Haugen not run, and the Democrats fail to hold these two seats, it would put the Senate Democrats at a slim one vote majority. Fizz assumes the Senate Republicans will be looking for more seats besides these two. All the Democratic talk about the conservative Democratic Senators such as Kastama and Haugen working with Republicans pales compared to effect of losing the actual majority.
Should be a busy 2012 election cycle for both sides of the aisle in the Senate.
2. Governor Gregoire's Chief of Staff Jay Manning sent out an unexpected resignation email yesterday afternoon. In it he said he is not leaving because the Governor decided to not run again, which strikes Fizz as odd, particularly because he is only giving two weeks notice. The last time Fizz only gave two weeks notice it was at Kinkos. Given all Governor's staff know that their jobs now have a shelf life, Fizz wonders who on Gregoire's team would not be looking for a new job and how this potential turnover will affect her last 18 months in office.
3. King 5 did one of their famous Survey USA polls for the 2012 Governor's race. The alleged news is that Inslee had 47% to McKenna's 44%. These results should not be taken too seriously as it is within the margin of error, 18 months before Election Day, a robopoll, etc etc. A wise woman once said, "Let's see what happens after we get some TV ads on them."
The real takeaway from the poll is that both candidates are generally known, McKenna a little better, and with some variances, most regions of the state lean where you would expect them, but not demolishing the opponent either. Both candidates are starting in fairly equal positions.
So what does Fizz get from this poll? We are going to have a long, tough, close Governor's race. Oh, and EXPENSIVE. If you were running either campaign, you would get your recount lawyers on retainer now.
4. Finally, Fizz is happy to report that the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Index folks told us our
Given that there is so much conflicting economic data thrown at us from the news, Fizz wants to ask:
Do you think the economy is improving?
Why or why not?
