Last weekend we had a great gathering of the Seattle & Puget Sound Kossacks, bringing together a handful of folks from across the region to discuss our political plans for 2018. For a rainy Saturday afternoon, we had quite a good turnout, and delicious eats and drinks at the Columbia City Alehouse too.
Much like the Women’s March last week, I left this meeting feeling more energized and hopeful about our coalition’s chances in 2018. And a big part of the reason for that is undoubtedly the women stepping up to lead us forward, the women showing up and showing us how it’s done.
Washington State has long been a place where women leaders are more than just accepted, they’ve become the gold standard of public servants. You might look all the way back to Sen. Brock Adams’ downfall due to the dozen women who stepped forward with sexual harassment allegations in 1991. That moment, and Adams’s retirement, helped open the door for our beloved Senator Patty Murray to graduate from the State Senate to the US Senate, and grow into a power-broker and now the #2 Democrat in the upper chamber. But even Republican women from Washington are in leadership, with eastern Washington’s Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers as the #4 in GOP House leadership.
But as you know, dear readers, not all leaders are created equal, and McMorris Rodgers is a prime target in 2018, with former State Senator Lisa Brown mounting a stiff challenge. Unrelated water rights issues in Eastern Washington may be the biggest impediment to Brown knocking off McMorris Rodgers. As the year rolls on and polling becomes more believable, we will see how vulnerable McMorris Rodgers actually is. Some might say we will knock her off in this mostly rural and conservative area when hell freezes over or when Alabama elects a Democrat to the US Senate, whichever comes first. Oh wait! I guess that means we have a shot?
Also discussed, and much closer to Seattle, retiring Republican Rep. Dave Reichart is vacating the 8th Congressional District seat he has held for more than a decade in East and South King County. There are 5 Democrats in the primary, none of whom stood out from the pack for any of the Kossack lunch attendees. We are hoping the field is whittled down more before the August primary and a clear favorite emerges, but given the conservative lean of this district, we’re probably not going to get a progressive champion. But we sure hope to get another blue vote.
The 8th Congressional District race is going to be especially delicious for anyone harboring a grudge against multiple-election loser Dino Rossi, the failed gubernatorial candidate who contested former Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire’s 2004 win for over 6 months. But I digress...
Besides these two juicy targets ripe for the picking, the WHO of 2018, we also discussed the what and the how. Fortunately, two attendees hold key positions within the Democratic Party leadership, and were able to give us the rundown on the activities taking place this spring and summer, mostly voter registration and voter identification.
Kossacks are encouraged to get involved in their local legislative district parties, the level at which most of the grassroots work gets done. Here’s a link to find out where your district is, and learn how to get in touch with them. There is a state party convention coming up in mid-June in Wenatchee, so now is the time to get involved! Some LDs will be ‘adopting’ other districts to help out on state-level races if they do not have competitive ones.
Finally, as I’ve been saying since we reconstituted the Seattle & Puget Sound Kossacks a few months ago, the most powerful aspect of these Connect, Unite, Act events is not organizing a new thing. We have plenty of existing organizations and coalitions we can be working with. Instead, the true power of these events is simply connecting with allies in ‘meatspace’ as the cyberpunks might say. Putting a face to that screen name, having an interesting conversation, and learning from each other goes so very far as a remedy to the distrust and malaise many of us have been in since 2016 elections.
To say I was inspired by the great people who showed up is an understatement. I feel like an underachiever sitting with the engineer who helped launch hundreds of vehicles into outer space, the physicist who wrote caucus-organizing software in just a couple weeks, or the champion who lovingly cares for their parents in their old age and infirmity. There are some really amazing people on Daily Kos, if you choose to seek them out.
Next time, don’t sit at home. Come out for a bite and a drink, get connected, unite, and start acting to take back our Democracy from those who would destroy it. We are looking at Mid-March for the next Seattle & Puget Sound Kossacks event.