Jay Inslee Speaking to the Clallam County Party (Photo By Chris Tucker)
Nowadays, politicians disappoint and disillusion their progressive supporters at a rate bested only by first loves and diet programs. In American liberal circles, to express faith in a modern politician is to invite instant suspicion of your gullibility and sanity, like a stranger at a bar loudly proclaiming his belief in the unsurpassed combat prowess of pro wrestlers.
Rare is a candidate with a record that displays consistent good judgment and courage, but such a candidate is running to become Governor of Washington in 2012. His name is Jay Inslee, and he is the Democratic Representative for Washington’s 1st Congressional District.
If past performance is the best indicator of future accomplishment, then Inslee is the strongest candidate for governor in years. Ever since Jay was first elected to Congress in 1992, he has been right when it counts with the uncanny regularity of a student with a cheat sheet.
Learn how after the jump ...
Listen to my interview with Jay Inslee
The only way to be consistently right on the issues in modern American politics is to be immune to the peer pressure of D.C. conventional wisdom, the bribery of Big Business lobbyists, and the intimidation of the Republican Party and the vast reactionary power apparatus that funds it.
This massive chorus in favor of trickle-down economics, foreign policy adventurism, and restricting civil liberties has led countless Democrats astray from their values, but Jay Inslee has proven about as easy to bully and intimidate as a Clint Eastwood character in a Spaghetti Western.
Regardless of the pressure applied, Jay Inslee has voted his conscience. And, regardless of how you classify yourself politically, Jay Inslee’s judgment has proven wise. Progressive or conservative, Ron Paul libertarian or Bernie Sanders socialist, a huge majority of Americans agree in hindsight with the positions Jay Inslee has taken on the most important issues in recent American history.
Good judgment, ultimately, is not a blue/red, left/right, Democrat/Republican proposition. Wise policy decisions can be reached for absolutely opposite ideological reasons, and many Democrat have voted for catastrophic bills with the best of intentions.
That's why Jay Inslee record is so important. We already know his heart is in the right place, but his record proves that so is his judgment. He has earned the trust that he is asking the voters of Washington to place in him next year when they choose a governor.
Here are some reasons why:
In 1999, The Financial Services Modernization Act was crammed through Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support. This lobbyist-concocted swindle repealed much of the New Deal Glass-Steagall Act, neutering the government’s ability to regulate deals between commercial banks, investment banks, securities firms, and insurance companies.
Jay Inslee voted “Nay.” And he was right.
The financial three-card-Monte that followed that bill’s passage contributed heavily to the mortgage apocalypse of 2008 and our current recession. Jay Inslee voted to regulate the corrupt sub-prime mortgage industry a full year before it sparked the nation’s economic meltdown.
In October of 2008, the Wall Street bookies returned to D.C. and demanded a blank check from the taxpayers to cover their losses and stake their future bets — TARP, or the Troubled Assets Relief Program.
Jay Inslee voted “Nay.” And he was right.
When George W. Bush demanded Congressional authorization of the Iraq War based on false claims about weapons of mass destruction, polls found that upwards of 70% of Americans supported what would become the costliest mistake our foreign policy history.
Jay Inslee voted “Nay.” And he was right.
Jay has been reliably ahead of the curve of public opinion for twenty years. Long before they were winning positions, Jay was an advocate of green energy, stem cell research, stopping the militarization of border patrol, creating oversight of War on Terror interrogations and wiretapping programs, investigating FEMA’s handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and preventing the expansion and deregulation of offshore oil drilling prior to the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
This trend continues: unlike all previous major gubernatorial candidates in Washington state history, Jay’s support of same-sex marriage is unequivocal.
Compare Jay’s record with his likely opponent in next year’s gubernatorial election, Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna, a Tea Party extremist who used Washington citizens’ tax dollars to sue the federal government to prevent healthcare reform and twice supported George W. Bush for president.
And I don’t expect Olympia to change Jay. "I'm not running for governor to all of a sudden turn into a piece of sugar candy,” Inslee told me in an interview two months ago . “Having lived through the Bush years and come out standing, I've always been willing to stand up for progressive values and the middle class.”
Visit JayInslee.com to learn more about a progressive leader with proven judgment and courage.
Thanks for Reading,
MRV
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