Former Seattle sportscaster Tony Ventrella, who announced a long shot Democrat challenge to U.S. Representative Dave Reichert in the 8th Congressional District, is publicizing his reasons for his congressional bid.
Ventrella claims he is all about getting big money out of politics. So, much to the annoyance of his party, he’s not planning on raising money from political action committees or “rich people.”
Ventrella recently told KIRO Radio’s Dave Ross:
“There’s a lot of issues out there, but you can’t get any of them done unless you get big money influence the heck out of politics. That’s why I’m running… It’s directly related to the other issues we all care about don’t get done such as union rights, health care, social security, national security and veterans benefits.”
Ventrella’s argued that the “need for campaign funding keeps legislators in a cycle of fundraising.” And, “not only does that skew their loyalties, it forces them to take time away from doing their job as lawmakers.”
Interesting that the issues Ventrella points to as examples of big money interference — especially “union rights” and health care — are those that Democrats, under whose banner he is running, struggle for on behalf of their big-money donors.
One has to wonder whether or not Ventrella will denounce Democrats in our state — like Jay Inslee — who depend rich/special interest outside donors, considering his making big money the focal point of his campaign. But, given his support of Hillary Clinton (despite the copy-cat Bernie Sanders campaign he hopes to run), something tells us Ventrella will be a hypocrite about it … like so many of his fellow Democrats.
