The Seattle Times published an outline of what expects of candidates seeking endorsement this year. A new component of Times decision-making is to request – and publish – the questionnaires that candidates complete to receive the endorsement of interest groups.
The Times feels that voters deserve to know what politicians promise to their campaign donors in return for endorsements. Some elected officials may feel differently, as they might prefer the system where private promises for campaign cash remain unknown to the voters.
Which begs the question, will the Times ever publically request the Washington Conservation Voters questionnaire that Jay Inslee filled out in 2011, where he presumably answered coal port questions (Are you familiar with proposals to ship coal from Montana and Wyoming by rail through the state to be exported out of Washington ports? What is your position on these proposals?) which could have placed him at odds with the unions giving him millions in campaign cash.
Leave a Reply