This blog is designed to give readers a glimpse of our editorial-page operation and how we make our decisions. We’ll let you know who we’re meeting with, what they’re telling us, what events and issues we’re looking at. We’ll also pass on information and observations that may not make our print editions. In addition to the editorial board members who post on this blog, the board includes Publisher David Zeeck, Executive Editor Karen Peterson and Managing Editor Dale Phelps.
Editorial board bloggers
Editorial page editor Patrick O’Callahan oversees the online and printed opinion sections of The News Tribune. He came to The News Tribune in 1987 and has worked at Washington newspapers since 1979. E-mail him at patrick.ocallahan@thenewstribune.com
Editorial writer Cheryl Tucker, in addition to writing commentary, manages the daily production of the editorial and op-ed pages and edits letters to the editor. She began her journalism career in 1974 at a Virginia newspaper and came to The News Tribune in 1978. E-mail her at cheryl.tucker@thenewstribune.com.
Editorial writer Kim Bradford manages the online opinion section of The News Tribune and writes commentary. She joined The News Tribune in 2005 after working 11 years at newspapers in Washington and Maryland. E-mail her at kim.bradford@thenewstribune.com.
Guest bloggers
Editor emeritus David Seago retired from The News Tribune in 2008 after 41 years at The News Tribune. E-mail him at sds99@harbornet.com.
Richard Davis’ column on state politics frequently runs in the print edition of The News Tribune. He was president of the Washington Research Council, a statewide think tank, from 1986 through 2006. Currently, as a principal with The Simeon Partnership, Inc. he coordinates the activities of the Washington Alliance for a Competitive Economy, a business coalition founded by the Research Council, the Association of Washington Business and the Washington Roundtable.
Karen Irwin of University Place, a mother of four, has been a frequent contributor to The News Tribune's print editions. She has also written for Seattle's Child, Puget Sound Parent, the Tacoma Weekly, the Fayetteville Observer Times and the political blog Right Meets Left. She graduated from California Lutheran University with a degree in English literature and is currently working toward a history degree.
Michael Allen, professor of history at the University of Washington Tacoma, was born and raised in Ellensburg. He served with the U.S. Marines in Vietnam from 1969-70. He has written five books, including the prize-winning "Patriot's History of the United States: From Columbus' Great Discovery to the War on Terror," "Rodeo Cowboys in the North American Imagination" and "Western Rivermen, 1763-1861: Ohio and Mississippi Boatmen and the Myth of the Alligator Horse." Allen lives in Tacoma and Ellensburg and has three children.
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This editorial will appear in Monday's print edition.
The three incumbents who represent the South Sound in the U.S. House of Representatives deserve re-election.
Washington has only one genuinely contested congressional race in 2008: a rematch between U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert and Darcy Burner in the 8th District, which encompasses most of eastern Pierce and King counties.
We endorsed Reichert’s re-election in 2006 and do so again this year. He’s one of the most independent-minded members of the House Republican caucus, and a principled, thoughtful lawmaker. He works readily with Democrats and has become a determined advocate of preserving sensitive wilderness in the Cascades.
Reichert also has an impressive record of leadership and public service. Prior to his election to Congress in 2004, for example, he was King County’s elected sheriff. He has brought a rare depth of expertise in law enforcement to the House.
Burner, a Carnation Democrat, is a smart, tech-savvy candidate who’s mounted another vigorous challenge. She is a celebrity in the world of MoveOn.org, ActBlue and the Daily Kos. Her campaign has been powered by vast sums of money from the liberal blogosphere.
Not surprisingly, Burner tends to reflect the political enthusiasms of her supporters. Her opposition to international trade agreements is troubling. Like others opposed to free trade, she champions “fair trade” – a term of art for encumbering agreements with U.S.-dictated labor and environmental rules that would be deal-killers for major trade partners.
This stance would poorly represent the nation’s most trade-dependent state – a major beneficiary of the North American Free Trade Agreement Burner opposes.
Two other South Sound races are not remotely as competitive.
In the 9th District – which encompasses much of western King and Pierce counties, including Puyallup, Federal Way, and parts of Tacoma and Lakewood – U.S. Rep. Adam Smith of Tacoma is challenged by James Postma, a Steilacoom Republican.
Smith is an adroit and intelligent lawmaker who has become an influential, center-leaning member of the Democratic caucus. Over his five terms, he has secured the support of what was once a sharply divided swing district. Postma has not made a case for replacing him.
The 6th District – which includes the Olympic Peninsula and parts of Lakewood and Tacoma – reliably re-elects Washington’s most experienced and effective lawmaker, Democrat Norm Dicks.
Over the years, Dicks has served both the district and state well, securing funding for many important projects – improvements to bridges, highways, military bases, national parks – and the list could go on. His seniority and legislative skills have won him key positions on the House Appropriations Committee.
Dicks’ Republican opponent, Gig Harbor attorney Doug Cloud, is a principled conservative. But we’ve yet to meet the candidate who looked like a trade up from Dicks.
