For Larry Faulk's campaign manager, that is.

Faulk is running as a Republican in the 27th Legislative District against incumbent state Sen. Debbie (aka Diane) Regala, D-Tacoma. This is a district where Democrats are elected for life and if they get less than 70 percent of the vote, they did something wrong.

Micheal J. Howard, Faulk's campaign manager, is trying to make the case that Regala is taking voters for granted by, well, sitting on her duff.

"She has placed no signs in the district, she has not been out knocking on doors, and most importantly of all, she has not been getting any free ink in the papers or on blogs. Senator Regala, seems to be taking for granted that the 70% will just wake up and vote for her like always."

Well, here's some free blog "ink" for both of them, Michael. (By the way, I'd suggest you move the Faulk sign that's now near the traffic circle over by the seminary to a location that gets more traffic. But that's just me. I see it every morning and I think I'm the only one who does.)

Tell me, is Larry just positioning himself for another run four years from now, when Regala steps down and Ryan Mello runs?

Good Afternoon:

Let me begin by thanking you all for the effort and time you have put into working for Larry. We feel very good about the election in 20 days.

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And I say that because I know Tom Geiger won't take offense at the label. He's been pushing the enviro agenda down here in Olympia for many, many years. And as the news release from the United Food and Commercial Workers International Local 21 indicates, Tom somehow convinced us reporters to write or broadcast more than 1,000 stories about environmental issues over those years.

Here's a link to Geiger's new employer's Web site.

UFCW Local 21 Adds Two Senior Staff – building the movement for the 21st Century

We are proud to make the following announcement. In a move to further develop the senior staff capacities at our local union, last month we hired Tom Geiger as Communications Director and Sharon Maeda as Special Projects Director. We are excited to have these two veteran professionals join our team.

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The focus here on the open seat created by the retirement of Rep. Pat Lantz, D-Gig Harbor, the one that pits Democrat Kim Abel against Republican Jan Angel.

The Gig Harbor Unit of League of Women Voters, the Gig Harbor Branch of American Association of University Women, and the United Methodist Church of Gig Harbor are sponsoring a candidate forum for the legislative candidates of the 26th District. It will be held on Thursday, October 23rd, from 6:30 till 9:00 p.m., at the United methodist Church, 7400 Pioneer Way in Gig Harbor. The public is invited.

Before then, there will be another candidate faceoff before the Kitsap League of Women Voters Thursday at 7 p.m. in Port Orchard at the Given's Community Center.

Abel is trying to make an issue out of Angel getting money from the BIAW. You can read about that here.

UPDATE: Elliot Swaney, political director of the Building Industry Association Washington, called Thursday morning to say that, contrary to what Abel is saying, BIAW has not contributed to Angel's campaign.

"She apparently is 'un-Abel' to figure out a PDC form," Swaney said. "Neither the BIAW nor the Washington Affordable Housing Council (BIAW's PAC) have contributed to the Angel race."

Swaney said local building organization affiliates may have, but they make their own decisions.

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State Sen. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, sponsored the bill that set up this program. It's also for businesses owned by active duty military. He says there are 320 businesses signed up so far.

Here's the link to Veterans Affairs business registry. And here is Kilmer's e-mail to The News Tribune.

Hey guys-
I hope this note finds you all well. I wasn't sure who to send this to, so I'm passing it along to all three of you.

I know the News Tribune works hard to let area businesses know about resources that may help their bottom lines. With that in mind, I wanted to give you a heads up regarding the new Veteran/Servicemember Business Registry that's been kicked off by the Department of Veteran Affairs (based on SB 5253 which I sponsored back in 2007).

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Democrat Ron Weigelt, who's running against incumbent state Rep. Dan Roach, R-Bonney Lake, for a 31st District House seat, says he's filed a complaint against Roach.

Weigelt says Roach ran ads in the Enumclaw Courier Herald and other papers, that included the official seal of Washinton. Weigelt cites the following Revised Code of Washington chapters:

RCW 43.04.050 Use of state seal -Prohibitions -Imitations.
(1) Except as otherwise provided in RCW 43.04.040, the state seal shall not be used on or in connection with any advertising or promotion for any product, business, organization, service, or article whether offered for sale for profit or offered without charge.
(2) The state seal shall never be used in a political campaign to assist or defeat any candidate for elective office.
(3) It is a violation of this chapter to use any symbol that imitates the seal or that is deceptively similar in appearance to the seal, in any manner that would be an improper use of the official seal itself.

The complaint was filed with the Secretary of State's office. Weigelt FAXed me the ad, and there does appear to be an official seal it in. But I don't make the call on these things. I'll let Sam Reed to that.

Most of the time I get stuff from the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, it is castigating the governor, Democrats, state government or state government employee unions. You can include the teachers' union, the Washington Education Association, in that list, too.

So this will come as no surprise.

Earlier this week, I got an e-mail from EFF with a list of all the people (by job title only) who make more than $100,000 a year working for the ferry systems. They are, by and large, union members and engineers.

Today, I got this notice about EFF president Bob Williams and company handing out flyers at Coleman Dock in Seattle tomorrow.

I don't have time to go into all of EFF's findings or allegations, but I will bring your attention to the video that EFF produced on the history of the state ferry system. You'll probably recognize some of the footage. It looks like stuff you'd see on the History Channel, interspersed with video of Gov. Chris Gregoire and Auditor Brian Sonntag.

The "serious" voice-over was done by EFF's Tom Henry.

The ferry system was in the news quite a bit over the past year. The steel ferries were taken out of commission. The state is borrowing Pierce County's new ferry. Construction of 4 new ferries for about $300 million is about 4 years behind schedule. And there's a stinging audit on the ferry system.

Here's a link to the EFF's "ferry tales." Click to play the videos. They are stacked on top of each other.

Scroll down to read the news release.

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Elizabeth Hummel, an aide to state Rep. Zack Hudgins, D-Tukwila, passed on the latest work done by herself and Brian Castillo.

Hummel and Castillo teamed up earlier this year to produce a little ditty for Sine Die, the last day of the 2008 Legislature. You can search this blog for that earlier posting by using her name in the search tool in the far right hand column. (Scroll way down!)

Here is the link to "Sandman the Rapping Cowboy says Show Obama Love."

Sandman, by the way, is Chris Sand.

DISCLAIMER: This item is posted for pure entertainment value and should not be construed as an endorsement of Barack Obama, Chris Sand, Elizabeth Hummel, Brian Castillo, Zack Hudgins or any other entertainer.)

In our neck of the woods, they are:

Chihuahua’s Mexican Restaurant
4202 Auburn Way North
Auburn, WA 98002

AND

Varsity Grill
1114 Broadway
Tacoma, WA 98402

For Planning Purposes Only: October 15, 2008
Contact: Josh Field: (206) 624-9511

* Media Advisory *

TONIGHT: OBAMA SUPPORTERS TO GATHER ACROSS WASHINGTON STATE TO WATCH FINAL PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

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While perusing other blogs and looking at the electronic version of newspapers clips, I ran across this item about House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam. Her car was rear-ended on I-5 last week.

Here's a link to the story about Kessler's accident.

I certainly don't mean to make light of the accident or Kessler's injuries. I've been there myself. And I know I risk alienating Kessler by dredging up old wounds. But I couldn't help but remember what Rep. Dan Roach, R-Bonney Lake, said last year in a floor speech about a bill that Republicans portrayed as the Full Employment Act for Lawyers, something about the "Keith Kessler Express."

(Lynn, in my defense, I did contribute $5 to state parks when I renewed my license tabs this year, which is what you wanted everyone to do, right?)

By the way, Kessler's husband is a lawyer.

I saw the "doctor-daughter" ad on TV last night, but I had to go to the Web site to see the Oregon govenor ad.

The Yes on 1000 campaign has two new ads on the air today.

The first fights back against the opposition’s outrageous attempts to deceive voters – responding to their lies with facts, independent studies, and Oregon Governor Barbara Roberts, who knows that none of the opponent's worst case scenarios ever actually happened. The second features a doctor whose mother chose to use a law that is identical to I-1000 - the Death with Dignity Act in Oregon.

Anne Martens

Here's the Web site for Death with Dignity campaign.