A colleague reports that the 7-Eleven down the street from The News Tribune has run out of Obama coffee cups. It reportedly has "scads" of McCain cups but nobody is filling.

This data is consistent with the "7-Election '08" Web site, which reports Sen. Barack Obama leading Sen. John McCain 62-38 percent in Washington state.

Obama is leading 60-40 percent nationwide.

McCain only appears to lead in two states -- North Carolina and New Hampshire.

But there are a whole bunch of states on the 7-Election electoral map that aren't in the Obama or McCain column. Are there really states that don't have 7-Eleven?

The two candidates for Pierce County Council District 3 cited traffic congestion as a top priority at a public forum this afternoon.

Incumbent Roger Bush, R-Graham, and challenger Bruce Lachney, an Eatonville Democrat, spoke to the Puyallup-Sumner Chamber of Commerce at the Best Western Park Plaza in South Hill.

Bush said he was elected to the council four years ago on a pledge to improve public safety, traffic congestion and recreational facilities. He cited improvements in all three areas.

In transportation, Bush cited new road construction throughout the district. He also cited the installation of street lights on county roads, which he said have improved the safety of kids walking to school.

“We’ve been left in the dark too long,” Bush said of a former lack of traffic lights.

You can listen to Bush’s full comments here.

Lachney said Pierce County needs a new comprehensive transportation plan. He said a new plan should focus on getting workers to jobs closer to home instead of to King County.

“Let’s get people to Frederickson,” he said. “Let’s get people to DuPont.”

You can listen to Lachney’s full comments here.

Bush and Lachney are competing to represent a district that includes South Hill, Frederickson, Graham, Eatonville and other communities.

Bush, 59, is a former elementary school teacher who spent four terms in the state House of Representatives. He has a bachelor’s degree from Seattle Pacific University and a master’s degree from George Fox University.

He is a member of the Frederickson-Clover Creek Community Council and the Graham Business Association.

Lachney, 48, is an airline pilot and cranberry farmer. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington and is a former captain in the United States Marine Corps.

He is a member of the Eatonville School Board and previously spent four years on the county planning commission.

For more information on these candidates, you can read about them on our online voter guide. The printed guide will be in Sunday’s paper.

Les Blumenthal in our D.C. bureau filed this report:

Sen. Joe Biden’s visit to Tacoma on Sunday is another in a long line of appearances by Democratic presidential and vice presidential candidates in the closing days of their campaigns, as John Kerry, Al Gore, Michael Dukakis and Geraldine Ferraro all held rallies.

It’s an opportunity to target a largely working-class county that has become a pivotal battleground in statewide elections.

And in Biden’s case, it’s an opportunity to provide a boost to Gov. Chris Gregoire’s campaign in a county she lost by 12,000 or so votes in her razor-thin 2004 win.

Gregoire, locked in a tight rematch with Republican Dino Rossi, will introduce the Delaware senator at the afternoon rally at Cheney Stadium.

Biden’s campaign staff didn’t shed much light on the decision except to say that Democrats would fight for “every vote, everywhere,” and that Tacoma and Pierce County residents have been among those hurt by the economic downturn.

“We intend to speak to them, and an Obama-Biden administration looks forward to having a partner in Gov. Christine Gregoire because she understands the need to turn this country around,” David Wade, Biden’s press secretary, said in an e-mail.

Local Democratic strategists say there was a clear strategy behind the decision for Barack Obama’s running mate to appear in Tacoma rather than Seattle.

“It’s a toss-up race in a toss-up county,” Ron Dotzauer, a longtime political strategist who has run statewide campaigns, said of the governor’s campaign. “Of course I would put Biden there.”

Rick Desimone, a former chief of staff to Sen. Patty Murray who helped engineer her 2002 re-election, said Pierce County is “territory fought over inch by inch” in recent elections.

“Pierce County is a classic swing county,” Desimone said. “It’s not a foregone conclusion that if you win Pierce County you win the state, but if you don’t it’s a lot harder.”

=> Read more!

Aaron Toso, who sometimes breakfasts on weekends at Knapp's in the Proctor District, says his boss is coming to Tacoma on Saturday and plans to tour our neighborhood.

Bill Evans, by the way, owns the Northwest Shop. Toso sent this to Jason Hagey and me.

Joe/Jason-

Gov. Gregoire is coming to the neighborhood tomorrow to tour small businesses and the farmer’s market in Proctor. She will be with Mayor Baarsma and Bill Evans. Details are below.

She will also be kicking off a canvas from our Tacoma office at 10:15am and stopping by the Labor Walk Rally! at the IBEW hall later in the afternoon.

Of course we will be back in Tacoma on Sunday for the Biden event. Gov. Gregoire will be introducing Sen. Biden.

=> Read more!

I know I'm getting ahead of myself, and ahead of Speaker Frank Chopp, but I'm wondering who is going to replace state Rep. Helen Sommers, D-Seattle, as chair of House Appropriations Committee in 2009.

Sommers didn't run for reelection. She's taking her 36 years of institutional legislative memory and keen insights into the state budget into retirement.

That leaves Rep. Hans Dunshee of Snohomish

and Kelli Linville of Bellingham in the running for chair of the budget committee. Dunshee is vice chair of Approps right now. Linville is chair of the Approps subcommittee on General Government and Audit Review.

Linville has seniority. She was appointed in December '95. Dunshee was elected November '96. (Both had previous terms in the House, but lost in the Republican Revolution of 1994.) But the line of ascendency already has been established.

Rumor is, Frank will have to put Linville in as chair of Capital Budget as a consolation prize for not getting the top spot on Approps -- Dunshee gets that -- which means Spokane's Timm Ormsby won't be moving up from vice chair of Capital Budget to the top job.

Bill Fromhold, former chair of Capital Budget, created a vacancy there by taking another job outside the Legislature.

House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, took umbrage when I posted a blog item that said he wanted his Democrats to have a 98-0 advantage over Republicans in the House.

(Actually, he said "all," and I translated that into "98." It's something I learned from the Teachers Union: "All means all 98," or something like that.)

Anyway, Frank's got 63 members already, and he's actually hoping to pick up a few more this election. Where is he going to put them? Democrats had to create a bunch more committees when they got 62 members. I think we've got 22 or so now. All the senior people want to be chairmen or chairwomen. That's how we got the Appropriations subcommittees on General Government and Education, so Kelli Linville and Kathy Haig could have a chairpersonship.

This summer, we got a third Approps subcommittee: Health and Human Services. The chairmanship went to Eric Pettigrew of Seattle, which probably explains why Jeannie Darneille of Tacoma has been so cranky lately.

If Frank's caucus picks up several more members, he'll either have to create even more committees to keep people happpy, or risk having a lot more cranky members in his SuperMajority. (But with 67 members, the D's could pass all the bills by themselves, with no R votes at all. And Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown needs just one more seat, from 32 to 33, for a two-thirds majority in the Senate. Make that 34. She'd need one more to offset maverick Tim Sheldon.)

Back in May, the Christian Businessmen's Connection barred my colleague Niki Sullivan from covering a Dino Rossi appearance at the Fircrest Golf Club.

Today it was my turn. I drove down to Lacey to hear Gov. Chris Gregoire talk to residents of Jubilee at Hawks Prairie, a so-called "adult master planned community."

I haven't heard Gregoire's stump speech as much as I've heard Rossi's, so I thought it would be a good place to drop in.

Wrong.

I cleared everything first with the Gregoire campaign -- in fact, it was the campaign spokesman who told me about the event.

But the kind folks at Jubilee are extremely serious about enforcing their rule that prohibits outsiders from entering their lodge building.

So now I feel the same sting of rejection that Niki felt last May.

And that Gov. Gregoire must have felt when she couldn't get past the bouncer at an Olympia bar because she forgot her ID.

The Washington Department of Transportation is advising folks to plan for snow now, even though it's only mid-October. You can't used studded tires until Nov. 1, but the DOT folks want you to be prepared now.

WSDOT NEWS: Trucks and cars should prepare now for winter driving; Big rigs need chains onboard by Nov. 1

OLYMPIA – The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and Washington State Patrol (WSP) advise drivers to plan now for winter driving.

“Our employees work hard to keep the roads safe and open for business, but we need drivers’ help,” said WSDOT Secretary Paula Hammond. “After the floods, wind and snowstorms from last year, we all learned it’s important to be ready for anything. Get your vehicle ready now and plan more time to get to your destination. Don't be caught off guard. Having a four-wheel or all-wheel drive isn’t enough to prepare you for winter driving.”

=> Read more!

The Obama/Biden campaign sent an announcement that supporters are gathering at the campaign's Seattle office this afternoon to make signs for Sunday's rally with Sen. Joe Biden in Tacoma.

WHO: Grassroots supporters of Senator Obama and Senator Biden
WHAT: Gathering to make signs for Sunday’s rally
WHEN: Today (Friday, October 17)
TIME: 2:30 PM
WHERE: Obama/Biden Campaign for Change Office, 1310 Mercer St, Seattle, WA 98109

The Change We Need Rally with Senator Joe Biden is on Sunday, October 19 at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma, WA. Doors open to the Public at 12:00 pm and the program begins at 2:00 pm. The rally is free and open to the public. Tickets are NOT required but an RSVP is strongly encouraged. Space is available on a first come first serve basis. To RSVP, the public should click here.

For security reasons, do not bring bags and please limit personal items. No signs or banners permitted.
###

From the folks who brought you such videos as "Kiddie Kouncil" and "John Curley is god," comes a new episode of The Tacoma Diaries, ripped from the headlines:

For a low/no-budget production, the writing is pretty darned clever: "Hey, I watched the debate. She was looking at me. She winked at me like four times."

If you haven't seen the series before, here's an introduction from the producers:

Tacoma Diaries is a unique window into the lives of 2 downwardly mobile males who reside in The City of Destiny. Steve, a 43 year-old divorced father of 12 year old daughter Lisa, is now attempting to make a new life following an ugly divorce. Mike, a 42 year old many times divorced father of many kid’s remains in constant search of intimate female companionship. ... Each episode offers an up close and personal glimpse into the world view of "the most wired city in America”, Tacoma, Washington. Nestled neatly within the bowels of the Puget Sound is a town that Bing Crosby, Ivan the Gorilla and yes, even Earl Anthony have at one time called home. This series will display the best and worst of humanity. What more could one want from a stupid little video short?

Check out the entire collection.

The (Everett) Herald wrote about how state Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, is upset about a flyer that shows her pictured with (now dead) former Soviet Union leader and KGB director Yuri Andropov and U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Seattle.

Somethign about "new leadership" because Mary Margaret and Yuri both got their jobs in 1982. Haugen says her patriotism is being challenged.

When I first saw the three pictures -- McDermott, Haugen and Andropov -- in the paper, I'll admit I thought Haugen was complaining about being linked to McDermott. I mean, I'll bet his voting record is more liberal than Andropov's, although I'd have to look that up. (Did the Soviet Union even have rollcall votes?)

Here's the story that tells more about why Haugen is angry.

I think what's really upsetting Haugen is that the Senate Republicans have spent about $350,000 trying to unseat her.

Snohomish County Council chairman Gary Nelson, one of the three people who wrote the opposition statement to $17.9 billion Proposition 1 for the voter guide, called me after reading the story I wrote for Tuesday's paper.

He wanted to elaborate on the concept of "subarea equity," the Sound Transit policy that says all the money collected from a subarea (Pierce is one subarea) will be spent to "benefit" that area. Not spent "in" the subarea, but to benefit. The board, which includes Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg, Tacoma City Councilwoman Julie Anderson, Sumner Mayor Dave Enslow and Lakewood City Councilwoman Claudia Thomas, decides exactly what benefits an area.

UPDATE: Sound Transit spokesman Geoff Patrick said opponents are wrong about a couple things: First, Pierce County got the 9 Sounder commuter rail roundtrips they were promised in the 1996 ballot measure. (They said Pierce was promised 15 trips, but will get only 13 with the addition of ST2.)

The Sound Transit board has decided that the entire cost of all 20 regional express bus routes that start outside King County benefit only that county. For instance, the full cost of the Tacoma-Seattle Express benefits only Pierce County, not King County. And the entire cost of building and operating Sounder commuter trains from Lakewood and Tacoma to downtown Seattle benefits only Pierce County. (UPDATE: Patrick said this is mostly true. He points out that Pierce transit riders also will "benefit" when the ride on 55 miles of light rail that they didn't pay to build.)

Nelson wanted to point out that his county is getting the short end of the stick from the combined Sound Transit measures, the 1996 measure, plus the one on the Nov. 4 ballot. But Pierce County is even worse off, he said.

Snohomish pays 13 percent of the local taxes and gets back only 8 percent of the benefits, Nelson said.

Pierce County contributes about 17 percent of the taxes to pay for Sound Transit, but gets back only 6 percent of the benefits if you look at boardings. That is, if you look at how many people get onto a regional bus, Sounder commuter rail or Link light rail in 2030, when it's all built.
The chart supports opponents' contention that "We're all paying to build light rail for Seattle." (UPDATE: Patrick said Pierce paid nothing for the first segment of light rail and in ST2 is paying only for right of way purchases and engineering for the portion from Federal Way south.)

Here's the chart that Proposition 1 opponents Jim MacIsaac and Emory Bundy sent me. I've asked Sound Transit to respond.

King County pays 60 percent of the taxes and gets 85 percent of the benefit.

And here is McIsaac's explanation of how he put the chart together.

Joe --
This was a preliminary exercise to express User Benefits by subarea in terms of systems boardings locations. For example, a Sounder boarding from Tacoma to Seattle is returned the same day by a boarding in Seattle to Tacoma. I contend that system benefit for that round trip goes 50% to Tacoma (Pierce) and 50% to Seattle (North King).

=> Read more!

In case you missed it, check out Ian Demsky’s Thursday story about Jesse Hill’s claim to have spent more than $28,000 on his campaign for Pierce County sheriff.

If true (and there is reason to doubt some of the expenditures are campaign related), Hill is outspending incumbent Sheriff Paul Pastor in the sheriff’s race. It would be a remarkable feat for a man – also known as Robert `The Traveller’ Hill – who previously was best known for his antics at public meetings and his numerous run-ins with the law.

Judge for yourself. Here's a copy of three forms Hill has filed with the state Public Disclosure Commission. One is a form showing he’s given $28,060 to his own campaign. Another is a personal financial affairs statement in which he claims to be indigent. The third is an itemized list of his campaign expenses, including $222 for beer and several trips to McDonalds and Subway.

Lots of attention focused on Sen. John McCain's David Letterman appearance. But did you see his hysterical bit from the Alfred E. Smith benefit roast last night? Witty, relaxed, barbed, self-depreciating, gracious, articulate - not the candidate we've been seeing much of lately.

It wasn't a debate, but hands-down, McCain bested Barack Obama. Obama had some good lines - likening his ears to Alfred E. Newman - but suffered from having to follow Johnny Mac.

Here's a sampler of McCain from the transcript.

Events are moving fast in my campaign. And, yes, it's true that this morning I dismissed my entire team of senior advisers. All of their positions will now be held by a man named "Joe the Plumber."

Already...my friends, my opponents have been subjecting Joe to their vicious attack machines. His veracity has been questioned by Barack Obama's running mate Joe the six term senator.

He claims that this honest, hardworking small businessman could not possibly have enough income to face a tax increase under the Obama plan. ...What they don't know is "Joe the Plumber" recently signed a very lucrative contract with a wealthy couple to handle all the work on all seven of their houses.

=> Read more!