Tagged: Election 2012

Now that U.S. Representative Norm Dicks has announced he’s retiring, western Washington will have three open seats for Congress in this fall’s election. That’s unusual, and it could mean a lot of national attention for those elections.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney pulled ahead of his rivals in Washington State's presidential straw poll on Saturday, with more than one-third of the votes. Romney finished well ahead of Ron Paul, who himself squeaked past Rick Santorum by just over 500 votes. Newt Gingrich had to settle for about one vote in 10.

Americans, it seems, have never been more polarized about religion and politics. With minds made up and combat-ready, we have a hard time bridging the chasms that divide us.

In The Righteous Mind, Jonathan Haidt, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, explains why. A moral perspective, he argues, is a feature of our evolutionary design. Morality has made it possible for human beings — unlike any other creatures — to forge large, cohesive, cooperative groups. Morality also blinds as it binds, producing conflicts between groups, tribes and countries.

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Republican presidential contenders Rick Santorum and Ron Paul are returning to Washington state to hold rallies in the days leading up to Saturday's caucuses.

Like baseballs in a batting cage, the controversies that divide us just keep on coming. Fast and unpredictable.

Last month it was the flap over the Susan G. Komen foundation and its move to cut financial support of Planned Parenthood. The resulting imbroglio dredged up deeply held convictions among Americans about women's health issues and "cause marketing" that, in this case, has resulted in profits for companies promoting breast cancer awareness and research through pink and omnipresent product tie-ins.

Despite trailing Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna in several polls and grumbling from within the Democratic party that he focus on the governor’s race, U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) says his campaign for the governor's mansion is on track. 

About remaining in Congress while the election for Washington state's top seat heats up in earnest, Inslee said: “Listen, that did not stop me from putting out my job creation agenda. … Yes, I've got some responsibilities in Washington D.C., but we are pursuing a very vigorous effort to [get] people back to work.”

Newt Gingrich told fans in Spokane yesterday that he’s astonished President Obama apologized to Afghan authorities for the burning of Muslim Holy Books by U.S. soldiers. Obama expressed remorse that a military base burned copies of the Quran in a garbage pile.

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is making his way through Washington State this week.  He will meet with Republican state lawmakers in Olympia on Friday and speak at a news conference.  Gingrich will then hold rallies in Federal Way and Everett.  He is campaigning in Kennewick and Spokane today.

As has happened to many of the Republican presidential candidates before him, Rick Santorum was "mic checked" at a campaign rally in Washington, yesterday.

As the Bellingham Herald reports it, Santorum was speaking at a venue right next to the Occupy Tacoma encampment and was met with chants almost as soon as he started talking.

OLYMPIA, Wash. - On a campaign swing through Washington, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum said opponents of same-sex marriage should - in his words - "continue the fight."

"Fight for what they believe is the best, optimal situation for children to be raised in society and the optimal situation that government should support in terms of men and women coming together in marriage," Santorum said.

SPOKANE, Wash. — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jay Inslee has released an economic development plan that focuses on six key industries.

Inslee told a news conference in Spokane on Monday that his plan focuses on aerospace, life sciences, the military, agriculture, information technology and clean energy.