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Home / WA AG Update: Dem Candidate StrugglesWA AG Update: Dem Candidate Struggles
Last Updated on Thursday, 21 August 2008 08:47 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 21 August 2008 08:47
Nobody knows the struggles Democrat A.G. candidate John Ladenburg has seen in his campaign to unseat popular incumbent A.G. Rob McKenna – oh wait, yes they do because they’re splashed all across the web.
Ladenburg’s troubles just got more magnified after Tuesday’s primary where Ladenburg finished a distant second to McKenna. In the big picture, the primary (which advances the top two finishers to the November General Election) put nothing at stake for the two candidates. But in the little picture – the one that opinion leaders, donors, and other political denizens like to watch – things are going from bad to worse for Mr. Ladenburg’s challenge of Attorney General McKenna. The blogs caught fire yesterday, and today we bring it together for you.
According to Bryan Bissell, it appears that Ladenburg has laid all of his cards on the table after losing by 11 pts statewide to McKenna, including his home county of Pierce. Ladenburg apparently thinks bringing the fight to General McKenna is a good idea – we think not. It wasn’t a bad showing of broad support at all for McKenna, who spent zero time and money on voter contact – but he’s not resting on the success of this trouncing – he knows that November can turn out differently given the dynamics above him on the ballot in Washington.
Lastly, on the fundraising side of things, Ladenburg continues to trail badly in fundraising – having raised only $382k for his effort with only $159k cash on hand, vs. the over $1.4 million raised by team McKenna with nearly $1 million cash on hand. That’s a devastating metric for Ladenburg and his hand full of supporters coming on the toes of the fall campaign which we’ve been predicting all along, based on our own numbers, is not going to be a pleasant adventure for John Ladenburg – here are some other numbers that say the same thing.
[…] below, and below below. From The News Tribune: Ladenburg, the Pierce County Executive trying to unseat Republican […]
Ladenburg also release a list of questions voters should be asking McKenna. In turn, as a voter in his “home turf” here are 10 questions for Mr. Ladenburg:
10. Why should voters elect a public official that has lied in the news regarding his supporters? The “Top” legal representative for the State should have a higher standard for ethics and personal integrity. If one must lie over such a little thing, how well will you represent the public trust? And would you again discuss your involvement in the Prometa scandal?
9. The AG is the representative of the PEOPLE of WA. State and the voice of resident protection, Why during your Chair of Sound Transit did you ignore personal property holder rights to fair notification, resulting in AG McKenna’s office enacting new legislation to insure future fair notification practices?
8. Many recent news releases have you claiming sole “kudos’” for issues such as the success of Pierce County Responds, and the Meth lab reduction., to name a few. In almost all cases, successes of these programs were by private citizen involvement, C.A.T. law enforcement and state senators working together. Besides a few signatures, what did you personally do to factually contribute enough to claim the “kudos’”?
7. Speeches and news releases have you claiming various numbers for WA. ratings in relation to Fraud and ID Theft. Why do you have such a difficult time remembering numbers and “facts”? And what is the factual meaning of “perpetuity”?
6. The AG is the “Top Cop” for WA. State. You have failed to win the endorsement of law enforcement. WA. Council of Police & Sheriffs, WA. State Patrol Troopers Assoc., Fraternal Order of Police and even your home turf, Pierce County Deputies Guild support your opponent. As a “prior Prosecutor with years of court room experience” how do you explain the lack of faith from the law enforcement branch? Why would McGruff the Crime Dog support you when you cannot even gain the endorsement of all major law enforcement agencies? Or would he rate you a toothless poodle?
5. You claim kudos’ during your terms as Pierce County Exec. in defending air, water, climate and open spaces. Yet during your terms, Pierce County has won the EPA’s #1 non attainment rating for air quality, seen a reduction in open spaces, lost significant wet lands and faces fines for failure to adopt State water regulations NPDES. Please explain your claimed ability of “defense”?
4. This week, you failed to carry your home turf in votes. If you were such a successful prosecutor and Exec. How do you explain this failure? Why did “Johnny from the block”
lose his turf?
3. You state your opponent has come under scrutiny for PSA’s, yet you have had your hand slapped by PDC for errors in campaign fund reporting and State campaign finance investigators reported that you authorized and approved the preparation and content of two promotional mailers that were not a fair and objective presentation of the facts. And that you used $55,060 of public money to produce and mail the fliers to registered voters. Again, with numbers and factual reporting not being your apparent strong suit, how can we trust any “facts” you present?
2. Your history with anti- Open Government and Public Disclosure is long Starting when the Seattle Times caught on to your disdain for open government back in 1998, during your time as prosecutor in an article entitled “Foes of public disclosure want to turn out the lights” which stated:
“Another state Supreme Court case that has received little attention, Limstrom vs. Ladenburg, may do even more to turn the Public Disclosure Act on its head. Last month, Pierce County prosecutor John Ladenburg argued that prosecutors’ criminal case files – both pending and resolved – should never be subject to public disclosure.”
And recently you told a reporter from the Columbian that recording of Executive Sessions “would not be a priority for me”. Yet now you support recording and public access to records on your response to the Open Government Survey. Is this type of political waffling going to continue during your campaign?
1. As Pierce County Exec. you spent considerable amount of time running around the country wooing headlines and the US Open. yet claim as AG you will focus your time on remaining in state and personally prosecuting cases (while again seeking headlines). How will this affect your vision for your multi million dollar Chambers Golf Course, will it reduce your time on the links and why do you feel more inclined to spend time at work in the AG office than your example as Pierce County Exec.?