January 18, 2006
Operation: Red Washington

Some of you may be familiar with my series of Operation: Red Washington posts over at my personal blog. Today, I've expanded those posts into a full-fledged blog, along with Nathan Azinger of Pajama Jihad (a fine site you should be reading regularly).

Unlike Sound Politics, which focuses on news, opinion and analysis, Operation: Red Washington is devoted to political strategy with the goal of building a strong Republican majority in the state.

To kick off the site, Dino Rossi was kind enough to do an interview with me, and it's available on the site as the first Red Washington Podcast. Even if Republican political strategy in general isn't your cup of tea, the interview is worth a listen.

Posted by Timothy Goddard at January 18, 2006 11:16 AM | Email This
Comments
1. If the goal is simply to have Republicans in office, you aren't going to inspire many people.

Posted by: BananaLand on January 18, 2006 11:38 AM
2. Winning elections? Sound like one of those conspiracies foisted upon us by those RINO's in the Bellevue Mafia.
I'd rather stay home in 2006 to teach the Washington state GOP a lesson.

Just wanted to get out the standard lines used by the usual suspects so it doesn't have to be repeated 147 times here.

Posted by: Reporterward on January 18, 2006 12:01 PM
3. Ok, Tim, will check it out.

Posted by: Michele on January 18, 2006 12:04 PM
4. Ward, be careful. Not everybody who reads this blog understands what satire is.

Posted by: Stefan Sharkansky on January 18, 2006 12:05 PM
5. No use in trying to turn King County form blue to red: they're the bluest of blue and won't change. You'll have to concentrate on the other counties if you want to overcome the KC bloc.

Personally, I'd rather see more Libertarians in office than Republicans.

Posted by: Libertarian on January 18, 2006 12:14 PM
6. too bad abramhoff got busted. you could have gotten a huge wad to bankroll your initial efforts. here's how:

1) abramhoff tells one of his clients that he needs $25k to a charity;

2) client sends $$$ to charity;

3) charity hires your site to write softball piece re the goodness of the party for $25k.

BINGO!!! one step closer to red!

Posted by: dinesh on January 18, 2006 12:33 PM
7. "Not everybody who reads this blog understands what satire is."

heh, heh. Bet you'll do that again soon, huh.

Posted by: jimg on January 18, 2006 12:42 PM
8. How'd we end up with red anyway? Bit more fitting for the other side methinks.

The only way a red Washington will ever happen is to fix the WSRP platform. Stop focusing on issues like the estate tax and school vouchers or charter schools. They're just not that important to most folks. Do focus on accountability, government spending, education and the environment.

Posted by: Palouse on January 18, 2006 12:47 PM
9. Palouse: that's the exact sort of thing ORW is going to examine. As for the color, read the site's FAQ...

Posted by: Timothy on January 18, 2006 12:52 PM
10. I'd read the FAQ, but I can't find it...

If the platform is going to be based on that "Committment to Washington", we're in trouble.

Posted by: Palouse on January 18, 2006 01:00 PM
11. Ward: Just wanted to get out the standard lines used by the usual suspects so it doesn't have to be repeated 147 times here.

You're right, standard cheap shot by a liberal masquerading as a Republican. Thanks for getting it out of the way. Maybe someday you'll come up with something original to say against conservatives.

Will Timothy's new site have anything original, or will it be more of what he and his cronies post here?

Posted by: Republican (by default) on January 18, 2006 01:02 PM
12. Palouse---exactly! That's why I never use the Red/Blue labels. Because--as a well known radio personality said---the left has hijacked the colors to suit their purposes. Red should instead most definitely be a Democrat color for obvious reasons (those of us who grew up during the Cold War can never forget the huge use of RED on all the flags of the Commie countries); leaving blue for us true-blue lovers of America and freedom. Either start a campaign to switch those color designations around to a more logical application, or don't use them at all (IMHO).

Posted by: Misty on January 18, 2006 01:08 PM
13. Republican (by default),

Tell us please so that we can "right" ourselves from the untoward influences of our (maybe not so conservative) "cronies" . . . what is a real conservative?

Does Stefan qualify?

Posted by: Amused by liberals on January 18, 2006 01:13 PM
14. I have cronies!? That's awesome!

Posted by: Timothy on January 18, 2006 01:15 PM
15. Hey guys. Sorry for getting the topic slightly off track with my "satire".
But any tool that helps get quality Republican candidates elected to office is a good thing.
Unfortunately it seems that many of us are still quarreling over what exactly defines a "quality Republican".
I assume there will be a direct link somewhere here in the future because eventually this post is going to get archived (buried) away. Or do we go through Timothy's site and then to the new one?

Posted by: Reporterward on January 18, 2006 01:50 PM
16. "too bad abramhoff got busted. you could have gotten a huge wad to bankroll your initial efforts. here's how:"

Abramhoff is a piker compared to 'Rat "donor" slimemolds like Soros and Lewis and Rich. Just which candidates did those scumbags blow their wads on? Oh, that's right, it was the 'Rats. But, I understand, because they backed the 'Rats, that makes it okay.

Lousy hypocrite 'Rats, the lot of them.

Posted by: Interested Observer on January 18, 2006 01:55 PM
17. Timothy did a good podcast and I think setting up a new site was a great idea.

I think it's time the party was forced to think, put out good ideas and fight for 'em. Sadly, the WSRP isn't capable of doing the heavy lifting on that one and EFF can only do so much. That other think tank in Seattle is mostly good for WashingtonVotes.org :-).

Posted by: A Watchdog on January 18, 2006 02:09 PM
18. Come on! Can't any of you come up with anything original?

How are you going to attract people to 'Red Washington' with the same stale, empty rhetoric.

Will the new site have any original ideas or will it take all of it's cues from conservatives? (Not to diminish the talking points from failed leadership in the party.)

What's really ironic is that this new site is probably being created to counter the conservative movement in the party. It's funny that the very existence of this new site is confirmation that the opposition is being effective.

Congratulations Timothy! You've validated the people and ideas you claim are ineffective.

Posted by: Republican (by default) on January 18, 2006 02:11 PM
19. If I recall correctly, the Blue/Red switch happened in 2000. the Voter News consortium that the networks use for calling the elections switched the colors; it used to be Blue for Republicans and Red for Dems. I'm not sure if there's any underlying issues of the left trying to shed their 'red' image, but that's the way I remember it.

Posted by: chunkstyle on January 18, 2006 02:13 PM
20. Republican by Default-- Ok, you've completely and utterly gone off the deep end now. Not only was your comment nonsensical, it was anti-sensical, actually annihilating any particles of sense that came into contact with it.

Posted by: Timothy on January 18, 2006 02:44 PM
21. As for the red-blue thing, it was indeed Bush-Gore that did it. It used to be that most networks switched the party's colors each year, and some still do. No one paid much attention, because the maps were only on our TV screens one night. Then, 2000 came along, and we had them on our screens for months, and "Red=Republican," "Blue=Democrat" got burned into our collective consciousness. It's handy shorthand, nothing more.

Posted by: Timothy on January 18, 2006 02:50 PM
22. How does a Republican get elected?

They are typically for smaller government. This should mean less spending. Democrats promise to spend more on just about everything. Even a Republican on a spending spree cannot outspend a Democrat.

Just on this issue alone, it would seem that, in a society that expects the government to take care of them, the Democrats would have the upper hand. In societies where the people are independent and feel that they can advance as far as their hard work will allow, Republicans do better.

Since Seattle is based on a government handout mentality, what can Republicans offer to get elected?

Perhaps, one day, the handout city will realize that, for all the handouts they have received, little progress has really been made in solving the conditions that have caused them to rely on handouts in the first place.

Posted by: SouthernRoots on January 18, 2006 03:04 PM
23. interested observer:

you should rename yourself partisan observer as your eyes fail to observe the following BIG difference:

jack...off is going to jail having pleaded guilty of felonies.

soros and others have committed no crimes.

Posted by: dinesh on January 18, 2006 03:35 PM
24. it's a really good idea you have tim....but, may i make a suggestion?
washington state republicans are completely cowed by the libs...they are so wishy washy they appear to be RINOS.
when i first moved to the state i couldn't believe it. i thought they were democrats.
get tough. and whatever you do...follow the money right back to the source and beat them over the head with it.
there are more democrats that took money from J.A. then republicans and don't forget soros ad nauseum.
but i really wish you luck. with little billy gates and moron.commie on the dems side, and the seattle population with it's room temperature IQ running the state...you'll need it.
ask matt what a typical liberal from arcata [stop laughing...] called the seattlites. it's a classic but i am too much of a lady to repeat it....heh heh heh.........

Posted by: christmasghost on January 18, 2006 03:40 PM
25. If this is to elect the vanilla R's of the world to office so they can stab us in the back and gayify everything "to get along" while trying to win back the moderates to "vote for us" by being moderate have a nice day! It worked great for -fill in the blank- for example!

If this is to inject some concepts of leadership, taking a real stand, leaders telling the paper blogs to stick it in a nice way, realizing voters will get "the guts" and walk from real whimps/moderates then lets see what happens.

I don't give a damn anymore about the R's or the D's or blatherradio (WOW that Democrat said burn the bibles, how evil, lets call him) (The Republican said a prayer we are all going to heaven now instead of getting drunk that's bad!!!). My website says this is how R's get elected no matter what! Hutch is killing us!! BBLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAHHHH - enough of that D bad R good autoresponse. How about a new thinking as an R this is what we are going to do no matter how bad the D screams.

Some leadership folks and we'll get some folks elected we don't need coaching on what a wandering voter may think of real leadership (like a pastor) even if they are not elected and not running. The Robert Legg candidacy in the 44th will be a litmus test for the Red State project.

Posted by: Col. Hogan on January 18, 2006 03:40 PM
26. Ward,

Congratulations! You completely ruined this whole blog, wiped out Tim's reputation and that of his cronies, shown that washington state republicans are completely cowed by the libs, and exposed Stefan as possibly not being a "real" conservative . . . all in a single devastating blow.

We've lost our identity.
Liberals are right . . . facts are not important, everything is futile except winning elections, and nothing really matters except drugs, sex, and rock-n-roll.
What was this thread about?

Posted by: Amused by liberals on January 18, 2006 04:07 PM
27. Timothy, as always when you lose an argument you resort to being dismissive and making personal attacks.

Once again you have proven that my point was on target. If it weren't you might have actually had a rebuttal.

Thanks for being you, Timothy. You do your cause so much harm. I hope you make 'Red Washington' every bit as effective as your posting has been over here.

Oh, in case you haven't noticed, when you run out of actual arguments, I stop responding. So if your next line of drivel is consistent with your last, I probably won't reply. I don't want you to mistake my silence as a surrender. It's actually just a way of avoiding the need to repeat myself to someone who isn't listening anyway.

Posted by: Republican (by default) on January 18, 2006 06:10 PM
28. Rbd...does that mean you'll no longer be giving us the blessing of your insight?

(just curious...)

Posted by: South County on January 18, 2006 07:24 PM
29. Rbd: In case you haven't noticed, when you run out of actual arguments, I start being dismissive.

Posted by: Timothy on January 18, 2006 08:52 PM
30. Looks good Tim!

Posted by: dcat on January 18, 2006 08:58 PM
31. "soros and others have committed no crimes."

Yeah sure they haven't. I'll just bet they're as innocent as babes in the woods, as pure as the driven snow. They're just completely pure and altruistic in their motives, throwing around hundreds of millions of dollars to 'Rat causes. They have to be pure, after all, they're 'Rats.

Well, you can challenge me to change my screen name, but I will challenge you do do something better: grow up. Wake up. Smell the coffee. When you've got scumbags like Soros and Lewis throwing around that kind of money, there is going to be some underhanded dealing going on. The kind of thing Abramhoff is accused of doing adds up to tip money compared to what Soros and Rich were throwing around. The 'Rat party has always been the party of big money scumbags.

But, I'm sure you're right. After all, we have to trust them, they're the 'Rats. Just like we have to trust the 'Rats and believe on faith that King Co. "just happened" to find all those "lost" ballots that "just happened" to be overlooked. Yep, just a coincidence that happened. Once. Uh, er, make that twice. Three times? Uh, well, whatever it takes to get the 'Rat elected...

Posted by: Interested Observer on January 19, 2006 08:21 AM
32. ahh. guilt by association. they are guilty b/c they MUST have done something wrong, the feds just couldn't nail them.

whereas jack...off is asking for gold plated cuffs while he learns to sing the names of his favorite republicans and is preparing to do 10-15 years time in the pen.

your powers of observation are acute. you can see crimes not prosecuted, yet overlook crimes for which guilt has been found. stunning hawkeye.

btw, i was making a joke. the good folks that run sound politics don't need dirty money to get their ideas out, so i wouldn't think that tim's efforts at red washington would be any different.

Posted by: dinesh on January 19, 2006 09:36 AM
33. Soros also gave to Republicans through Republican Mainstreet Partnership (the national affiliate of "Mainstream Republicans"-and where most of the "gang of 14" and those who voted against ANWR drilling congregate). Michelle Malkin has covered this on her blog. Soros has been dubbed "the man rich enough to own both parties". I wouldn't go that far, but you gotta wonder what Republicans would want to do with this guy.

Posted by: Republcan In Exile on January 19, 2006 12:55 PM
34. The feds wanted to nail one of the 'Rat bribers, Marc Rich, but he bought a pardon from Klink by bribing him. Sure, nothing fishy about that, no siree. And just how many ballots did they "just happen" to "find" in King Co. in the '04 governor's race? Just coincidence, right? Yep, trust us, we're the 'Rats. Yeah, sure thing, Sherlock.

BWT, Hawkeye beats Blindeye any day, especially when it comes to flushing out corruption. 'Rats wallow in it, while honest folks want to flush it out.

Posted by: Interested Observer on January 19, 2006 04:15 PM
35. Hey everybody, dinesh made a joke! Come look! It's right, er, umm, let's see...she left it around here somewhere........

(Oh well. It's the thought that counts, right dinesh?!)

Posted by: alphabet soup on January 19, 2006 06:17 PM
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