Rep. Toby Nixon (R-Kirkland), now running for state Senate, is the target of a bogus partisan ethics complaint for ... posting his past legislative press releases on his campaign website? Nixon poses the question:
should incumbent legislators be able to post press releases they issue during the legislative session on their campaign sites, or link to them on the legislature's web site? Apparently the policy now is that they cannot, and in fact all press releases are entirely removed from the legislature's web site after June 30 in an election year. I believe this deprives voters of valuable information they could use to evaluate the performance of their legislators, and is a violation of the people's right to know.The "ethics complaint" was filed by one Kenneth Camp, who is the Operations Director for the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee. Camp works for SDCC Chair Sen. Karen Keiser. Ironically, Keiser serves on the board of the Washington Coalition for Open Government, along with Toby Nixon. Apparently Keiser's commitment to open government is somewhat narrower than Nixon's is, and doesn't extend to supporting the public's right to know what their state legislators do while in office. Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at August 28, 2006 10:45 AM | Email This
Don't expect to hear from the Mainstream Media about this, they're too busy helping the Democrats build anti-Bush hysteria prior to the November elections.
Posted by: Bill Cruchon on August 28, 2006 11:09 AMToby Nixon is one of the hardest working legislators this state has ever seen, and I'm honored to call him a friend.
We need more Liberty loving and protecting people like him in Olympia.
Vote for Toby!
Posted by: Jamie Walker on August 28, 2006 11:15 AMThere is nothing stopping Rep. Nixon from paying somebody - out of campaign funds - to collect that information in the press releases - and any of his other legislative accomplishments - and having it put into a campaign piece. I wouldn't want D legislators using their taxpayer-funded news releases and end-of-session mailers in campaigns, either.
Posted by: jimg on August 28, 2006 11:37 AMHave to go--another "emergency" bill to vote on--'emergency bill' Number 863 entitled: "The No money for WA forest fires + free benefits and cheap college rates for illegal aliens in WA Act."
Posted by: Jimmie-howya-doin on August 28, 2006 11:48 AMI can understand your argument in principle. Government funded "work" shouldn't be used for campaigns. However, this seems like a picayune little rule to deal with a nonexistant problem. Filing a campaign ethics violation over this is petty. After all, I assume (though maybe I shouldn't) that LINKING to the press releases is OK.
That said, I have to roll my eyes at using the spelling "Amerikkka." Are you borrowing terms from the far left for ironic effect? I have to admit pictuing Ms. Gregoire in a grand wizards get-up IS amusing, but still...
Posted by: Sstar on August 28, 2006 11:51 AMI respectfully disagree. Not entirely unlike records of session or records of the Supreme Court, a press release once produced and published is public domain, or should be. The information in question was being hosted on Toby's servers not by State resources. Who produced them is in my opinion irrelevant. But thanks for the thought. You just gave me a great idea for a business. Please publish your address so I can send you a commission check from my fist customer.
Posted by: Jamie Walker on August 28, 2006 12:37 PMI don't see much gaming that could go on since the releases could be used by both sides in a race.
From the Ethics Board Mission Statement:
To be sensitive to the fact that allegations may be levied for purely political purposes and that, while such a motive does not necessarily render a complaint legally insufficient, it can cast serious doubts on the legitimacy of the allegations.Posted by: SouthernRoots on August 28, 2006 12:46 PM
Congrats to Toby for insisting his public record be out there for all to see. Would be that some Dems be so open to scrutiny.
Posted by: NWconservative on August 28, 2006 12:49 PMBecause that would be a constant reminder, from John Kerry to Christine Gregoire, that these jokers HAVE NO legislative record to speak of!
Posted by: Larry on August 28, 2006 01:58 PM*No one* should ever be prohibited from republishing legislative press releases or other official documents, including candidates for office (who are citizens with the same rights as the rest of us).
God, how I despise John McCain, Russ Feingold, and the rest of those fascists in reformers' clothing.
Posted by: ScottM on August 28, 2006 02:06 PMIf the Ds want Joe Average to be an informed voter (don't they?) than past record means a lot and those press releases are past record. Publishing them on their web sites sure seems like direct & easy access to me and you know how touchy Ds are about access. Conversely, a candidate may not publish some of the more embarrassing releases or want to make them easily available.
This whole prohibition thing smacks of trying to hide a pi** poor legislative record as the Demorats are in power and control the horizontal and vertical around here.
I agree that the rule against using legislative press releases in a campaign is unnecessary. But trying to read and think about it with an open mind, I understand a reason for this rule. It sounds like some people feared that, if press releases could be used in a campaign, legislators would have more incentive to issue political press releases. That's a plausible concern, although I don't know whether there's much evidence for it.
Toby Nixon (about whom I know nothing) seemed to understand this in his thoughtful letter requesting that the rule be reconsidered.
SoundPolitics readers, however, see nothing but idiocy and conspiracy. That's a shame. Attempting to understand those who disagree with you helps to make better decisions, reach better agreements, and win the support of others. However, this takes intelligence, curiosity, and humility. Too bad so few SP posters display those assets.
Posted by: Bruce on August 28, 2006 03:01 PMShould there be a limited number of political press releases issued by legislators? If so, what's that number? Maybe you should reverse engineer your statements before you post.
Posted by: Jeffro on August 28, 2006 03:10 PM