WA-02 CD, Campaign? News

Two weeks ago in Bellingham, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and former chairman of the Republican National Committee, R. James Nicholson - as part of a campaign stop for Republican congressional candidate Doug Roulstone announced that a new medical clinic for veterans will open in the north Puget Sound sometime next year. In todays B'ham Herald:

...U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. questioned the timing of his initial announcement of the North Puget Sound clinic. Nicholson offered his first comments on the clinic this month while campaigning with Republican Doug Roulstone, who is challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Lake Stevens.

Murray also questioned whether politics played a role in the clinic's placement. Out of 25 new clinics planned by the VA, about 70 percent are being placed in Republican-controlled congressional districts.

"That has brought some questions to whether or not ... we are going to have politics become part of the VA process," she said. ... (source = B'ham Herald)

It seems the money for a new VA clinic isn't in this years budget. It's hard to figure how a clinic could open next year without money for it the budget. Could the announcement of a clinic opening next year be an empty campaign promise?

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Maybe you have to be a Republican to 'get it'. But I'm having trouble working out how Roulstone expects anybody to believe he'd be a force for change; even though he stumps with this sort of stuff:

... "We need to fix things, and we need to fix things right now," he told supporters at a fundraiser.

The budget deficit must be eliminated, the borders tightened and the nation protected from terrorism, he said.

With Gingrich, the rhetorical general of the 1994 Republican Revolution, looking on, Roulstone pledged to "fix our Congress" that's beset by political corruption, wasteful spending and debilitating partisanship. ...
(source = Everett Herald)

Roulstone has had a lot of fund raisers with very special guests:

...For those keeping score, Vice President Dick Cheney stumped on behalf of the former U.S. Navy captain in April. This month, R. James Nicholson, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, visited. Former Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, now secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, appeared with Roulstone at a private event Thursday in Skagit County. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is scheduled to appear Saturday with Roulstone in Everett. ... (source = B'ham Herald)

And, I found the "Business/Labor/Ideological Split In PAC Contributions" very interesting.

Larsen's breakdown is:
Business 54%
Labor 28%
Ideological 17%

Roulstone's breakdown is:
Business 8%
Labor 0%
Ideological 91%
(source = opensecrets)

Of a total $115500.00 in PAC money Roulstone received; only $6k came from non-politicians, the rest ($109599.00) was from Republican members of Congress.

Between the 'big name' fund raisers and the RNCC controlled PAC money, it's hard to see Roulstone as anything but a puppet.

But again, maybe you have to be a Republican extremists activists to 'get it'. Or maybe they don't 'get it' either; over at 'soundpolitics' (you look 'em up, I'm not gonna give 'em a link) Eric seems to have more questions than campaign advice:

Roulstone Update
... Example: there is no "Issues" section at his webpage for an easy perusal of what Doug is running on, just a long letter in the "In Doug's Words" section. Also, the "Endorsements" section includes way to many out-of-state Members of Congress. Those are nice to have and all, but short of Members like Sen. McCain, I don't see the value of clogging up the website for the average voter, curious about endorsements from more local figures.

The "way to many out-of-state Members of Congress" part of the "Endorsements" section reads the same as the PAC money section of Roulstones FEC report.

Roulstone hasn't 'addressed' any issues. The topics he's thrown out comments about have been veiled-racist red-meat for Republican extremists activists, but aren't anything that would attract moderate Republicans or Independents:

The Republican Party's rock-ribbed activists have pounded out a platform for
their incumbents and candidates to run on. ...

... It is one sentence, 55 words in all, near the end of the section on
immigration. It is where the authors declare their opposition to granting
U.S. citizenship to babies born in this country if their mother is here
illegally.

The "original intent" of the 14th Amendment in the Constitution spoke to
freed ex-slaves "and in no way granted citizenship to the babies of illegal
aliens," states the plank offered up by an adherent from Whatcom County. ...

... "I see that plank in the platform as frustration," Roulstone said. To some
it "doesn't make sense" that a woman who has broken the law by entering the
U.S. illegally can see her newborn child receive citizenship, thus anchoring
the two in this country.

Roulstone deftly sidesteps whether he'll work to carry out the plank if
elected. ... (source = Everett Herald)

DOUG ROULSTONE (R) Candidate for Congress WA-2nd

Though saying he doesn't know what the best answer is to solve illegal immigration, he wants better security at the border. He called the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps "a program that makes sense,"... (source = roulstone4congress)

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Doug Roulstone was picked to run by inside-the-beltway Republicans and that's where virtually all his campaign money has come from. Roulstone's never run for any office and he has a slim resume on community activism, so he's got no base in the district. He registered to vote in Snohomish Co. in Dec. 1999.

Rick Larsen was born and raised in Arlington, Washington. He was a Snohomish County Councilman before running for Congress. Rick has a track record of working for the interests of the 2nd District. He voted against invading Iraq (before his '04 re-election with 60+ % of the vote). He's on the Armed Services Committee and is unquestionably pro-Troops and pro-Vets. Larsen's spent years working to get that VA clinic VA Sec. Nicholson (R) promised at Roulstones campaign event.

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