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The Primary

Those who are upset about the primary do not understand. Their right to vote for whichever candidate in whichever party has not been impeded. It is in the General election where that occurs. In the primary the partisan races are the parties' selection of the candidate that will run in the general election.

You are a Republican, a Democrat, a Libertarian, an independent or whatever party, but you are not both a Republican and a Democrat or whatever. If you wish to help a party select their candidate then you should help that particular party. Democrats should not be participating in the selection of the Green Party's candidate. If you are an independent then you declare yourself not a part of a party and do not have the right to help select a candidate other than those who have declared themselves as independent.

Basically, when considering the partisan races in the primary we are not considering an open election. The open election is when the actual office holder is selected. The partisan races in the primary do not do that.

If you consider yourself a member of a party, then participate in that party's candidate selection process by choosing the ballot for that party. If you are an independent, then at the primary cast your vote among the independent candidates, if any. All voters, party members and independents, are able to narrow the field for all of the non-partisan races.

Roger W Hancock, Auburn, WA

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

NARAL solicits contributions with the claim that "NARAL Pro-Choice Washington endorses Democratic and Republican pro-choice candidates in state and local races where a woman's right to choose is at stake."

This has, understandably, led some to wonder whether Alice Woldt is, in fact, pro-choice. NARAL Washington's Executive Director, Karen Cooper, concedes that Alice is "100% pro-choice"--fact is, Alice is (like Helen) a contributor to NARAL. (Since I first raised this with Cooper, NARAL has at least belatedly added Alice Woldt's name to their web page list of "100% pro-choice" candidates, while maintaining their single endorsement of Sommers.)

In the midst of a crisis situation threatening women's reproductive rights, NARAL Washington is using their scarce funds to put out a mailing for Helen Sommers in a race where there are no discernible differences between the candidates on this issue. More than just spending the money which many of us have given NARAL, their web site has highlighted Helen Sommers' campaign, and they have mobilized volunteers to do doorbelling for Sommers.

Cooper told me in an e-mail that it is NARAL's policy to endorse any incumbent who is pro-choice. She has not responded to my questions asking why they have gone beyond an endorsement to actively campaign against pro-choice Alice Woldt; or why they have not made similar efforts for other pro-choice incumbents. Their web site has in the past weeks shown activities by NARAL for only one Puget Sound incumbent: Helen Sommers.

Cooper has also not responded to my question asking how decisions are made regarding endorsements or priorities, and whether NARAL members have any say in those decisions; why money is collected with the pretense that it will be used in races "where a woman's right to choose is at stake," but then spent in a race (more than one?) where it is emphatically not at stake; or whether NARAL Washington is engaged in campaigning for any other pro-choice Puget Sound incumbents.

Helen Sommers is getting plenty of other support. Her list of contributors reads like a "Who's Who" of corporate PACs: utility companies like AT&T, Qwest, and Puget Sound Energy; real estate interests like the Realtors PAC and Washington Apartment Association; insurance companies like PEMCO, Safeco, Regence Blue Shield, and Physicians Insurance; banks like CBIC, Corporate Bank of America, and Washington Mutual; the destroyer of poor communities, Vulcan NW; corporations with anti-environmental interests, like Weyerhaeuser, Boise Cascade, and oil company Conoco Phillips; pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline and tobacco company Philip Morris; and even Labor Ready and Wal Mart, two of the largest and worst exploiters of low wage labor in the nation. (Interestingly, Wal Mart has made contributions to only five Washington legislative candidates--only one of whom, Helen Sommers, is running as a Democrat.) The decision-makers at these corporations know who their friends are.

But the issue isn't just that NARAL Washington is joining with Wal Mart and others in an effort to re-elect Sommers. It isn't just that Sommers opposes letting fire fighters and police officers have representation on their pension board; or that despite Washington voters twice rejecting charter schools, by a 75% majority in the 36th, she's trying to force charter schools on the State; or that she was instrumental in slashing unemployment benefits for tens of thousands of building trades, agricultural, and other workers. It isn't just that, despite her support for reproductive rights, Sommers seems to lose interest in women's health afterwards, promoting budget cuts that took 74,000 Washingtonians off health care, and promoting cuts to nursing home funding.

The real problem is this: NARAL Washington solicits donations claiming that they'll be used to defend women's rights, and then prioritizes races in which that's not an issue. The funds aren't being used to defend reproductive rights--they're being used to help re-elect candidates in races where NARAL has no objective interest.

I would urge you to directly contact Karen Cooper, the Executive Director of NARAL Washington, karencooper@wanaral.org, and ask her to explain her actions.

If you want to support groups that actually focus their efforts on reproductive rights, I would urge that you send contributions to Planned Parenthood--either to Planned Parenthood of Western Washington (www.ppww.org), or Planned Parenthood Federation of America (www.plannedparenthood.org) or to the National Abortion Federation, the organization of abortion providers (www.prochoice.org). Neither Planned Parenthood nor NAF use contributions to promote crony politics--contributions to these groups actually go to defend reproductive rights.

Paul Bigman, via e-mail