As you probably know, Rich Semler - the candidate who was getting by far the biggest media boost - dropped out, leaving the media in the embarrassing position of cheerleading for Randy Dorn, who appears to be sleazy even by teachers union whore standards. It's also an embarrassing situation for the corrupt Washington Education Association (WEA), which had endorsed Semler. Does it want to enhance its image by endorsing a scumbag like Dorn?
Don Hansler declared his candidacy some time ago, but he remains a stranger. I know virtually nothing about him except that he ran for Governor four years ago. John Patterson Blair and Enid Duncan filed at the last minute.
Blair ran for this office four years ago and took third place, even beating the queen of one-issue candidates, Juanita Doyon. Frankly, I thought Patterson's issues were lame at best. I never could figure out what the voters saw in him, though he has held elected office before (Vashon school board).
I've never heard of Enid Duncan before.
Predictions
Four years ago, I came in last at 5.4%, significantly less than I got the first time I ran for state office (Campaign 2004 Primary Results). However, it was an extraordinariliy corrupt campaign; I could write a book about the dirty tricks that were pulled on me. John Blair got 9.1% of the vote, while Terry Bergeson and Judith Billings got 36.2% and 35.2%, respectively.
So what will happen this time around? The election system has become even more corrupt since 2004. On the other hand, the public is getting weary of corruption. I also have a little name recognition after getting nearly a quarter of the votes when I ran for a seat on the Seattle School Board last year.
Will the media promote one of the challengers in lieu of Rich Semler, or will they now throw all their weight behind Terry Bergeson, hoping she'll win it all in the primary? If I may venture a guess, I predict that the WEA will endorse John Blair. Endorsing Dorn would simply be too risky if the folks at WEA care anything about public relations.
Perhaps the only certainty is that Terry Bergeson's awesome campaign machine will capture the biggest piece of the pie, with Hansler and Duncan likely vying for last place. The middle ground is more confusing.
John Dorn appears to have considerable establishment support, despite the anchor around his neck - an anchor the media will probably say little about in the days ahead. Still, his naked greed is no secret, and I'll certainly publicize the Hell out of it on my websites.
The Race for #2
John Blair and I will each have to better Dorn if we hope to make it past the primary. As always, I will stand out from the other candidates like a sore thumb. But are Washington's clueless voters ready for me yet?
After nearly eight years of George W. Bush, I think people are a little more open to new ideas. Ideas like nationalizing the energy industry and booting corporations out of public schools don't sound so radical any more. Unfortunately, I don't think the pendulum has swung far enough. I suspect I'm going to have a hard time capturing third place, let alone second, unless I can better publicize my campaign.
My campaign website blows the other candidates' sites out of the water, and I've also created an elaborate system of blogs, forums, social networking groups and polls to help get the word out. But I can sense the apathy and cluelessness even on the Internet.
I fear my only hope may be to get the endorsement I've been working so hard for. But asking Hugo Chavez to endorse some stranger running for a state office that even most Washingtonians don't care about is obviously quite a reach.
Then again, there's no better symbol of hope than Chavez.
David Blomstrom
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