West Seattle film producer takes on McDermott: Crazy, right?

There's a scene in the 2008 movie "Lava Storm," a low-budget sci-fi flick about magma engulfing the globe, in which a volcanologist hatches a quixotic scheme to save humanity.

He'll blow up the local dam to douse the rampaging inferno.

Everyone doubts him, of course. "We can't save the world," says his wife. "No, baby," he shoots back. "But maybe we can buy it some time."

It's so crazy, it just might work!

That was about my reaction when I interviewed the writer and producer of "Lava Storm," West Seattle's Bill Hoffman, about his next big project.

Which is, believe it or not, to try to take out Congressman Jim McDermott.

This week, Hoffman, a movie and music-video producer, plans to file with the Federal Election Commission to challenge Seattle's liberal icon McDermott, from within the Democratic Party.

I know — crazy, right? You've probably never heard of Hoffman (which in politics matters — a lot). He's got no political experience to speak of. Plus, the man he's trying to unseat seems as unstoppable as, well, as a river of hot lava.

Last year, McDermott, an 11-term incumbent, won 84 percent of the vote. That's despite paying $1 million in legal fees after losing a lawsuit.

McDermott only seems unbeatable, Hoffman insists. Because nobody's ever really tried.

"He's never had a strong challenge from another Democrat, from someone who had a chance of appealing to the voters in this district," Hoffman says. "We think about 20 percent of McDermott's voters really like him. The rest haven't been given a choice. They're up for grabs."

If nothing else, Hoffman has set off alarm bells in Democratic Party circles by saying he's willing to invest $100,000 of his own money in a campaign. He says he can tap Los Angeles movie connections to get started.

He's also hired a manager and fundraiser with some experience (Bob Stout, who worked on Hillary Clinton's presidential bid and managed a senatorial campaign in Idaho last year).

McDermott is so dominant he usually draws marginal candidates, often single-issue oddballs such as Goodspaceguy Nelson (who wants to colonize space). Is Hoffman one of those?

People who know him say no. One fan is Hoffman's roommate from college — conservative radio commentator John Carlson.

At the UW in the late '70s, Carlson ran a campus group called "UW New Conservatives," while Hoffman ran a lefty group called "Stop The Draft." Meanwhile, they lived in the same apartment.

"I've known him since first grade, and he's the real deal," Carlson said. "He'd be great in Congress. He's a liberal who knows something about economics."

Hoffman touts his varied work experience. He did real estate, then worked in training for Kaiser Permanente, the managed-health-care giant. He got a screenwriting degree from USC and now runs his own film company, Post Alley Productions.

In addition to "Lava Storm," he wrote and produced a foreign-distributed romance called "Passionata" (which was panned by one disgruntled viewer at a movie-review site as "an unending stream of bromides").

He helped write "Going Home," starring Jason Robards. Next year he's due to release another sci-fi thriller, "Tidal Surge."

He says he's putting aside movies to run for Congress. His plan is to run in 2010 and, if he doesn't win, to try again in 2012.

I'm not sure how different his political views are from McDermott's. Example: He backs a single-payer insurance model for health care, just like McDermott. He also can't touch McDermott's encyclopedic knowledge of government issues.

With our top-two primary, though, it's possible to have a Democrat vs. Democrat general election. That would be fitting competition in one of the nation's most liberal districts.

Hoffman says McDermott has gotten stale, aloof from his district. A challenge would make him a better congressman by forcing him to engage right here.

But a challenge from a B-list sci-fi moviemaker?

Who knows. It's so crazy it just might work.

Danny Westneat's column appears Wednesday and Sunday. Reach him at 206-464-2086 or dwestneat@seattletimes.com.