On Politics
Locke has way with names

By David Postman
Times chief political reporter

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Two Democratic candidates got a nice boost this week from Gov. Gary Locke, who used his taxpayer-funded PR operation to snap back at Republicans he thought were hogging the glory.

Maybe Locke is starting to feel his partisan oats in the waning days of an administration that strove to be so nonpartisan his toughest critics were often fellow Democrats.

Locke issued a press release Wednesday to announce his "intention" not to veto $31.6 million appropriated for a downtown Spokane campus for Washington State University.

It's unusual to get a press release from the governor announcing his intention not to do something. The second paragraph gave the backstory:

"The governor made his decision following discussions yesterday with Senate Minority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, local business leader Don Barbieri, and Spokane Schools Executive Director Laurie Dolan."

Here's what it didn't say: Barbieri is the Democrats' candidate for the 5th Congressional District and Dolan the party's choice for state Senate District 6.

It did say, "Senator Brown, Don Barbieri and Laurie Dolan made excellent points about the impact on the local area and importance of the Riverpoint campus to Spokane."

Two paragraphs later, in case the point was missed by the dense or distracted, the release said, "The governor was convinced by Brown, Barbieri and Dolan of the economic impact the Riverpoint campus has on downtown Spokane."

Giving Brown credit is not at all unusual. The governor often gives a nod to lawmakers in his releases, sometimes even those of the other party.

And there are obvious reasons why a Democratic governor would want to boost Barbieri and Dolan. Both are running for Republican seats. The congressional seat is open with Rep. George Nethercutt's run for the Senate, and the Senate seat is held by rookie Republican Brian Murray, appointed to fill a vacancy created when Sen. James West was elected mayor of Spokane.
 
Murray had wanted to send a bipartisan letter to the governor along with Brown and other Spokane-area lawmakers. But Brown told him she'd rather talk to Locke directly. Brown suggested Locke was unhappy with a quote from Murray in the Spokane Spokesman-Review that a corporate jet was standing by to fly business leaders to Olympia to pressure Locke to approve the Riverpoint funding. Maybe just a bit too cheeky for a freshmen appointee to make such threats. There was also a local TV item giving credit to Republicans for the money.

"I think he may have some issues with Spokane Republicans," Brown said. "I believe the governor does pay attention to the press."

Locke's chief of staff, Tom Fitzsimmons, said Brown, Barbieri and Dolan made a great case and really were responsible for swaying Locke.

That said, he concedes Brown "speaks well" of the other motives and said the press release may include "deeper political consideration than most."

"I suppose it is a little bit odd that he reached as far as he did, but it's not without substantive merit either," Fitzsimmons said.

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